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Tune History

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The Stories Behind Your Favorite Tunes

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Possum On The Rail

From The Mississippi Possum Hunters

The Mississippi Possum Hunters were Lonnie Ellis, John Holloway and Pete Herring from near Winona, Mississippi. Ellis and Holloway traded fiddling duties, with Ellis also playing mandolin and Holloway playing cello. Herring was a contest winning guitarist and singer. 


On May 28, 1930, at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee, the band recorded six tunes for Victor. The four chosen for release were “The Last Shot Got Him,” “Rufus Rastus,” “Mississippi Breakdown,” and “Possum On The Rail.” Ellis, who played fiddle on the recording of “Possum On The Rail,” said he learned the tune from his brother, Homer. Holloway played cello with Herring on guitar. The band members were paid $50 each for their work. Uncommon for the time, Ellis also received a half cent royalty on "Mississippi Breakdown" and "Possum On The Rail," which, Ellis reported, translated to about $300-$400 over the next 15 years. (Only 1242 copies of "Possum" were sold.) In 1931, the tune was recorded as “Racoon On A Rail” by The Hometown Boys from north Georgia (Bill Helms, fiddle, Gid Tanner, banjo, and Riley Puckett, guitar).


“Possum On The Rail" is a two part tune, recorded originally in the key of G, and is still played that way by most. The first part features a quick slide up to a high B note for the fiddlers (the hiss of a possum?), and the second part is very similar to “Bile Them Cabbage Down.” An excellent resource for information on other great Mississippi bands, such as "Freeny's Barn Dance Band" is “Fiddle Tunes From Mississippi” by Harry Bolick and Tony Russell.


Possum On The Rail

Mississippi Possum Hunters

May 1930


Possum On The Rail

Rhys Jones and Friends

Clifftop 2018

Raccoon On A RailThe Hometown Boys
00:00 / 03:06
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