"Deep Cuts" With Judge Fay!

Sure we've seen our learned friend Magistrate Judge Goodman reference Tom Petty, Elvis, Keith Urban and others in the course of issuing opinions, and even Judge Carnes gave it a try, but Judge Fay takes it to another level by going deep, way deep and way back with this musical reference:

On July 23, 2009, Connie Strickland had been “working on the railroad / All the live-long day.” 1 In fact, he claims he was working his customary twelve-hour shift when, towards the end of that shift, he suffered a massive shoulder injury as a result of a faulty handbrake.

And here's Judge's Fay citation (note to the wordy):

1 A popular American folk song, the first published version of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” seems to have been in a 1894 Princeton University songbook. See James J. Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music 309 (Dover, 4th ed. 1996).

What, nothing about the recording studio where it was first cut?  What about how high it charted in the UK?  Who played bass on the original version? Where can I find John Denver's cover of this classic?

Come on, these are basic musical reference questions we expected answered down here.