Tom Russell (born in Los Angeles in either 1947 or 1948) is an American sin… Read Full Bio ↴Tom Russell (born in Los Angeles in either 1947 or 1948) is an American singer-songwriter from California, currently living in El Paso, Texas. His music incorporates elements of folk, traditional country & western, border and cowboy music of the American West. Russell's songs have been recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash, Ian Tyson, Nanci Griffith, Dave Alvin and others. In addition to his music, he is also an artist and published author.
In the 1980s Russell made four albums credited to the Tom Russell Band. These featured Andrew Hardin and accordionist Fats Kaplin.
In the 1990s Russell made a number of solo albums, collaborated with blues singer Barrence Whitfield on two albums, and also recorded an acoustic album mixing original material with his favorite cowboy-themed songs. His albums include several guest appearances from other folk, country, and Americana artists, such as Chris Gaffney and Dave Alvin. His song "Outbound Plane", co-written with Nanci Griffith, became a Top Ten country hit for Suzy Bogguss. His most significant album from this period is the 1999 folk opera, The Man From God Knows Where.
His more recent albums include "Blood and Candle Smoke" (2009) and "Mesabi" (2011).
In the 1980s Russell made four albums credited to the Tom Russell Band. These featured Andrew Hardin and accordionist Fats Kaplin.
In the 1990s Russell made a number of solo albums, collaborated with blues singer Barrence Whitfield on two albums, and also recorded an acoustic album mixing original material with his favorite cowboy-themed songs. His albums include several guest appearances from other folk, country, and Americana artists, such as Chris Gaffney and Dave Alvin. His song "Outbound Plane", co-written with Nanci Griffith, became a Top Ten country hit for Suzy Bogguss. His most significant album from this period is the 1999 folk opera, The Man From God Knows Where.
His more recent albums include "Blood and Candle Smoke" (2009) and "Mesabi" (2011).
The Sante Fe at Midnight
Tom Russell Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Tom Russell:
A Bad Half Hour Wonder why I feel so restless; Moon is shinin' still and…
A Bowl Of Red You don't put beans in chilli You never water good whiskey…
A Dollar's Worth Of Gasoline Oh Happy Lands, Oh Happy Lands We have paid for our…
A Land Called "Way Out There" James Dean died 'neath the tree of heaven Near the old…
Acres Of Corn When I was a child, I spoke as a child Now…
Alkali Here's mud in yer eye You've been lost in the…
All This Way For The Short Ride When the chute gate wings open, here we go again The…
American Hotel Stephen sprawled across the bed, Raised the bottle to his mo…
American Rivers Ain’t no more cane on the Brazos Yeah, yeah yeah It’s all…
Annette On Nelson Street near Granville She dances a deadly pirouett…
Benediction: Edward Abbey "Benedicto: May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, d…
Beyond the Blues Old man on the corner, singin' my life Playin' guitar…
Black Pearl Have you seen Miranda? She's walking through the town She…
Blood Oranges It was an old hotel in Morocco Caruso sang through the…
Blue Wing He had a blue wing tattooed on his shoulder Well, it…
Bucking Horse Moon Down a one lane road there's a dusty fairground Where I…
California Snow I'm just tryin' to make a livin' I'm an old man…
Canadian Whiskey feat. Ian Tyson & Nanci Griffith In the hills of Montana There's a timber wolf howlin'…
Canadian Whisky In the hills of Montana There's a timber wolf howlin' The ra…
Chickasaw County Jail Howdy boys, my name is Charlie Born in Chickasaw County Jail…
Chocolate Cigarette Edith Piaf was the Little Sparrow She flew high above…
Claude Dallas In a land the Spanish once had called the Northern…
Criminology I had a gun pointed at my head on several…
Crosses Of San Carlos Two Apache kids in a stolen car navigatin by a fallin star…
Dance Hall Girls These dance hall girls, they treat you kind They give you…
Down the Rio Grande Baby pulled her blue dress on and walked out in…
East Of Woodstock West Of Viet Nam I slept through the Nineteen Sixties, I heard Dory Previn…
East Texas Red Down in the scrub oak country To the southeast Texas Gulf …
El Gallo Del Cielo Carlos Zaragoza left his home in Casas Grandes when the…
El Llano Estacado If I may trust your love, she cried And you would…
El Paso Out in the West Texas town of El Paso I fell…
Farewell Never Never Land Second star to the right Straight on until morning, my litt…
Finding You FINDING YOU Tom Russell They are blessing the animals in t…
Gallo De Cielo Carlos Zaragoza left his home in Casas Grandes when the…
Guadalupe There are ghosts out in the rain tonight High up in…
Gulf Coast Highway Gulf Coast Highway He worked the rails He worked the rice fi…
Haley "Do you know who I am?" said Bill Haley In…
Hallie Lonnigan My name is Hallie Lonnigan I married Walter Jones for bette…
Heart Of A Bucking Horse Down a one lane road there's a dusty fairground Where I…
Heart Of Hearts The festival was over the boys were all plannin' for…
Hills of Old Juarez I lost my mind ten years ago A wanderin' through the…
Hurricane Season Hurricane season on the home front All the weak of heart…
I Hate to Tell You I Told You So Oh oh Yay yeah You′re walking into dangerous territory I see…
It Goes Away I was walking down a quiet road in Ireland Out beneath…
Jack Johnson He was born in 1890, on the Gulf of Mexico…
Jai Alai He was a Basque from San Sebastian, he came here…
Joshua Tree Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase Hakuna Matata! Ain't…
Kid from Spavinaw I was born in Oklahoma, 1931 Outside the town of…
Lily Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts The festival was over the boys were all plannin' for…
Lord of the Trains Well I met him in Chicago outside the Union Station He…
Love Abides Look how far we've come Do we know who we are? Stranded…
Love Makes a Fool of the Wise I was always running scared it's true I was always running…
Manzanar He said my name is Nakashima And I'm a proud American I…
Mesabi Have you ever seen Duluth? When the Great Lake waves are…
Mississippi River Runnin Backwards Old man river, that old man river he just keeps…
Muhammad Ali From Louisville Kentucky name of Cassius Clay Fought my way…
Navajo Rug Well, It's 3 eggs up A whiskey toast and home fries…
Nina Simone Trains used to run All across Mexico Way down through the …
Old Blue Well, I had an old dog and his name was…
Out In California I'm sitting here drinkin' in the last bar on earth Sittin'…
Outbound Plane Don't want to be standing here With this ticket for this…
Patrick Russell My name is Patrick Russell, I've led a Christian life I…
Prairie In The Sky I ride an old blue roan, I carry all I…
Rayburn Crane Rayburn Crane he rode these mountains like the streams he…
Red Oak Texas Down in the scrub oak country To the southeast Texas Gulf Th…
Rio Grande Baby pulled her blue dress on and walked out in…
Rose of San Joaquin Farewell to the lights of Madera, I'm leaving with the…
Seven Curses (Bob Dylan) Old Reilly stole a stallion But they caught him…
Sitting Bull In Venice Look at me, brave Sitting Bull, in this gondola canoe Bill…
Sky Above the Mud Below Two men rode in from the south, a rainy autumn…
Small Engine Repair I work right out of my own garage I keep my…
Somebody's Husband Somebody's Son Out on the freight line there's an old hobo camp Where…
Sonora Well the Mezcal is free in Amanda's saloon For the…
South Coast My name is Juanano de Castro My father was a Spanish…
Spanish Burgundy Barcelona is a woman's town, women everywhere Barcelona is a…
St. Olav Drinking black market vodka in the back of the Scottsman's…
Stealing Electricity There's a Mexican dead up on a power line He's deader…
Sterling Hayden Sterling Hayden on a barge in Amsterdam One of those backwa…
The Angel Of Lyon He had a vision of Anne Marie With a rosary in…
The Ballad Of Edward Abbey "Benedicto: May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, d…
The Ballad of William Sycamore My father was a mountaineer His fist was a knotty hammer…
The Banks of the Musselshell I stare out every evening at the distant Northern Star It…
The Basque At night his spirit is singing through the cactus tree…
The Dutchman The Dutchman is not the kind of man To keep his…
The Evangeline Hotel Well, she moves like Betty Grable She's an actress waitin'…
The Eyes of Roberto Duran Has anybody here seen Roberto Duran? I met him once, yeah…
The Heart The festival was over the boys were all plannin' for…
The John Bull Tin He said his pride and joy was that old John…
The Kid from Spavinaw I was born in Oklahoma, 1931 Outside the town of…
The Man From God Knows Where Come gather round me children, a story I will tell I've…
The Man From God... Come gather round me children, a story I will tell I've…
The Next Thing Smokin Well I live out in Southern Arizona I followed an abandoned…
The Old Rugged Cross On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The…
The Road It Gives the Road It Takes Away I was walking down a quiet road in Ireland Out beneath…
The Rose of San Joaquin Farewell to the lights of Madera, I'm leaving with the…
The Sky Above Two men rode in from the south, a rainy autumn…
Tonight We Ride Panco Villa crossed the border in the year of ought…
Touch of Evil The night my baby left me I crossed the bridge…
U.S. Steel Homestead Pennsylvania, the home of the U.S. Steel And the m…
Valley of the Rio Grande Baby pulled her blue dress on and walked out in…
Walkin The lights of the town were just shuttin' down ,…
Wayfarin' Stranger I am a poor wayfarin' stranger Travelling through this worl…
When Irish Girls Grow Up Darling don't go to the city, you'll get lost there…
When Sinatra Played Juarez Uncle Tommy Gabriel, he played the blue piano While Frank an…
Where the Dream Begins What happened to the kid in the baseball cap? Well he's…
Who's Gonna Build Your Wall I've got 800 miles of open border Right outside my door Ther…
Who's Gonna Build Your Wall? I got 800 miles of bolted border Right outside my door There…
Winnipeg How's the weather in Winnipeg? The broke-down nags with the…
Woodrow When people twist your words, Woodrow, ah, they′ll twist at…
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Roman Darien
likely the most underrated singer/songwriter in America
Videomanjohn
It's one of Tom Russell's best songs....and great country to be driving through.
Tom K
Just saw a few BNSF paralleling Old Rte 66 in Arizona it still looks and sounds pretty good, wish we had this playing in the car while we were driving along with them.
Sherine Cisco
Great shots and editing!! Perfect tune for the film and visa versa! .S.
4545Bodo
Great song!
m hubin
TOm really sounds like Bill Morrissey in this one. In particular, These Cold Fingers. Both great singers and song writers.
Johnny ReadallLobato
What a haunting beautiful ballad about the southwest and the Santa Fe Railroad!. . . . It makes you think of what it must have been like in the "Good Ol' Days". My grandparents came to U.S. through the Ciudad Juarez- El Paso, Texas border 94 years ago last month on November 6, 1919. The very next day on 11-07-19191the U.S. Government's Justice Department, which is a misnomer, back in 1919, conducted the infamous "Palmer Raids" named after the U.S. Atty General who along with another dubious Fed-a-Rally he appointed to run the raids for him against left wing individuals,dissidents and basically all foreigners, which my grandparents were. They were legal alien agricultural laborers fleeing war torn Mexico during the Mexican Revolution where they fought alongside Pancho Villa and his Division Del Norte. . . . .
It's no wonder that when I found them next listed in the 1920 U.S. Census, just 7 weeks after they crossed the border, that I noticed something odd was recorded on those same U.S. census records. . . Now keep in mind that at that time Mexican immigrants were not allowed to work in any other field . . . . except in the fields, as agricultural laborers. They would face immediate deportation if caught working any where else in the U.S. I found that they were living on a cotton-picking farm in Arizona's Maricopa County where they were listed as servants at the Hugh Weatherford residence, as cotton-picking farm laborers. But for some reason my grandfather's name had been changed from Librado to Nivarado. which means "freed" to Nivarado which means "I don't know any Librado's around here! . . . . And my Uncle Francisco(named after Pancho Villa) is listed as a 2 yr. old female named Francisca.(luckily for him, that's all they changed?) My grandfather somehow made it through those trying times and got a job with the Santa Fe Railroad, although on the back of his Alien Agricultural Laborer I.D. Card it says that it is illegal to work anywhere else except in the agricultural industry and if caught, you will be deported immediately and/or subject to incarceration. But I guess they allowed exceptions for Mexicans to do the Railroad work that no Anglo's would do..And I guess all the "give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses who long to breathe free!" was just a bunch of Bull-$h!t. . . . . Oh! and by the way . . . the dubious Fed-A-Rally who ran those 1919 raids was none other than the cross-dressing, credit stealing, panty-wearin, $ock-sucker. . . J.Edgar Hoover! . . . .Who I always seem to find behind many of the injustices of the past against U.S. Citizens. They say that the "Palmer Raids" are the reason why the ACLU was created. And I just found a list of all time worst cabinet members and guess who is #1 . . . Atty General A.Mitchell Palmer. This is the Time magazine comment>>>Charged with enforcing the law, Palmer trampled the Constitution instead. (Ha! Ha! Ha! on you!) Now put that in your slurpee and say goodnight Mr. A.M.P.M(ark) . . .
NOW THAT"S JUSTICE! . . . .in my department! . . .
p.s. As I think about it again, I guess the "Good Ol' Day's " I mentioned at the start weren't!. . . But a beautiful ballad by Tom Russell none the less!
Thanks 4 letting mE vent by mE XXX i can & will tell the world about the T*R*U*T*H* s.h.mE God! . . .
KA D
Bill Morrissey is my favorite songwriter, man!!
PMG 01
Funny to see other references to Bill Morrissey in these comments. Tom Russell and Bill Morrissey are, by far, my two favorite singer/songwriters and my two biggest musical influences. I perform a few of Bill's songs every single day, doing my bit to keep his music alive. I really miss him.
Brad DeMoss
Spectacular video. Thank you.