Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Here's where we go to kick back after the races with our pals. Pour a tall one, punch a few buttons on the jukebox, and relax...
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WildcatOne
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon May 16, 2016 9:10 pm

Thanks, BP! It's my favorite thing to do...well, almost <g>

My pick for Racers of the Week are Dave and Mandy Pearce, from Tauranga, New Zealand. Their hot rod stands out as a great nostalgia gasser, and Mandy and Dave have been very enthusiastic and helpful in putting their feature together for me.

The car is a 1952 Ford Pop S/ST powered by a 455 Pontiac bored out to 462. It has an 850 double pumper, a hot rod cam, flowed heads, the power is delivered by a Pontiac 400 trans shift kitted with a 4000 stall unit, running to a Ford 9 inch diff with 4.11 differential gears.

The car sits on a custom 3x2 chassis. It has an independent front end with 4 pot calipers, an 8 point roll cage, a tubbed rear end, it's running front 15x5 et gassers and rear 15x12 Mickey Thompson slicks. The weight of pop is 1090 kgs. It has been dynoed in 2014 as 430 hp @ the rear wheels. The body mods on the car are as follows : fiberglass bonnet & nose cone ,fiberglass boot lid and the remaining body is steel. It has a homemade gasser barrel just for show . It's covered with custom mixed 2k green paint with custom lace & pin-striping by owner Dave .

Mandy gave A Brief history of the car:
We brought the pop as a bit of a barn find ,had been built & raced for years by Stu Clifton of Sliverdale in Auckland . Stu had decided to retire from racing and the pop had been sitting for quite a few years unraced; thats when we purchased it. Once we got the pop home we decided to leave the motor alone and concentrate on the body.We totally stripped the body from top to bottom and straightened & recoloured it .We removed the tilt front & replaced it with fiberglass . We changed the wheels & slicks and added new brakes ,and added a line lock system. We spent many hours on the body but was well worth it ..

Racing:
Mandy said the 1st season 2013-2014 , I spent getting a feel for the pop and getting some confidence .spent most of the season changing small things due to the car not being raced for awhile .The Best ET for that season was 11.7 @ 119 mph.
The 2nd season 2014-2015, I really was comfortable with the pop & hoping to better my times ...On the last day of racing for the season the motor decided to throw a connecting rod threw the sump, which put a stop to everything ,but did my PB 11.1 @ 123 mph .

Future plans :
We have a fresh engine being built by wild bunch & doorslammer racer Bobby Owens .The engine will be getting all new parts: rods, pistons etc and we will be adding a 671 RBS supercharger from California especially built for the pontiac , a blower cam ,twin carbs set up for E85. More horsepower and better ETs are sure to come.
We will be adding more custom lace & stripes to make the pop more nostalgia looking ...

Our Racing goals :
I am hoping to better my reaction times / race times as well as trying to get the pop more consistent .I would really like to step up a bracket to prove to myself I know I can do it .

Mandy gives thanks to:
My biggest thanks would be to my wonderful husband Dave who works & supports me all the way , honestly I could not do it with out him . My family who support my racing .To Bobby & Wendy Owens for their help & support with building new motor, and all the racers that have helped & guided me .
And a big thank you to JB for featuring our pop. We are very grateful for all the interest and support that we have had with our hot rod.

"BRING ON NEXT SEASON."

That's Dave & Mandy Pearce, Racers of the Week. We wish y'all good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

The ZZ Top story ended last week with the worldwide smash hit, the album Eliminator in 1983. They followed that album up with another couple of releases that also went platinum, Afterburner and Recycler. They toured the world in the 80s. I saw them at the Astrodome opening for the Rolling Stones and they were fantastic.

Recycler signalled the end of the band's synthesizer period, and the beginning of the band's return to its blues roots. They had conquered the world by then, and the formula they had created with the trilogy of albums that defined the 80s was wearing thin on them, so they changed again. They appeared in the movie Back to the Future Part III doing an old west version of Doubleback from Recycler. It was great. The look Michael J. Fox had on his face in that scene was perfect.

In the 90s, the band played the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXI, they inducted Cream into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, they released a special single of Viva Las Vegas, signed a 35 million dollar contract with RCA, and appeared on a compilation album that included Pink, the Dave Matthews Band, and Wilco. During this period, Gibbons, who was never stifled creatively, increased his car customizing and collecting, and he has produced some of the finest hot rods ever to roll down the street.

ZZ Top is back playing the blues, and although their records haven't sold on a par with their new wave records of the 80s, you can hear the happiness in the grooves they play. They were a featured act in Eric Clapton's Crossroads festival, Gibbons reunited the Moving Sidewalks and played some shows with his original psychedelic band, he was the bandleader for the Austin City Limits tribute to Roky Erickson, playing lead guitar on all of the 13th Floor Elevators classic songs, and in the post-show interview he said that Roky Erickson's voice is a universal treasure and he should be given the recognition and rewards that he deserves.

Gibbons also developed his own line of sauces that is available as BFG products on his personal website. They include Barbecue sauce, Piquante sauce, marinades, and Zombie Cajun sauce. He lent his talents to several performances including Kid Rock and they began an association with producer Rick Rubin and his stable of artists.

In 2004, ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame by Keith Richards. They performed Tush and LaGrange in their performance that night. the band has gone on to release several blues albums that defy traditional description, sampling other styles of music and putting it all together in their own mix of sound. They played the Orange Bowl, they are an annual feature at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, they played NASCAR races, toured the world several times and continue to be the definitive American band. But it's far from over as far as Billy Gibbons is concerned. He's always out there finding inspiration and material to write and perform with the band. He'll never run out of ideas, and I look forward to his next project. His recently released solo album, Perfectamundo, covers hit songs from our teen years, and it's a wonderful recollection of the best of times for us all. We're lucky to have ZZ Top with us, folks. If you haven't already, be sure to catch a show the next time they're in town.

Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me with these features. He's been a great partner in this project, and I appreciate everything he does.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss!

Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby Wheelzman » Tue May 17, 2016 8:09 am

Ah that Anglia or Pop sure brings back memories of my car seen below. I liked that their car has a odd engine package too as Pontiacs were from the old school theme. Back then you used what you had not what money could buy.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Jun 06, 2016 10:39 pm

Beautiful Gasser, Wheelz! Thanks for posting it!

My pick for Racer of the Week is Don Turner and his wife Sandi, from Greenville, Pennsylvania.

Don posts just about daily on Drag race America on Facebook. It's a great drag racing page and I recommend checking it out.

He has an '82 Z28 Camaro with a 632 and 3 kits of Nitrous on true 10.5's. It has won 9 first places in Outlaw Limited Street at Thompson Raceway in 2011 an 2012, Won the King of Columbus 10.5 in 2013, Milan Outlaw Limited Street Championship in 2013 and 2014, 4 first places at Quaker City Outlaw Limited Street in 2014 and he finished #1 in the Buffallo Street Outlaws in 2015.

Its a terror anywhere they race around the Great Lakes. Don said "My wife and I are the crew and driver at nearly 60 and we still enjoy the sport of Drag Racing. We are a very unsuspecting pair as a race team, my wife helps me with everything an we fool a lot of racers by not looking like we know what we are doing!" Don thanks Vinnie Barrone and Mike Smith for their help with his operation. Mike's been with Don from Day One.

Don promotes the DADS Streetcar Shootout at Quaker City Motorsports Park in Salem, Ohio. They have quite a few Heads Up racers and cars that will be featured here in the future. I asked Don what the initials DADs stand for and he said it stands for Dumb Arse DragRacers. Just something they can do to have a heads-up series at their home track.

So DADS is a Heads Up Drag Racing series at Quaker City Motorsports Park in Salem , Ohio. Cars are based on Production vehicles. Don and Sandi were at a Wednesday night Street race at Quaker City in Oct , 2013 with Vinnie Barrone and noticed the racers passion for the event and also the spectator involvement. They noticed only one thing missing, Outlaw Limited Street. They discussed this with Vinnie an decided to approach the track to see if they could combine those classes and make it a Saturday event. The Foxes were very interested in the idea so they scrambled to get things rolling for the spring of 2014.

They decided they would develop the DADS series solely for Quaker City and it was to be the tracks event and only theirs. They raise money for payouts to the racers throughout the winter and the track keeps all the gate money to ensure profitability for Quaker City and longevity for the series. The group of fund raisers are all volunteers an every penny goes to the racers in the form of payouts an prizes, their reward is a track that DADS can call home ! Right now they have 4 classes , Outlaw Limited Street, Modified Street, Street Legal, and True Street. 2016 is looking Great, companies from all over the country have joined with DADS to make this a very good year.

Don didn't tell me this, but our friend Gorden Jenkins told me that he has donated all of his winnings back into the DADS fund. That's Don Turner, Racer of the Week. Don, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

40 years ago, the independent Funny Car Racer Curt Wasson crashed on his motorcycle and the life on this earth of one of the most colorful, adventurous and free-spirited Drag Racers who ever lived made the transition from life as we know it into legend. Curt was 35 years old and he'd been in Drag Racing since he was a kid.

At this time I want to thank our friends Jim Sanders and Bret Kepner for their awesome input on Curt for this feature. I can assure you, some of it is not intended for the feint-of-heart and the narrow-minded. Curt Wasson was a real-life rock n' roll drag racer who lived the dream his way, and one of the last of the unsponsored outlaw racers who did it for the sheer enjoyment and thrill of racing the quarter mile with no apologies or pretense whatsoever.

He was the role model and life's hero for our buddy Jim, who has kept a library of Curt's pictures and stories, and a lot of my feature tonight is from what I've learned about Curt from Jim over the years. While chatting with Bret today, he backed up that notion with this. He said:
"One must remember he already had a "Superman" image to us in the area becuase of his Corvette. It was basically just a AA/Fuel Altered with Corvette fenders, (he ran nitro in it at match races), and it went wherever it wanted to go. It was Curt's job to wrestle it back to the center of the lane and, somehow, he always did. My personal favorite memory oh Curt is he was at an AA/FC match race against Ira Hollensbe at a little eighth-mile in Pevely, MO, Curt and Ira were strapped into their cars in the staging lanes while the track was cleaned up from a sportsman oildown. Each had one respirator in their face mask unscrewed and a crewman was shuttling a bottle of Jack Daniels between the cars. The funny part was the fact it just didn't seem like that big of a deal since it was happening between those two.

Jim related the story about how when Curt won his class at the World Series at Cordova driving his '62 Corvette, which was purchased brand-new in St. Louis and was now Curt's full-time race car, he was lined up in eliminations and both cars broke at the starting line. Curt got out and pushed the Vette all the way down the track for the win. Jim said he never saw Curt lift or abort a run, and he saw Curt drive through 2 fires and a crash. In Dallas, Georgia after Curt crashed into the trees with the SuperStitious Black Vega Funny Car which replaced the Camaro, Curt was hurting from where the safety belts had gotten tight on him during the impact. They got him a 6-pack of beer and he drank it on the way home leaning over in the cab.

The Superstitious Camaro sat on a Logghe chassis and was powered by a Curt-built supercharged nitro burning big block Chevy. It ran good. Curt didn't run national events with it. He did match races wherever he could get booked, mostly in the midwest. He did not have any money or a budget, but he had his funny car and the will to race. That's all he needed. He had plans to build a Vega Funny Car that would run the big show and he called it the million dollar baby, but that car never got finished.

Jim told me today, "I would like to add my personal thanks to all the folks and photographers who have sent or posted pics over the last decade or so since i found draglist.... I have never taken a photo myself of any of his cars in my life and have collected over 100 so I owe a lot of thanks to the interweb."

Check out the Albums in Jim's Facebook page that has the pictures of Curt and his cars. Go to Facebook.com/Jim Jr. Sanders. If pictures are worth a thousand words, there is an unabridged encyclopedia on Curt Wasson there and it's well worth the visit.

When I said to Bret today that Curt was taken from us 40 years ago, his response was "Well, the first point I would make is Curt was not "taken". He "decided to leave!" Curt was anything BUT a "cautious individual". When he crashed his bike, we were only surprised because he DIDN'T "cheat death". He was just that kind of guy." Thanks, Bret, for those words. Jim said I should close Curt's feature with them.

So I will, except to say that since I have known Jim Sanders, I have also gotten to know Curt Wasson and I'm so much better off for it. Rest in peace, Curt, and race on in Heaven.

Danny White's been telling me to do a feature on the Glam-Rock fad of the early 70s, so I'm planning one for next week. Y'all stay tuned. Should be a hoot.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss!

Thanks, I'll see y'all next week!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:05 pm

My pick for Racers of the Week are Gavin and Jenelle Green, from South Wairarapa, New Zealand. Gavin and Jenelle are very popular and well-known in the NZDRA, and they were recommended to me by our friends and former Racers of the Week, Ross and Helene Whelan. Thanks, y'all!
Gavin runs a dairy herd between Featherston and Martinborough but, most days, once he's done with the herd, he heads for his Holden race car. It's a 1968 HK Monaro in the Top Street bracket. It's a division that is populated by sedans that look like they might once have been on the street, before they received a healthy heart transplant.
A few seasons back, the Green team decided to make some major changes to the car they had run for five seasons. Out went a smaller, highly strung Chev engine, boosted by nitrous oxide. A complete overhaul ensued.
The panels were lightened, and a Murray Buckingham chassis was installed along with a 632 cubic inch (10.3 litre) Chev engine using two Holley 1250cfm Dominator carburetors. The engine is listed at an honest 1200 horsepower, although Gavin thinks 1300 is probably a more realistic figure. The mammoth engine was imported from the US and assembled with a pile of good parts by Warren Hale in Foxton.
That's enough to hurtle the Monaro down the quarter mile in 7.96sec at better than 170 miles an hour. Gavin said "We thought it could run an 8.3 second pass down the strip, maybe an 8.2 on its first day but we managed that in the first weekend,"
Drag racers are never satisfied, though. A change in racing fuel and some minor adjustments to the rocker ratio in the engine brought what Gavin and Jenelle had been hoping for when the purple Monaro ran its first seven-second pass.
"That was a gremlin off our back, running the seven. When you're close, you think it can happen on the next run but, that close to the limit, you need everything to line up in your favour." Gavin said he wants to earn a No1 for the side of the car to recognise the efforts put in by his crew, supporters and sponsors, ProParts (Palmerston North), Wildman Custom Metal and Supreme Automotive.
The latter two played a big part in the show quality presentation of the classic Aussie hot rod. "That's a big thing for me, putting the car on the line looking good and running hard," Gavin said. "It's about a little bit of recognition and reward for all the effort. If I can repay some of that and hand out a poster at the end of summer that has the car with that big 1 on it, we will have had a good season."
That's Gavin and Jenelle Green, Racers of the Week. We wish y'all good luck, safe racing and the best of times!
After some discussion with Danny White over the last couple of weeks, I decided instead of doing a piece on the Glam Rock fad of the early 70s, which was cool and spawned a lot of hit music back then, that I'd focus instead for a few segments on the phenomenon that also arose in the early 70s, changed the world (or at least the music world) and continues today with new membership and will continue to run forever, as far as anyone can see. I'm talking about Southern Rock.
There are dozens of Southern Rock bands. They don't necessarily play a certain style, as I agree with Danny that Southern Rock is not so much a style as it is a location. In the South half of the United States, there are bands and artists that do not fit into the category of long-haired redneck rockers, just as there are bands and artists that do. The most prominent and longest-running of these bands are groups that we're all familiar with and have enjoyed their music for more than 40 years.
The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, stand out at the top of the genre. Creedence Clearwater Revival preceded the Southern Rock trend and they deserve to be noted as probably the biggest influence on this style other than Blues and Country, which also can be heard in Creedence songs.
Hard-driving bands like Blackfoot and Molly Hatchett, Point-Blank and .38 Special came along in the wake of the groundbreaking ZZ Top. There were one-hit wonders like Wet Willie, Pacific Gas & Electric and The Outlaws, and there were long-time giants of this music such as JJ Cale and his protege', Eric Clapton.
Then there are fantastic musicians like Edgar Winter, who is one of the greatest musicians in the world. He's from Beaumont, Texas. Eric Johnson and Steve Morse are Southerners but they don't fit into the Southern Rock category. Southern Rock has Metal, Jazz, straight-ahead Rock n' Roll, Country, Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmie helped modernize Blues along with Johnny Winter, but we can't exactly label them with the Southern Rock moniker.
I'm focused and intent on detailing the two most prominent of the Southern Rock thing, and that's going to be Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band. In terms of virtuosity, precision and incredibly prolific songwriting, those two bands are by far the best and most respected. I already did ZZ Top, and they're different, so I'm not putting them in this analysis.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was originally formed in 1964 as My Backyard in Jacksonville, Florida, the band used various names such as The Noble Five and One Percent, before coming up with Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969.
In the summer of 1964, teenage friends Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, and Larry Junstrom formed the earliest incarnation of the band in Jacksonville, Florida as My Backyard. The band then changed its name to The Noble Five.[4] The band used different names before using One Percent during 1968.
Robert E. Lee High School was where the group acquired the name Lynyrd Skynyrd from their physical-education teacher Leonard Skinner.
In 1969, Van Zant looked for a new name. The group settled on Leonard Skinnerd, which was a mocking tribute to a physical-education teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, Leonard Skinner, who was notorious for strictly enforcing the school's policy against boys having long hair. Rossington dropped out of school, he was tired of being hassled about his hair. It's him who is the main player in this band. Despite their high school acrimony, the band developed a friendlier relationship with Mr. Skinner in later years, and invited him to introduce them at a concert in the Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum. Skinner also allowed the band to use a photo of his Leonard Skinner Realty sign for the inside of their third album.
By 1970, Lynyrd Skynyrd had become a top band in Jacksonville, they were headlining at some local concerts, and opening for several national acts. Phil Walden's younger brother, Alan Walden, became one of the band's managers. In 1974, the band's management was turned over to Peter Rudge. They continued to perform throughout the South in the early 1970s, further developing their hard-driving (blues rock) sound and image, and experimenting with recording their sound in a studio. Skynyrd crafted this distinctively "southern" sound through a creative blend of country, blues, and a slight British rock influence.
During this time, the band experienced some lineup changes for the first time. Junstrom left and was briefly replaced by Greg T. Walker on bass. At that time, Ricky Medlocke joined as a vocalist and second drummer to help fortify Bob Burns' sound on the drums. Medlocke grew up with the founding members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Some versions of the band's history have Burns leaving the band for a while during this time period. The band did play some shows with both Burns and Medlocke, using a dual-drummer approach similar to that of the Allman Brothers. In 1971, they made some recordings at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with Walker and Medlocke serving as the rhythm section, but without the participation of Burns.
Medlocke and Walker left the band to play with another southern rock band, Blackfoot, and when the band made a second round of Muscle Shoals recordings in 1972, Burns was once again featured on drums and who I consider to be the best rock and roll bass player of all time,Leon Wilkeson. Also in 1972, their roadie Billy Powell became the keyboardist for the band. Medlocke later returned to once again play drums for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Medlocke and Walker did not appear on any album until 1978, when First and... Last, which collected the band's recordings in the biennium 1971-1972, was posthumously released.
In 1972, Wilkeson temporarily left the band and their first album was recorded with their friend and former Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King on bass. He also added to the band's guitar department, and now Lynyrd Skynyrd was a triple-threat guitar boogie band par excellence. Their first album sold over a million copies behind their relentless touring, and it contained songs that are still played on FM Classic Rock stations today. Simple Man and Free Bird. They were the opening band for the Who's Quadrophenia Tour in 1974, and their second album, called Second Helping, went multiplatinum. This album contained the massive hit Sweet Home Alabama, which has all the players at the peak of their abilities and Ronnie Van Zandt's call-out to Neil Young's Southern Man. It was truly an inspired performance. In reality, Van Zandt and Neil Young were friends, and they had fun with the controversy around that little run-in. Both were fans of each other's talent, and it just turned out to be good, clean fun. But the fun was about to turn into disaster, and I'll get into that in my next segment on Southern Rock.
Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these features together.
Everybody have safe travels next weekend. Be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern for Racing Through History on Racers Reunion Radio. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:59 pm

My pick for Racers of the Week are Kevin and Kyle Rapozo, from Hanamaulu, Hawaii. Kevin and Kyle were recommended to me by our friend in Hilo, Michael Baba Balbarino. Thanks, Michael! Be sure to check out Michael's 808_Fuel page on Facebook. It has the latest updates in Hawaiian Drag Racing and it features all of the racers who live there. All of the cars and people I've seen and met there are great! Thank you!

I had a great conversation with Kevin Rapozo today. He is a lifelong drag racer with his roots in old-school hot rods. When he was in High School, he and his buddy Ray Silva street raced with a Toyota they souped up. After crashing that car, Kevin went drag racing on the strip with a highly-modified VW Bug that ran in the street class but he was running 8-second ETs with it.

He then built a blown alcohol Chevy dragster that had a best ET of 6.80. Still not satisfied, Kevin then built a top alcohol dragster that got into the 6.50s.

Then he said screw it and he got a full-blown Brad Anderson Hemi for the car that put him in the 5's and he was off and running. He had the car sent to the West Coast where it was a legal Top Dragster, and in 2009 Kevin ran it at Las Vegas and qualified #1 with a 5.82 but he got confused after the fuel cars ran and he shut it off at 1,000 feet! He still says that was the highlight of his drag racing career so far. In the first round he broke the converter so he went home, but it's one of those "What If" kind of situations and if he had it all to do over again, he would have run it all the way through the quarter. It was definitely on a record run that day.

So he went home and being a true drag racer, Kevin built a bracket car with a 4-link and a 560 cubic inch Chevy engine and was running 7.40 second ETs. In 2011 he had to take a year off when his mom got sick, but he's been back at it and he's hit a 6.90 with the car, while his son Kyle, who just turned 11, is winning with his junior dragster, running 8.90 with it.

Kevin told me he has yet to kick in the 2-stage nitrous system on the big dragster; so far he's just running it on the motor, but he believes that he can get into the low 6's with that system.

Kevin owns and operates his own business in Hawaii and he's been very successful with it. He's attended conventions in Texas at Dallas, Waco and he was here for Friday night Qualifying recently at the Houston event.

He plans to keep drag racing and maintain his high level of excellence on the strip as well as in life, and we wish him good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

Lynyrd Skynyrd was on top of the world during 1975 and '76. When Ed King left the band in the middle of a worldwide tour, the backup singer Cassie Gaines recommended her brother Steve to fill the slot. It turned out that Steve Gaines was every bit as good as Ed King had been and he added a great voice and songwriting talent to the band. But during Labor Day weekend in 1976, both Allen Collins and Gary Rossington were both involved in serious car crashes, due to their being intoxicated, and this prompted Ronnie Van Zandt to start cleaning up his act and try to lose the band's reputation as a boozed-up brawling bunch of bad boys. The hits kept coming, and they played an oustanding set at the Knebworth Festival, opening for the Rolling Stones.

Steve Gaines contributed material and his excellent vocals to the band's album Street Survivors and the band kicked off an American tour in October of 1977. Following a concert at Greenville, South Carolina, they were headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Due to a faulty engine, the airplane ran low on fuel and the pilots were diverted to the McComb-Pike County Airport. After running out of fuel they attempted an emergency landing before crashing in a heavily forested area five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were killed on impact; other band members (Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins), tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew suffered serious injuries. The album Street Survivors had been released 3 days earlier.

It all came to a sudden and tragic halt at that point. Skynyrd disbanded, but they did appear just once to perform an instrumental version of "Free Bird" at Charlie Daniels' Volunteer Jam V in January 1979. Collins, Rossington, Powell and Pyle performed the song with Charlie Daniels and members of his band. Leon Wilkeson, who was still undergoing physical therapy for his badly broken left arm, was in attendance, along with Judy Van Zant, Teresa Gaines, JoJo Billingsley, and Leslie Hawkins.

The band was in a hiatus between 1977 and 1980. Rossington, Collins, Wilkeson and Powell formed the Rossington-Collins Band, which released two albums between 1980 and 1983. Deliberately avoiding comparisons with Ronnie Van Zant as well as suggestions that this band was Lynyrd Skynyrd reborn, Rossington and Collins chose a woman, Dale Krantz, as lead vocalist. However, as an acknowledgment of their past, the band's concert encore would always be an instrumental version of "Free Bird". Rossington and Collins eventually had a falling out over the affections of Dale Krantz, whom Rossington married and with whom he formed the Rossington Band, which released two albums in the late 1980s and opened for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour in 1987–1988.

The other former members of Lynyrd Skynyrd continued to make music during the hiatus era. Billy Powell played keyboards in a Christian Rock band named Vision, touring with established Christian rocker Mylon LeFevre. During Vision concerts, Powell's trademark keyboard talent was often spotlighted and he spoke about his conversion to Christianity after the near-fatal plane crash. Pyle formed the Artimus Pyle Band in 1982, which occasionally featured former Honkettes JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins.

In 1980, Allen Collins' wife Kathy died of a massive hemorrhage while miscarrying their third child. He formed the Allen Collins Band in 1983 from the remnants of the Rossington-Collins Band and released one tepidly-received album. But many around him believed that the guitarist's heart just was not in it anymore. Most point to his wife's death as the moment that Collins' life began to spin out of control; he spent several years binging on drugs and alcohol. In 1986, Collins crashed his car while driving drunk near his home in Jacksonville, killing his girlfriend and leaving himself permanently paralyzed from the chest down. Collins eventually pleaded no contest to DUI manslaughter, but was not given a prison sentence since his injuries made it obvious that he would never drive or be a danger to society again.

The Skynyrd story is far from over. Next week we'll get up to current times with this incredible band. I hope to give them the justice they deserve.

Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in putting these segments together. Danny is an expert and his help has been invaluable to me.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern for Racing Through History on Racers Reunion Radio. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:21 pm

My pick for Racers of the Week are Shane Cunningham, from Lower Hutt, in the region of Wellington, New Zealand, and Kevin Smith from Geneseo, Illinois. I found Shane when I was working on featuring Jen Gibbons as Racer of the Week a while back, and Kevin was recommended to me by our friend and former Racer of the Week, Erik Carlson.

I'm featuring two guys tonight as I recently found out that we're going to be off for a couple of weeks after tonight, so I hope that's OK with you guys.
Kevin Smith is one of the most well-known and popular drag racers in the Quad Cities area. He's not one to seek out the limelight. He lets his performance on the track speak for itself. Erik told me that he's a little shy of the spotlight, and that's cool. His beautiful Orange '80 Chevy Malibu which is aptly named "Stage Fright", is a winner in NHRA's Pro and also in IHRA's Super Modified class, and every time he goes on a run, the car produces breathtaking wheelstands and it runs like a raped ape. Kevin raced Friday night at Cordova and he won his class. He had a health scare last year and spent some time in the hospital and at home recuperating, and the Quad Cities Drag Racers, who are a big, caring family, staged a benefit on his behalf and raised some serious coin to help him with his expenses.

Kevin will drop everything and help his fellow racers on the spot no matter what he's doing when he's at the track and he's proven that trait time and again over the years. Erik saw him miss a round because he gave his battery to another guy that he didn't know in another class....it was a dragster and the battery was up in front. They took an MC strap and put his battery in the car. That guy won and tried to give the money to Kevin. He said I will take a beer instead. Last year when Erik had a serious crash with his Top Sportsman '53 Stude, moments after they had cut Erik out of the wreckage and flew him off to the hospital in a helicopter (he was OK, by the way), it was Kevin who went down there, scooped up the wrecked car, loaded it onto the big wrecker and took it home to Erik and Bruce's shop. Erik told him later, "I didn't know you knew how to drive a Semi..." Kevin answered him "I don't". But he got Erik's hot rod back to the shop for him that day. Folks say that drag racers are a bunch of characters, but Kevin Smith is a Man of Character.

Kevin was King of the Track at Cordova in 2011 and was awarded a Wally for that accomplishment. He's out there every weekend competing at the top of his game, and we wish him good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future.

Shane Cunningham's '83 Rear-Wheel Drive, Right-steered Toyota Starlet is what I would call one of the ultimate sleepers. He built the car himself over the last couple of years, and this is his first season with it. His on-track performance with this car is absolutely amazing...

run down of the specs are:
Toyota 5 efte 1532cc Twin Cam Engine, Turbocharged with a Garrett T3/T4 Turbo. It has 9.0:1 CP Pistons, Pauter Forged Rods, Link G4+ Storm Engine Management, and 1000cc Dynamic Injectors. Shane is currently making 280hp at the wheels on a dyno dynamics rolling road dyno. He's just using Avgas at this stage, but he's planning on trying out ethanol next season.

The gearbox is a W55 Toyota, the clutch is a 7.25" Tilton twin plate with a custom billet flywheel. The rear end is 8" Hilux differential with a full spool. It runs a modified version of the stock triangulated 4 link with rose jointed arms and adjustments on the differential links.
The rear shocks are double adjustable qa1 coilovers with 110lb springs. the tires are 225/50/15 Hoosier Drag radials. The front end just runs a pretty stock setup but Shane just added a coilover setup with 12" 110lb springs. It has stock front brakes.

Fuel system is a 20L Jaz fuel cell mounted in the tire well in the back, with a bosch 044 external pump mounted under the car. The car weighs around 800kg without Shane in it. He said it also has a 6-point roll cage.

He's made a best run of 11.34@121mph so far. That is incredible!

Shane Cunningham, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

Back on the Lynyrd Skynyrd story. There's a lot more stuff that happened to them.

In 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited for a full-scale tour with five major members of the pre-crash band: Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle, along with guitarist Ed King, who had left the band two years before the crash were the lineup. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny took over as the new lead singer and primary songwriter. Due to Allen Collins' paralysis from his 1986 car accident, he was only able to participate as the musical director and he chose Randall Hall, his former bandmate in the Allen Collins Band, as his stand-in. As part of his plea deal on the manslaughter conviction, he would be wheeled out onstage each night to explain to the audience why he could no longer perform (usually before the performance of "That Smell", which had been partially directed at him). Allen Collins died on January 23, 1990.

The reunited band was meant to be a one-time tribute to the original lineup, but because the band chose to continue after the 1987 tour caused legal problems for the them, as Judy Van Zant Jenness and Teresa Gaines Rapp, who were the widows of Ronnie and Steve, sued the band for violating an agreement that was made shortly after the plane crash, stating that they would not "exploit" the Skynyrd name for profit. As part of the settlement, these ladies collect nearly 30% of the band's touring revenues, which represents the shares their husbands would have earned had they lived, and they had a provision which forces any band touring as Lynyrd Skynyrd to include at least three members from the pre-crash era. As the years have gone on, however, and continued lineup changes occurred for various reasons, this so-called "rule of three" was eventually no longer made a requirement.

The reconstituted Lynyrd Skynyrd has gone through a large number of lineup changes and they continue to record and tour today. One by one, the members of the pre-crash band have left, been forced out, or have died. Artimus Pyle left the band in 1991 and his place has been taken by a variety of drummers since, with Michael Cartellone finally becoming his permanent replacement. Randall Hall was replaced by Mike Estes in 1993. Ed King had to take a break from touring in 1996. In his absence, he was replaced by Hughie Thomasson. The band did not let King rejoin after he recovered. At the same time, Mike Estes was replaced by Rickey Medlocke, who was briefly the second drummer and a vocalist (playing also mandolin) with the band in the early 1970s and had achieved success with the band Blackfoot during his time away from Skynyrd. Leon Wilkeson, who was Skynyrd's bassist since 1972, was found dead in his hotel room on July 27, 2001; his death was found to be due to emphysema and chronic liver disease. He was replaced by Ean Evans. In my opinion, Leon Wilkeson was the best rock n' roll bass player I ever heard. Ean has done a great job, and I wish him the best.

The band released several more albums and performed many more tours. In the beginning of 2005 Hughie Thomasson left the band to reform his disbanded Southern Rock band, the Outlaws. Thomasson died in his sleep on September 9, 2007 of an apparent heart attack in his home in Brooksville, Florida. He was 55 years old. The story doesn't end there.

Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice on these features. His help has been invaluable.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all on July the 18th!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:04 pm

My pick for Racers of the Week are Arran Brattle and Pauline Lane, from Upper Hutt, New Zealand. Arran and Pauline have an awesome dragster and they finished third place in their class last year. Arran's family business is the outstanding D-Zine Signs in Wellington.

Arran and Pauline attended the NZDRA Awards evening earlier this year and they are proud to say they received three awards. First award was for 'Best Crew', ths is for the professonalism, organisation, appearance and helpfulness of the team to the driver and other race teams. The second award was for 'Sportswoman of the Year', this was presented to Pauline. This award is presented to the person who the NZDRA consider to be a great ambassador for the sport of drag racing, and the third award was for coming third in the NZDRA points round for 2015/16 season.

The Car Specs are: It's a 200 inch FED; a Mark Williams Chassis built by Daren Ericksen race cars in Minnesota in the USA. It has a 502 BBC, Alky Injected, Crower staggered stack injection, Sid Waterman pump and a JW Powerglide. It runs a Mark Williams all modular rear end, with 4.33 gears.

The car was imported by Arran and Pauline to New Zealand from California in 2014.
It was running in the USA at Sonoma drag strip and running 7.80 ETs driven by Ric “Doc” Brophy.
Once the car arrived in New Zealand they went about personalising it, giving it the theme “Angry Azz”, We have a family sign shop and custom paint business so we got to work our magic and create something cool for us.
Arran said "Both myself and Pauline were new to driving in the sport, having never driven down the ¼ mile before. It was a very nervous time for us both." After a couple of licence runs they were away and running.

The first season they achieved New Zealand rookies of the year and Arran ran a best of 7.93 @ 166 and Pauline was running in the mid 8s.

Pauline’s parents were both racers back in the day and her Dad Colin “Shady” Lane was still racing into his mid 70s. He has now passed; may he rest in peace.
Pauline’s mother was the first female drag racer in NZ to obtain her drag racing license.

This year was Arran and Pauline's 2nd season and they both cracked the national record for the class (naturally aspirated dragster), Arran's personal best is a 7.77 et @ 169.9mph and Pauline's is a 7.86 et @ 168mph (current best is a 7.94 et @ 168mph). Its yet to be awarded as they have to set it at a national event and 2 out of 3 national events have been rained off this season, so next season they will do it!!

Arran and Pauline also won the NZDRA Summer Nationals at Taupo (which I did a poster ad for) in the Modified Division and gained enough points this finish 3rd overall for the NZDRA National Points Series.

This year they entered (with Pauline driving) the Front Engine Dragster Challenge 2016 which was a 3 round series. They missed the first round due to commitments elsewhere, but went on to win the 2nd round at their home track Masterton and got 2nd at the finals at Meremere which gave them enough points overall to take first place in the series.

They are a very proud team this year. They believe that they have accomplished a lot in the first 2 years of racing and they love it.

The Team consists of:
Arran Brattle – Owner/ Driver
Pauline Lane – Owner/ Driver
Chris Brattle – Crew Chief (Arran's Brother)
Adrian Kemp – Crew (a cousin)
Finn Brattle – Crew (Arran's nephew)
It's a family orientated team and they all love every moment of it.
Arran thanks their sponsors: Panhead Custom Ales, Dzine Signs (their family business), Unleashed Automotive, and Powder Surfaces.
Arran and Pauline, we wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times in the future!

Wrapping up the Lynyrd Skynyrd story tonight, folks. The band has been playing for right around 45 years, and this will be the final update on this, arguably the greatest Southern Rock Band, ever.

On November 28, 2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Lynyrd Skynyrd would be inducted alongside Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, and the Sex Pistols. They were inducted in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan on March 13, 2006 during the Hall's 21st annual induction ceremony. The inductees included Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Ed King, Steve Gaines, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Bob Burns, and Artimus Pyle (post-crash members, the Honkettes, and pre-crash members Rickey Medlocke, Larry Junstrom, and Greg T. Walker, were not inducted). The current version of Skynyrd, augmented by King, Pyle, Burns and former Honkettes JoJo Billingsley, and Leslie Hawkins, performed "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" at the ceremony, which was also attended by Judy Van Zant Jenness and Ronnie's two daughters, Teresa Gaines Rapp and her daughter Corinna, Allen Collins' daughters, and Leon Wilkeson's mother and son.

In the summer of 2005, lead singer Johnny Van Zant had to have surgery on his vocal cord to have a polyp removed. He was told not to sing for three months. On September 10, 2005, Lynyrd Skynyrd performed without Johnny Van Zant at the Music Relief Concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with Kid Rock standing in for Johnny. In December 2005, Johnny Van Zant returned to sing for Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Mark "Sparky" Matejka, formerly of the country music band Hot Apple Pie, joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2006 as Thomasson's replacement. On November 2, 2007, the band performed for a crowd of 50,000 people at the University of Florida's Gator Growl student-run pep rally in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ("The Swamp" football stadium). This was the largest crowd that Lynyrd Skynyrd had ever played to in the U.S., until the July 2008 Bama Jam in Enterprise, Alabama where more than 111,000 people attended.

On January 28, 2009, keyboardist Billy Powell died of a suspected heart attack at age 56 at his home near Jacksonville, Florida. No autopsy was carried out. His death left Gary Rossington as the sole pre-crash member still in the band, unless Rickey Medlocke's brief stint with the band in the early 1970s is counted.

On March 17, 2009, Skynyrd their new album God & Guns on September 29 of that year. They toured Europe and the U.S. in 2009 with Peter Keys of the 420 Funk Mob on keyboards and Robert Kearns of the Bottle Rockets on bass. Skynyrd's former bassist Ean Evans died of cancer at age 48 on May 6, 2009.

In addition to the tour, Skynyrd appeared at the Sean Hannity Freedom Concert series in late 2010. Hannity had been actively promoting the God & Guns album, frequently playing portions of the track "That Ain't My America" on his radio show. The tour is titled "Rebels and Bandoleros". The band continued to tour throughout 2011, playing alongside ZZ Top and the Doobie Brothers.

Lyrynrd Skynyrd have used a Confederate flag since the 1970s and several criticisms have been raised against them because of this. While promoting their new album in 2012 on CNN, members of the band talked about its discontinued use of Confederate imagery. In September of that year, the band briefly did not display the Confederate flag, which had for years been a part of their stage show, because they did not want to be associated with racists who had adopted the flag. But after protests from fans they reversed this decision, noting it is part of their Southern American heritage and states rights symbolism.

Original drummer Bob Burns died aged 64 on April 3, 2015; his car crashed into a tree while he was driving alone near his home in Cartersville, Georgia. Skynyrd will be showing up in your town soon, and it's a show to see.

Thanks to Danny White for his input, advice and influence in helping me put these segments together. Your input has been very helpful, sir.

Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss!

Thanks, I'll see y'all next week!
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:15 pm

My pick for Racer of the Week is Laura Saksa, from Kouvola, Finland. I found Laura on a European drag racing page and I was impressed with her performance. She has been an excellent subject for this feature, and here's the story she sent to me about herself:
I am Laura Saksa, a 24 year-old Drag Racing driver from Finland. I bought Tero Laukkanen's Pro Mod Mustang in December 2015. This season I drive in the Pro Street class and the future will tell how far we will get with this project.
I got interested in cars when I was a child, even though my family members didn´t have any hobbies or history in motorsports. Later with the help of a friend, I found a team that needed extra hands. First I helped around in all kinds of little things such as tire pressure measuring.
In 2013 I completed my Drag Racing licensing with a Chevrolet Corvette and drove in my first competition at Tierp Arena in Sweden, in the 9.90 second Super Gas class.
The 2014 season was my first full season as a driver. I drove a Front Engine Dragster (with a SBC 355 CID engine) in the Super Pro ET class at an 8.90 second index. At this time my father Arto Saksa came to watch my competition and got interested in this sport too, and since that time, he has helped me to get partners and sponsors. In the 2014 season, I got 1st place in Alastaro, Finland and 3rd place in Tierp Arena, Sweden. I became SM-fifth and got the Finnish Hot Rod Association diploma as Rookie of the Year.
In the 2015 season, I drove a Chevrolet Camaro (GM 500 CID engine) and I became the Outlaw class SM-fourth place driver. I also got one 2nd place in Virtasalmi. The races in this category have been dominated by the triad of Vainio, Raussi and Mannerkoski. I was right behind them and won a few races from the main rivals. I also achieved my personal record in Sweden Tierp Arena in last August. 286.47 km / h speed to a quarter mile final elapsed time of 7.376 seconds.
My major and only dream has always been own a racecar and possibly to drive in the Pro Modified class some day. In the winter I invested in the future by acquiring ownership of Tero Laukkanen's Mustang Pro Mod car, a "rolling basic". Laukkanen drove the same frame to the European speed record of 418 km / h in the Pro Modified class. Now I have a 540 cubic-inch BBC engine installed in the car to allow power of approx.. 1500 HP. The goal for 2016 is to compete in the Pro Street class in the SM-series and EDRS-series and get to know my new car. My target time for the quarter of a mile on the track is 7.6 sec and the final speeds are slightly below 300 km / h. and in the future to run in the SPS and every Pro Modified classes. Time will tell how well the adjustments will be.
My Mustang gets a new source of power from a 1500 HP Chevrolet engine. Methanol-fueled engine installations, maintenance and adjustment corresponds to Vantaa tuning by Red Black Racing's Seppo Paavola, Jussi Savolainen, Timo Heiskanen and Jape Karvonen. The same team was behind my 2014 Rookie of the Year FHRA season and to achieve the great success we had in Sweden's Tierp Arena. There will again be an action-packed summer of Drag Racing activities for us.
Thank you to all who have given their advice, but especially Tero Laukkanen, Tami Brander, Marko Lantto and the Red Black Racing team. Without their cooperation and coordination the job would have been much more difficult.
The development would not have been possible without good sponsors and supporters. A special thank you goes to them, too.
Laura Motor Sport Finland and Scanfest Ltd, who is responsible for marketing, are looking for new partners, who are interested in motor racing and want to help a local driver to achieve her goals set for the upcoming seasons.
Laura Saksa, we congratulate you on your hard word, dedication and success as a Drag Racer. We wish you good luck, safe racing and the best of times!
While on my way to the DragList Nationals at the National Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green back in June, I stopped in Memphis for one day. I had 3 stops to make there, all related to my musical background, career and my life as a musician. I've been playing music for 60 years in 2016. I don't consider myself to be hot stuff like I was 30 years ago, but I still know how to hit the note when it needs to be hit. Anyway, the 3 places I visited in Memphis that day were Sun Studios, the Stax Records Museum and Graceland.
The tour of Sun Studios was an absolutely fantastic experience for me. It is a shrine to the beginnings of Rock n' Roll music. The artifacts that are on display are the genuine instruments, records, equipment and memorabilia from the 1950s, and as the tour went on, I was stopped in my tracks several times by the impact of actually being there where it all happened. The rooms echo the sounds that were made there and I could feel it.
In the main studio, I was immediately gripped by the sound of the room. It has a triple-vaulted ceiling, a tile floor and acoustic soundproof panels from when it was first built. The sound is preserved perfectly to this day. It's a special place. But the real kicker is the vibe that exists in that room. All of the Sun hits were recorded in that small room. Elvis recorded his pre-RCA groundbreaking Rock n' Roll records right where we were standing. The great Sun artists all did it there, too. Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner and more all went in there and built the foundation upon which I based my life. I was moved by it. I knelt down and put my hand over the X that marked where Bill Black had his bass fiddle set up and I immediately had goose-bumps all over me. I didn't want to leave after the hour I spent there. The spirit filled me and I felt like I was in a state of grace after having walked the halls and stood exactly where it all began. If I ever get back to that city again, I will revisit that holy ground.
After that galvanizing experience, I drove South to McLemore Avenue and over to the Stax Records Museum. The music that came out of that place could fill a book, and it has. The Museum doesn't just cover the Stax-Volt-Satellite years, it branches out to cover the entire history of Soul Music. It's a modern, hi-tech trip through the evolution of this unique American Art Form from its beginnings in the cotton fields and rural churches of the Deep South, through the current medium of hip-hop and studio wizardry. Some of the items that captivated me while I was there for 2 hours were the interactive displays that featured somebody I knew about but didn't know how far-reaching his influence was, and that was Rufus Thomas. I learned that without him, Soul Music as we know it wouldn't have developed and prospered like it did. I went into Studio A and took it all in. Booker T and the MGs were part of the house band there, and Steve Cropper, Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Al Green and Wilson Pickett helped write the hits that were recorded there. Otis Redding recorded his greatest hits there, so did Sam & Dave, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, the list of the greats is never-ending. Isaac Hayes' gold-plated Cadillac El Dorado convertible is on a rotating display there. It's a beautiful museum. There is tight security, and I felt comfortable being there in the middle of what some folks would call a bad part of town in a former movie theatre. I joined the museum and got Stax t-shirts for all the members of the band I'm in.
I wasn't prepared for what Graceland did to me. It has the big tourist-trap where you park and get on the shuttle that takes you to the mansion across the street...they have neat stuff there, and I found that it wasn't extremely expensive, so I got some Elvis socks for Debby. But the tour of Elvis' house immediately hit me with a profound sadness. It wasn't near as big as I expected. Actually it's not a whole lot bigger than my house. It also wasn't near as fancy as I expected. Actually it's not a whole lot fancier than my house. The tour of the main house covers the downstairs and basement. I was just simply not impressed. It reflected mid-to-upper middle class values from the mid-1970s. Much of it was covered with dark wood paneling. The kitchen was the same as it was when Elvis lived there. Plain formica counter-tops, an electric range, double sink, nothing out of the ordinary. The jungle room and the pool room and den in the basement were about like going over a buddy's house to hang out, but unmatching color schemes and weird furniture gave off vibes of strange preferences and bad taste. Like all 1970s homes of this type, it had a bar in every room. Heck, my house came with a bar, too, but this was perplexing to me. This was Elvis Presley's house where he lived? Like this? The stairway to the upstairs bedroom where the King died is roped off. I got chills when I stood at the foot of those stairs. I followed the flow out to Vernon's office and it was about as nice as a house trailer that a construction company would use while building a skyscraper. From there I went to the trophy room, and I was blown away by the 150-foot wall that was covered with gold and platinum records. They also had his stage outfits from the early 70s that were so awesome to see back when he did his Hawaii and Vegas concerts.
But when I went to the meditation garden, for a few moments, my heart went up in my throat. I stood at the foot of Elvis' grave and the intensity that I felt brought me to my knees. I gripped the railing and I felt a powerful charge go through me. I silently wept. I couldn't let go. I had a moment of silence with my King. After about a minute, I bent over and kissed the ground, made a sign of the cross, and went back to the shuttle. I felt a sadness and emptiness that is hard to describe, but before I left Graceland, I went into the theatre there and watched original footage of Elvis performing in the early days, and I have to say he was everything they said he was and 10 times more between 1954 and 1958. That's when he earned his throne. I've never seen anybody rock out like Elvis did in black and white, and I doubt that I ever will. I'm just glad I took that little left into the theatre to see these film clips, because it lifted my spirits after seeing what became of him when he hit middle-age.
These were my impressions of the 3 stops I made in the day I took to spend in Memphis. I highly recommend all 3 to anybody who ever goes through that city. The next morning I drove on to Nashville where I spent about an hour visiting some friends, then it was on to Bowling Green and the DragList Nationals, which I'll cover in my next segment. Thanks to Danny White for his input and advice in helping me put these segments together.
Y'all be sure to tune in tomorrow evening at 7 PM Eastern on Racers Reunion Radio for Racing Through History. It's Thee Goat Rodeo you don't want to miss! Thanks, I'll see y'all next week.
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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby Wheelzman » Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:05 am

John, thanks for such an accurate wording of these tours. It was like I was standing next to you all the time. Also, Booker T and the MG's wow I haven't heard that one in a long, long time. Matter of fact they were one of the influences of my love for instrumentals and eventual love of smooth jazz. Remember their Green Onions song? That takes me back to the days of building model cars in my bedroom and listening to them. I think I still have the vinyl album if I'm not mistaken. Thanks again.

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Re: Racin' and Rockin'..."JB's Take"

Postby WildcatOne » Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:29 pm

Thanks, Wheelz. That day certainly was special. I highly recommend all 3 places. I did 'em all in about 4 1/2 hours. Best, WC1
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