Orange Blossom Special - chords, tab and comments


This bluegrass classic is fully credited Ervin Thomas Rouse (1917 – 1981), but is certainly cowritten by Robert Russell "Chubby" Wise (1915 – 1996), who left him all rights after a nightly jam session in 1938. The "Orange Blossom Special" was a real coast line, renowned to be the strongest freight train ever ... at that time. It was closed down in 1953.
E.T. Rouse was a man of few ambitions. He started as a vaudeville fiddler, formed a duo with his brother Gordon for many years, and ended up performing in roadhouses down in the swamps. He also wrote the bluegrass standard "Sweeter than the Flowers".
E                                               E7
look yonder coming  coming down that railroad track
A                                               E
look yonder coming  coming down that railroad track
          B7                                       E
it's the Orange Blossom Special  bringing my baby back

Like most bluegrass music, the harmonies are simple. But the fiddling interlude, characteristic for the song, is rather tricky. In his famous 1965 cover, Johnny Cash dropped the fiddle and used harmonica/saxophone instead. Myself I yodle it ... thus I've never played this song on stageemoticon
E major
E
E seventh
E7
A major
A
B seventh
B7
Ervin Rouse