Following in his tradition of train pieces like Choo Choo (1924) and Daybreak Express (1933), Ellington now must follow Strayhorn’s formidable Take The “A” Train (1941). Happy Go-Lucky Local is the opposite of Daybreak Express. Instead of the overwhelming speed and power threatening everything in its path, this broken-down train rumbles through the sleepy countryside at a soulful easy-going pace bringing a smile to every face and as Jimmy Maxwell used to say, “making you want to wiggle your hands, shake your ass and holler.”

Originally conceived as the fourth and final movement of the Deep South Suite, this is the only part of the suite that was recorded commercially. Ellington’s recording contract with RCA Victor ended in January of 1946, and he wouldn’t return to Columbia until September of 1947. In the nearly 2-year interim, he recorded for a number of small labels as well as V-discs for the armed forces.

The most important of these recordings were made for Musicraft in a 1-month period between November and December, 1946. Musicraft’s catalog was sold over and over to other small labels, so that these important sides appeared in many bargain compilations over the years.

The Musicraft sides document Ellington and Strayhorn’s postwar shift from the dancehall to the concert hall. Aside from a couple of straight forward ballad features for Johnny Hodges and Marylou Williams’ Trumpets No End, the music consists of longer pieces that couldn’t fit on one side of a 78 rpm disc. Jam-a-ditty was the only movement recorded from the Tonal Suite. Strayhorn’s Overture To A Jam Session, the Ellington’s The Beautiful Indians, the 1937 Diminuendo In Blue minus its finale (Crescendo In Blue), and Happy Go-Lucky Local. Ellington had experimented more than a few times with pieces spanning more than one side going all the way back to Tiger Rag in 1929.

Happy Go-Lucky Local was planned as a 2-parter. Both parts were recorded on the same day, but Part 2 was recorded first. The entire Deep South Suite had already been rehearsed and performed. The original score for Part 1 had been discarded and replaced with completely different (mostly repetitive vamp) material that was likely dictated at rehearsal. The 5-chord transition/modulation appears at the end of Part 1 and then again at the beginning of Part 2. In live performance, there is not repeat.

The blues theme of Part 2 became a Rhythm and Blues hit several years later under the title of Night Train, credited to Jimmy Forrest. Forrest played tenor sax with Ellington from August, 1949 to January, 1950. Curiously, Ellington never contested the authorship.