Mystery Train

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"Mystery Train" was a 1955 single recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee by Elvis Presley, his first #1 single in any of the Billboard charts, reaching #1 in the Country music chart. The song was produced by Sam Phillips. It was performed by Elvis Presley on vocals and rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore on lead guitar and Bill Black on bass.

"Mystery Train" was written Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. It was originally recorded for Sun Records by Little Junior's Blue Flames in 1953.

The song has lent its name to several other works:

• Mystery Train was the name of a TV series that documented Presley's early career while he was at Sun.
• Mystery Train is a 1989 dark comedy movie written and directed by indie film director Jim Jarmusch.
• Mystery Train is the title of a book (ISBN 0-452-27836-8) by Greil Marcus on the early history of rock and roll.
• Mystery Train has been covered by Bruce Springsteen on many occasions, most recently, during his 2006 Seeger Sessions Tour by combining Mystery Train's chorus with Cadillac Ranch from the 1980 The River (album).

In early December of 2005, the US Army initiated a probe on a video which first appeared on the Internet showing contractors in Iraq firing at civilians while Elvis' Mystery Train is being played in the background. The video purports to show the firing of automatic rifles shooting into traffic, causing civilian vehicles to swerve and crash on the dusty West Baghdad roads.

[edit] Artists who have covered the song:

• Gazz Guzzlers
• Bulldog
• Bon Jovi
• Robert Gordon and Link Wray
• Robert Gordon with Danny Gatton
• The Doors
• Vince Maloney
• The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
• John Hammond (1969)
• The Band (1973)
• Jerry Garcia Band (1976)
• The Soft Boys (1981)
• Emmylou Harris (1986)
• Merl Saunders, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn & Bill Vitt (1988)
• Fairground Attraction (March 1988)
• P.P. Michiels (August 10, 1992)
• Dwight Yoakam (1994)
• Willie and the Poor Boys (1994)
• Bootleg Kings (April 9, 2000)
• Scotty Moore (1964)
• Pat Travers (April 11, 1992)
• Neil Young (1983)
• Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (2005)

  Also covered by UFO