<P> The lyrics are based on "Cow - Cow Boogie", a 1942 song about a singing cowboy . Bradshaw rewrote lines, such as "a ditty he learned in the city" and "get along, get hip little doggies, and he trucked' em on down the old fairway", to meet his new scenario . Although the King Records single lists "Bradshaw - Mann" as the songwriters, reissues and subsequent recordings of "The Train Kept A-Rollin"' credit Tiny Bradshaw, Lois Mann (a pseudonym of King Records' owner Syd Nathan), and Howard Kay . BMI, the performing rights organization, lists the songwriters / composers as "Myron C. Bradshaw, Sydney Nathan, and Howard Kay". According to music historian Larry Birnbaum, "Mann's name was plainly added to allow Syd Nathan to siphon off a share of the publishing royalties, as label owners routinely did in those days; as for Kay, his identity remains a mystery". </P> <P> The recording session took place on October 6, 1951, in Cincinnati, Ohio . Besides Brashaw, Prysock, and Paul, the other participants were: Leslie Ayers and Lester Bass on trumpets; Andrew Penn on trombone; Ted "Snooky" Holbert on alto and baritone sax; Rufus Gore on tenor saxes; Jimmy Robinson on piano; and Clarence Mack on bass . King Records issued the song on both ten - inch 78 rpm and seven - inch 45 rpm records in late 1951 . Billboard magazine reviewed the release and commented using jump parlance: "The singer comes thru (sic) with a great vocal on a rockin' novelty, with some solid chorus and ork (orchestra a.k.a. swing band) backing . Tune builds all the way . Platter could catch a lot of change ." However, it did not appear on the charts of the nation's most popular R&B songs, such as those compiled by Billboard . Although Bradshaw had five other records that reached the R&B top ten, "The Train Kept A-Rollin"' remains his best - known recording and continues to be popular with Shag dancers (a type of swing dance) on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> "The Train Kept A-Rollin"' </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Single by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> B - side </Th> <Td> "Honey Hush" </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Released </Th> <Td> September 1956 (1956 - 09) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Format </Th> <Td> 10 - inch 78 rpm & 7 - inch 45 rpm records </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Recorded </Th> <Td> July 2, 1956 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Studio </Th> <Td> Owen Bradley, Nashville, Tennessee </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Genre </Th> <Td> Rockabilly </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Length </Th> <Td> 2: 17 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Label </Th> <Td> Coral (no . 61719) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Songwriter (s) </Th> <Td> Tiny Bradshaw, Lois Mann, Howie Kay </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> "The Train Kept A-Rollin"' </Th> </Tr>

Who played guitar on train kept a rollin