Being a compleat transcript of Theme Time Radio Hour Season 1 Episode 12, "Cars," with commentary as appropriate.

First broadcast July 19, 2006

Special thanks to Viktor Hlon' for the original transcript.  Any errors are Dreamtime's.

***

[Rain and traffic]

The Lady in Red (Ellen Barkin): It’s night time in the big city. The wind picks up from over the bay. A delivery boy makes a wrong turn.

The Lady in Red: It’s Theme Time Radio Hour with your host Bob Dylan.

["Frantic Freeway" - Spike Jones (Background)]

Bob Dylan: It’s time, once again, for Theme Time Radio Hour. And today we’re gonna talk about the endless gray ribbons of asphalt that criss-cross this country. We’re talkin’ about where the rubber meets the road, on steel. We’re gonna climb aboard the four-wheeled horseless carriage.  Because today’s theme is cars, automobiles, coupes, racecars, the pick-up, the van, jalopies, jeeps, junkers, the station wagon, the roadster, the notchback, the convertible, hard-tops, classics, Pontiacs, Cadillacs, Buicks, low-riders, SUVs, and other assorted vehicles. So strap yourself in, put the pedal to the metal and listen.

Bob Dylan: Alright then. First up, "Rocket 88,” Jackie Brenston. A lot of people call this the first rock’n’roll song. Jackie Brenston played saxophone, but he has stepped up to the mike to sing this. “You may have heard of jalopies, You heard the noise they make, Let me introduce you to my Rocket '88. Yes it's great, just won't wait, Everybody likes my Rocket '88. ”

[Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats  – “Rocket '88”]

Bob Dylan: That was Jackie Brenston, and “Rocket '88.” On the label it says, "Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats," but in reality it was Ike Turner and His Kings of Rhythm.

***

Commentary

As Mr. D. notes, "The Delta Cats" were a nom de label that Chess Records attached to the group to differentiate their single from another single Chess released at the same time, which featured Ike Turner's voice fronting the same line-up.

The release of "Rocket `88" had several interesting after-effects. The single's success prompted Sam Phillips to form Sun Records after realizing that the profits from the #1 with a bullet hit should have flowed into his pockets rather than Chess, the label he sold the track to.  "Rocket '88" ushered in a new era of a wilder, more frenetic style of rock-and-roll and has some claim to be the first "modern" rock-and-roll song.  And the song caused a parting of the ways between Jackie Brenston and Ike Turner, the bandleader being severely displeased that "Rocket '88" had soared to the top of the charts under Brenston's name.



"Rocket '88" was based on Jimmy Liggins' "Cadillac Boogie," a fact that Jackie Brenston freely admitted, once telling an interviewer, "if you listen to the two songs, you'll find out they're both basically the same. The words are just changed."

We couldn't motor down the road without taking note of one of the first uses of a fuzz guitar in "Rocket '88" and the legend surrounding that innovation.  Depending on who was telling the story, the guitarist's amplifier was either damaged from falling off a car or from rain seeping into the trunk where the amp was stored while the band was making its way to Memphis.  In either case, the semi-broken amplifier produced a distinctive distorted sound which Ike Turner dug.

And the road where this serendipitous moment in musical history took place?  Why, Highway 61, of course.

***

Bob Dylan: We’re talking about cars here on Theme Time Radio Hour. And just in a little bit we’ve got Bruce coming up, one of his rave-ups “Cadillac Ra-a-anch.”

[Commercial: “It’s the ultimate in elegance, Cadillac. The ultimate in dependability. You’d never guess how easy it is to own a Cadillac – come in and see.”]

Bob Dylan: Everybody loves a new Cadillac. Next up, we’re gonna visit the Cadillac Ranch. I caught up with artist Hudson Marquez.  Ol' Hudson put ten Cadillacs in the ground, I don’t know if Bruce ever knew him, but I did. Hudson, what made you ever think to put ten cars in the ground?

Hudson Marquez: Well, Cadillac Ranch is an art piece outside Amarillo, Texas, on old Route 66.  And it’s ten Cadillacs buried nose-down, fins up. And it represents the rise and the fall of the tail fin. The Cadillac Ranch came about because, all my life I was in love with Cadillacs, all my heroes drove Cadillacs. My heroes were Fats Domino, and Ray Charles, and Ernie K. Doe.

Hudson Marquez: I went to a Bruce Springsteen show, here in Los Angeles, and it was packed, I don’t know, 10,000 people? I was sitting right in the front, you know, few, rows from the stage. And when he sung “Cadillac Runch”, I kinda turned around and looked at the audience and they all knew the words. And I’ve got kinda—what should be creepy feeling, but it was kind of like— if i didn’t know Fats Domino drove a Cadillac, he wouldn’t be singing this song.]

[Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “Cadillac Ranch” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I think Bruce is from New Jerse.

[Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “Cadillac Ranch”]

Bob Dylan: That was the Boss, talking about the Cadillac Ranch. “Cadillac, cadillac, Long and dark, and shiny and black, Open up your engines and let `em roar, Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur.” First time I heard this song I thought it was “Tearing up the highway like Dina Shore!”

[Theme song from NBC's "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" (1957 - 1962): “See the USA in your Chevrolet
America is asking you to call
So make a date today to see the USA
And see it in your Chevrolet”]

Bob Dylan: From “Vee-Jay” records, Billy “The Kid” Emmerson. He’s just standing there with rubber heels, trying to ease up on a pedal, with the song called “Every Woman I Know.”

[Billy “The Kid” Emmerson – “Every Woman I Know”]

Bob Dylan: That was Billy “The Kid” Emmerson talking about automobiles. They don’t make cars like they used to – a lot of things they don’t even make anymore. And remember, there’s a lot of things tomorrow that they’re not making today, so get used to it.

[page turns]

Bob Dylan: “Me and My Chauffeur Blues,” one of the great blues songs of all time, one of the great car songs of all time, one of the great chauffeur songs of all time, sung by one of the great old ladies of all time. Memphis Minnie knows all about chauffeurs. Her real name was Lizzie Douglas, as you may or may not know. Born in eighteen and ninety-seven in Algiers, Louisiana. Minnie began playing guitar in the late twenties, and in all cases she was more than any man’s equal. She performed with her husband, Kansas Joe McCoy.

Bob Dylan: They say a good husband should be deaf, and a good wife blind. Well, I don’t think either one of them people were either of those. “What I must buy him is a brand new V-8, a brand new V-8 Ford, and he won’t need no passengers — I will be his load.” “Me and My Chauffeur Blues,” by Memphis Minnie, on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[Memphis Minnie – “Me and My Chauffer Blues”]

Bob Dylan: Memphis Minnie. She moved to Chicago in the 1930’s. And had a bass and drums – she was before her time, anticipating the sound of the 1950’s Chicago Blues.

[Memphis Minnie – “Me and My Chauffer Blues” (version, excerpt)]

Bob Dylan: Memphis Minnie, you can drive me anywhere.

Bob Dylan: George Clinton wants to tell you about his automobile. He’s with his group Parliament, and he’s gonna take you out to the boonies. George Clinton was born in 1941 same year as I was born. In 1956 he formed a harmony group called the Parliaments. He has lost the rights to name “the Parliaments,” and took the S off it, and called it Parliament. He had a bunch of other bands, including, Funkadelic and the Brides of Funkenstein. Clinton is considered as one of the fathers of funk. Here’s George along with "Fuzzy" Haskins and the rest of Parliament telling the tale of the open road. “My Automobile.” From 19 and 70.

[George Clinton and Parliament – “My Automobile”]

Bob Dylan: “My Automobile” by Parliament. Most American car horns beep in the key of F – for “funk.” Free your mind, and your ass will follow.

[sounf of beep]

Bob Dylan: You know what that sound means. It means it’s an email time again. This one comes from Chuck Lorre of Davenport, Iowa. Chuck wants to know if I like movie “Bonny and Clyde?” Well, yes, as a matter of fact I do. And did you know that Clyde Barrow, whose middle name was Champion, of Bonny and Clyde fame, wrote a letter once to Hendy Ford in 19 and 34, one month before Clyde and the cigar-smoking gun-toting Bonnie were killed in the shootout with the police. Clyde stopped running from the federal authorities long enough to write would, quote: “Dandy car... Ford made... for sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got every other car skinned, and even if my business hasen’t been strickly legal it don’t hurt anything to tell you what a fine car you got.” Thanks for your letter Chuck! Perhaps he and Bonny wouldn’t have gotten into that much trouble if, instead of a Ford, they had ridden in a ‘Christian Automobile.’

[Dixie Hummingbirds – “Christian's Automobile” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Hare are the Dixie Hummingbirds on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[Dixie Hummingbirds – “Christian's Automobile”]

Bob Dylan: That was the Dixie Hummingbirds who got their star in Greenville, South Carolina. The relocated to Philadelphia in 1942 under the direction of Ira Tucker. They were well known for many songs, including, “Trouble in My Way,” “Let’s Go Out to the Programs,” “Christian’s Testimonial,” “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve seen,” and the one we’ve just heard where “Satan is trying to flag ‘em down. Check your tires, you got a rough road ahead; Check your brakes, stop your wicked ways; check on your generator, you’ll need more strength and power; Not worried about no parking place, I just want to see my Savior face to face.” Dixie Hummingbirds, “Christian Automobile,” with a rattle-free airflat construction and a jetfire engine, here on Theme Time Radio Hour, where we’re talking about cars. And a little bit about trucks and buses.

Bob Dylan: Next up the lovely and spectacular Joni Mitchell, from Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada. She was born in 1943... had polio when she was in the age of nine – that’s a hell of a thing. And she recovered in the children’s hospital where she began her performing career by singing to the other patients there. Later she taught herself to play guitar with the aid of Pete Seeger instruction book. I might’ve seen that saaame book.

Bob Dylan: Here she is, waiting for a car, climbing up the hill, waiting for her sugar to show. Joni Mitchell, “Car on a Hill.”

[Joni Mitchell – “Car on a Hill”]

Bob Dylan: “Car on a Hill” was featured on Joni’s-f-uuum 19 and 74 album called “Court and Spark.” One of my favorite records. Joni and I go back a long ways. Not all the way back, but pretty far. I’ve been in a car with Joni. Joni was driving a Lincoln. Excellent driver — I felt safe.

[some music starts to play and abruptly stops]

Bob Dylan: We’re gonna pause here for a word from our sponsor: Pete Epstein Pontiac.

[Frank Sinatra – commercial jingle for “Peter Epstein’s Pontiac”]

Bob Dylan: Now that’s a good one, hmm.

Bob Dylan: Right now, here’s the great blues harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson, from Grendora, Mississipi. We’d like to remind you that the one who drives, when he's been drinking, depends on you, to do his thinking. Here’s Sonny Boy Williamson, “Pontiac Blues” on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[Sonny Boy Williamson II – “Pontiac Blues”]

Bob Dylan: Sonny Boy Williamson Two also known as Alec Miller. He was the more famous of the two Sonny Boys, recorded for “Chess Records,” and he also had a show down in Helena, Arkansas called “King Biscuit Flower Hour,” [which] he probably played songs just like this. “Pontiac Blues,” Sonny Boy Williamson, the man with the full size spare in the trunk.

[sound of car’s horn, possibly beginning of Jimmy Caroll – “Big Green Car”]

Bob Dylan: Here’s a rockabilly song by Jimmy Caroll, all about a Big Green Car, a masterpiece, of engineering and style.

[Jimmy Caroll – “Big Green Car”]

Bob Dylan: That was Jimmy Caroll, talking about his “Big Green Car,” probably chopped and channeled with Baby Moon hubcaps, maybe a 32 Grille Shell, maybe Hi-Boy Roadster with a ragtop, whatever it is, sounds like it ate up the road.

[Keb Mo: Hello, this is Keb Mo, and you’re listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host Bob Dylan.]

Bob Dylan: Coming up next, “Get Out of the Car” by Richard Berry. A hungry young multi-talented man with an envelope pushing career vision from languid doo wop to feral R&B. There's consistent greatness in just about every groove, from Richard's youthful homage to the Fats Domino, right straight through to wild session that brought the world Yama Yama Pretty Mama and that uninhibited rocker Louie Louie. ( http://www.acerecords.co.uk/content.php ... lease=4472) So here it is, “Get Out of the Car” by Richard Berry.

[Richard Berry – Get Out Of The Car]

Bob Dylan: If Richard won't drive you home, I will. I got a car of my own.

Bob Dylan: Tail-lights on the freeway tonight. I don’t know where they been, where they’re going. They’re backed up all the way to the big bridge. Ohhh! If I had wings like a dove, ohhh! would I fly away. [laughs] I’d fly right out above all that traffic out there. All them cars. Look at ‘em all. So far off. So far so good. Over the hills, far away. Farewell!

Bob Dylan: Alright, I want everybody go out and paint their cars with red and white tonight, we want a Pink Car Nation.

[“Even the hot rod addict with his craving for speed is given a chance to release his youthful energies. Hot rod clubs, staged special races... Plenty of speed here.”]

[David Lindley and El Rayo-X – “Mercury Blues” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Here we have David Lindley and El Rayo-Xm, crazy about a Mercury. Dave is a great instrumentalist, known as much for his great guitar playing as he is for his loud polyester shirts and mutton chop sideburns. He loves himself a Mercury. He’ll tell you what he’d do, if he had any money he’d go downtown and buy a Mercury or two. David Lindley on Theme Time Radio Hour.

[David Lindley and El Rayo-X – “Mercury Blues”]

Bob Dylan: David Lindley, often considered a musician’s musician, well known a session player working with Rod Stewart, Linda Rondstadt, Ry Cooder and Warren Zevon. Perhaps best known as working with Jackson Brown. He started his band “El Rayo-X” in 19 and 81 with Bernie Larsen, Jorge Calderón, Ian Wallace, Ras Pierre and Henry Kaiser. They travel around the county in the Mercury.

[“Luxury in the Mercury. Quality and beauty too. Then add economy, and there’s your Mercury. Your Mercury waits for you.]

Bob Dylan: Here come Smileyyy. Too many drivers at your wheel, Smiley Lewis. His given name is Overton Lemons – I oughta use that name! Smiley’s from New Orleans, he wrote and recored such songs as “Blue Monday,” the original of "I Hear You Knocking," (its immortal piano solo courtesy of – guess who – Huey Smith), and “One Night.” “Too Many Drivers,” Smiley Lewis, check your oil, baby.

[Smiley Lewis – “Too Many Drivers”]

Bob Dylan: Too many drivers at your wheel, Smiley Lewis. Strangely, Fats Domino fared better with some of Smiley Lewis' tunes, better than Lewis did ant a lot of people thought that they were Fat’s tunes. "Blue Monday" in particularly. Sssimilarly, Elvis Presley cleaned up the naughty "One Night" and hit big with it.

Bob Dylan: Smiley always said a lot of jokes in his act. One of the jokes was, “I know the guy that put a beard on a Ford and call him Lincoln.”

Bob Dylan: Up next, we’ve got Prince. And just like Judy Garland, he’s from Minnesota too.

[“And now the completely new Corvette Stingray, for 1963, the new Corvette Sportcoop(?), the most exciting hardtop model you ever laid eyes on. It’ll be a pacesetter for years to come.”]

Bob Dylan: Alright, “Little Red Corvette” is one of Prince’s most well-known songs. The song was his biggest hit at the time and his first reached top-10 status in the USA.

Bob Dylan: Prince is from the same, sorta, area of the country that I'm from so we have plenty in common. Anyway, here’s “Little Red Corvett.” Prince.

[Prince – “Little Red Corvette”]

Bob Dylan: That was the Purple One, with more than enough gas. [laughs] “Little Red Corvette,” driving way to fast, with a pocket full of Trojan horses, and some of them used. Our Little Red Corvette hot(hard, heart?)lifting car, much too fast, bolero red, with a body that oughta be in jail, on the verge of being obscene, we’re brought down to the ground, way below your expectations and exactly in line with your hoops. First Corvette was made by Chevrolet in year 19 and 53, I bet that was before Prince was even born! That was an instant success. And it cost three Grand – I know, I tried to buy one for no money down.

[Chuck Berry – “No Money Down” starts playing]

Bob Dylan: Go ahead Chuck… Let's get it goin'.

[Chuck Berry – “No Money Down”]

Bob Dylan: That was Chuck Berry, who needs no introduction; “No Money Down,” the song that talks about four carburetors, two straight exhausts; a car that burns aviation fuel no matter what it costs; Chuck wants railroad air horns, a yellow convertible, a four-door de Ville that challenges ‘em all; he wants you to give it to him for nothing, he wants to buy it free, no money down.

Bob Dylan: Interesting to note, Chuck told me his first musical appearances were in his high school of all places, like many of us get started. Chuck’s music always has that hidden thing about it where, y’know the cause is always hidden but the effect is known. “No Money Down.” Chuck Berry. Always one jump ahead.

Bob Dylan: Well, the little needle's pointin' on the E, which means we're out of gas for another week. Remember, the trick is to drive so that your license expires before you do. Buckle up for safety, we’ll see you next week on Theme Time Radio Hour, your home for dreams,
themes and schemes.

[“Top Cat (Underscore)"]

“Pierre Mancini”: You’ve been listening to Theme Time Radio Hour, with your host, Bob Dylan. Produced by Eddie Gorodetsky. Associate producer, Sonny Webster. Continuity by “Eeps” Martin. Edited by Damian Rodriguez. Supervising editor, Rob Macomber. The Theme Time research team: Diane Lapson and Bernie Bernstein, with additional research by Lynne Sheridan, Kimberly Williams, and Robert Bower. Production assistance by Jim McBean. Special thanks to Randy Ezratty, Debbie Sweeney, Coco Shinomiya, and Samson's Diner. For XM Radio, Lee Abrams. Recorded in Studio B, The Abernathy Building. This has been a Grey Water Park Production in Association with Big Red Tree.

“Pierre Mancini”: This is your announcer, Pierre Mancini, speaking.

“Pierre Mancini”: Join us again next week for Theme Time Radio Hour, when the subject is, “Rich Man, Poor Man.”

[“...one night off and give it to...Eddie..... Val--Valentin gets in the first thing in the morning”]