Peace Train
	Produced by Paul Samwell-Smith
	Released on September 1971
	US CHART POSITION #7 (charted Sept. 25, 1971 for 12 weeks)
	Find it at GEMM
AM-1291-S wo. picture sleeve

T his is an identical version to the elpee cut, which I mention only because these trains don’t run on time. The elpee lists the track time at a generous 4:10 (it’s more like 4:05) while the single inexplicably lists the time at 3:40 (again closer to 4:05). Of course I’ve learned to take track times with a grain of salt over the years (some day I’ll buy a stop watch and mete to the beat). Wonderful song, by the way, that builds a palpable momentum like a train gathering steam and closes in a soft wash of strings followed by an ellipsis of acoustic guitar. (Although I’m not actually certain if using an ellipsis to imply continued cogitation at the end of a sentence is grammatically correct. I think it is.) The B side is taken from Tillerman; identical track times this time, always a pleasure to hear it. 10,000 Maniacs did a cover of “Peace Train” in 1987 but withdrew their support for the song when Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) joined his voice to those calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie (who peace’d off a lot of people). All turned out well: Rushdie wasn’t killed (he remained in hiding) and the radio stopped playing 10,000 Maniacs’ version of “Peace Train” (which I never liked anyway). Of minor note: On my Canadian promo copy, the A side (AM-1291-S) is in stereo, the B side (AM-1291) in mono.

TRACK LISTING

1. PEACE TRAIN    (Cat Stevens)    3:40
2. WHERE DO THE CHILDREN PLAY    (Cat Stevens)    3:48
   
   AUS'L 7-inch track listing
   
1. PEACE TRAIN
2. TUESDAY'S DEAD

CREDITS

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