| "Long Train Runnin'" | ||||||||
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| Single by The Doobie Brothers | ||||||||
| from the album The Captain and Me | ||||||||
| B-side | "Without You" | |||||||
| Released | March 28, 1973 | |||||||
| Format | 7" single | |||||||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||||||
| Genre | Pop, Rock, Funk | |||||||
| Length | 3:25 | |||||||
| Label | Warner Brothers | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Tom Johnston | |||||||
| Producer | Ted Templeman | |||||||
| The Doobie Brothers singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Long Train Runnin'" (or "Long Train Running") is a song written by musician Tom Johnston and recorded by The Doobie Brothers. It was included on the band's 1973 album The Captain and Me and released as a single, becoming a top-ten hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight. This song became very famous for its intro with the guitar.
Nearly twenty years later "Long Train Runnin'" became a hit in the UK twice. In 1991 the song was covered by English girl group Bananarama and in 1993 the Doobie Brothers version was remixed and hit the top ten.
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The tune evolved from an untitled and mostly ad-libbed jam that the Doobies developed onstage years before it was finally recorded. Its working title, according to Johnston, was "Rosie Pig Moseley" and later "Osborn". "I didn't want to cut it," Johnston later confessed. "...I just considered it a bar song without a lot of merit. Teddy [Templeman], on the other hand, thought it had some." Templeman convinced Johnston to write words to the song.
Johnston performed the signature harmonica solo as well as the lead vocal and the distinctive, rhythmic guitar strumming that propels the song. In an interview with Songfacts Johnston revealed that he "wrote the words sitting in the bathroom at Amigo Studios" in Burbank, California.[1]
| "Long Train Running" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Bananarama | ||||
| from the album Pop Life | ||||
| B-side | Outta Sight | |||
| Released | April 1991 | |||
| Format | 7" single, 10" Picture Disc, 12" single, CD single | |||
| Recorded | October 1990 | |||
| Genre | Pop, Dance | |||
| Length | 3:31 | |||
| Label | London Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Tom Johnston | |||
| Producer | Youth | |||
| Bananarama singles chronology | ||||
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Bananarama's version appeared on their fifth studio album Pop Life and was released as the album's third single in the UK. The group discovered the song when they were browsing through the record collection of Youth, producer of the Pop Life album. They needed one more song recorded to complete Pop Life and decided to go with a cover version.
The Gypsy Kings provided flamenco guitar on Bananarama's version, using the pseudonym "Alma de Noche" ("Soul of the Night"). UK singer Zoë provided backing vocals.
Traks covered the song in 1982.
Serbian rock musician Dejan Cukić recorded a version of the song on his 1995 album 4½... Ja Bih Da Pevam with lyrics in Serbian language entitled "Dugo putovanje vozom".
Another Serbian rock act, hard rock band Cactus Jack, recorded a version with original lyrics on their 2002 live cover album DisCover.
There's a Spanish cover of the song by the band La Unión, translated as "Tren de largo recorrido (Sin amor)", included in the band's álbum "Tren de largo recorrido", published in 1992.
Don Pablo's Animals made a couple Euro House style remixes of the song in 1990.
The song is performed by the Grambling State University marching band on the video game NCAA March Madness 06, and has been a performance staple of The Ohio University Marching 110 for over two decades.
Bananarama's music video features them dressed in black Spanish dresses eating at a decadent feast and performing the song on a large bed in a Spanish castle. Bananarama's then-manager Hilary Shaw appears on the feast scene.
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 30 |
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