# That train whistle sound on "Wreck of the Old 97" by Johnny Cash

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-train-whistle-sound-on-wreck-of-the-old-97-by-johnny-cash/967594>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** music\
**Created:** [July 8, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-train-whistle-sound-on-wreck-of-the-old-97-by-johnny-cash/967594 "2022-07-08T02:23:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-train-whistle-sound-on-wreck-of-the-old-97-by-johnny-cash/967594/1 "2022-07-08T02:23:59Z")

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On “Live at San Quentin”, Cash and his band play the 1924 ballad “Wreck of the Old 97”, about the 1903 train crash.

During two of the instrumental passages, there is a sound like a train whistle.

I assume it was a vocal effect, like [Jimmy Rodgers does at the beginning of “Waiting on a Train”?](https://youtu.be/gbzc77Tz6PA?t=10) If so, anyone know how it was done?

Or was it done with a device (like [that whistle thing that Michael Scott had on his desk in “The Office”)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoS83J6qK1c&t=211s)?

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**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-train-whistle-sound-on-wreck-of-the-old-97-by-johnny-cash/967594/2 "2022-07-08T07:29:07Z")

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Here’s a vid of Boxcar Willie doing it at Wembley in 1980 and there’s a close-up and he’s clearly vocalising it (somehow)

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/z-hM6rxKaCU/hqdefault.jpg "Boxcar Willie - Wreck Of The Ol' 97 [1980 Wembley]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-hM6rxKaCU)

about 55s in

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**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-train-whistle-sound-on-wreck-of-the-old-97-by-johnny-cash/967594/3 "2022-07-08T11:47:46Z")

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That sounds like a kind of Throat Singing, and is incredible.