TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

HIJACKING THE 'ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL'

ADVERTISEMENT

By PHILIP MORGAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 17, 2008

TAMPA - The obscure Ervin T. Rouse lived in a shack in the Everglades and played fiddle tricks for tips, even though he had thousands in the bank.

Rouse, a diagnosed schizophrenic, had no concept of money, says his biographer, Randy Noles.

"He would get a royalty check, it might be $10,000, and he would go to a hot dog stand and try to cash it," Noles says.

And Rouse didn't seem to care much that the famous bluegrass fiddler Chubby Wise claimed credit for co-writing "Orange Blossom Special," a bluegrass standard recorded by dozens of artists.

Noles cared, however. In his book "Fiddler's Curse" (Centerstream Publishing; 2007), he establishes that the tune, inspired by the passenger train that ran from New York to Miami, was written solely by Rouse, who died in 1981. The musician was recognized two months ago by the state of North Carolina, which erected a historical marker near his birthplace in Craven County.

"He had such a tragic life in every other respect," says Noles. "He did this one incredible thing and he could not get the credit that he was due for that."

Rouse's hit, famously recorded by Johnny Cash, was named as one of the top 10 songs of the century in 2000 by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Mimicking the rumble of wheels and wail of the horn, the tune starts out at breakneck speed and keeps that pace to its furious finish.

The book centers on the story told for years by Wise, who played back-up for Bill Monroe in his early years and the Grateful Dead in his later years. Many references give him half credit for the tune that Rouse wrote, says Noles, an Orlando publisher of city magazines.

Indeed, when Wise died in 1996, the first paragraph of his New York Times obituary asserted that he collaborated on "Orange Blossom Special."

In a tale Wise told to many interviewers, he and Rouse were out drinking in Jacksonville one night in 1938 when they decided to check out the new diesel engine on the Orange Blossom Special, a luxurious train of sleeping cars that catered to the wealthy. They were so inspired by the sight that they went directly to Wise's apartment and composed "Orange Blossom Special" in about 20 minutes. Wise said he was too busy to bother with copyrighting the song and told Rouse he could have it.

Noles, 53, interviewed Wise's widow and established that both fiddlers were at Wise's apartment that night. Noles' research showed, however, that Rouse had written the tune years earlier as "South Florida Blues," copyrighting it as "Orange Blossom Special" a few months before the night at Wise's apartment.

Cash knew the real story and protected Rouse, making sure the fiddler got all his royalties. Cash and Wise once performed the "Orange Blossom Special" together in Lake City, and Cash made a point of crediting Wise only as a man "who plays a great version" of the tune.

Rouse was not a person who sought fame or attention, Noles says. "He was easy to take advantage of. Even if he told his story, probably over the years people didn't believe him because he looked like a bum."

All the Rouse siblings knew how to play instruments. Their father, a tobacco farmer, would send him and a brother into the nearest town to play on the street corners for tips. Rouse could play complicated tunes by ear when he was 8 years old. He started in vaudeville at age 10. He could also make animal and machine sounds with the instrument, which he could play upside down, behind his back and over his head. He and his brother Gordon eventually moved to Miami, where they did a "rube" act in Miami Beach nightclubs.

He wrote one other notable song, "Sweeter Than the Flowers," which was a country hit in the 1940s.

Noles developed his interest in the Rouse-Wise story while writing an article for Jacksonville Magazine. He originally wrote the book in 2000 under the title "Orange Blossom Boys." A PBS documentary, which premiered in 2002 and is still shown periodically, was based on the book.

After the book and documentary came out, many people who had known Rouse gave Noles so much new information that he persuaded his publisher to release a revised book. Its full title is, "Fiddler's Curse, The Untold Story of Ervin T. Rouse, Chubby Wise, Johnny Cash, and the Orange Blossom Special."

Noles can only guess at why Wise, so successful in his career, felt a need to claim credit for co-writing the "Orange Blossom Special." By the end of his life, Noles speculates, Wise had told the story so many times he probably believed it was true.

"He didn't really need this. It's all Ervin had."

Reporter Philip Morgan can be reached at (813) 259-7609 or pmorgan@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT