Hear the Whistles Blow: Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs Sing Songs of Rivers and Rails, released by Columbia in 1967, is a themed album in the mode of Columbia's late-1960s play for Flatt and Scruggs's broader country audience — a concept LP of train and waterway songs, including a fresh treatment of Orange Blossom Special alongside lesser-known railroad material like The Atlantic Coastal Line and Bringin' in the Georgia Mail. The Foggy Mountain Boys behind the duo by this point were a refined working unit, but Columbia's increasingly elaborate productions and folk-leaning material were straining against the bluegrass identity Flatt in particular wanted to preserve. The partnership would fracture within two years.
Tracklist
- 1 Southbound 2:28
- 2 East bound train 2:19
- 3 Roust-a-bout alt version 2:30
- 4 Bringin’ in the Georgia Mail alt version 2:48
- 5 500 Miles alt version 3:18
- 6 I'm gonna ride that steamboat 2:34
- 7 The Atlantic Coastal Line 2:23
- 8 Train no. 1262 2:52
- 9 Orange Blossom Special alt version 2:56
- 10 Starlight on the rails 2:29
- 11 Going Across the Sea alt version 2:02