The Steel Horse & The Southern Thang: Tunes for Travelin’ (playlist & downloads)
I had a car in high school. It was a piece of shit. It was a vette…a Chevy Chevette. I don’t have a picture of the actual car…good thing, too. It’s a good thing I don’t have one, not just because it was butt ugly, but because it could be used as evidence in a court of law against me (assuming the statute of limitations holds up).
Me and my cronies broke a lot of rules in that car. Did you know it is possible to fit six half kegs and three people in one Chevette…and drive it on an old, rocky, pothole filled dirt road out in the deep of the woods. Yep, it can…if you know what you are doing. That car saw a lot of miles and a lof of good times. I don’t even own a car now.
I live in central London. You don’t need a car in central London. The tube (subway) is nearby. My groceries are delivered. The gym is close by. There is a pub on every corner. Nope, you don’t need a car in London…if you can help it. When you do need one, you just rent one. I went to do just that the other day until I realised that I my Australia driver’s license had expired in April. Shit.
Shit, is right. I didn’t even think to look at it. Now I am going to have to jump through a few pain-in-the-ass hoops to get a UK one. When we moved to London I had no intentions of getting a car. I am not a ‘car guy’ by any stretch. Never have been and never will be. What kind of car I drive, how to get around an engine, hell, a new car…none of it matters to me. I look at a car as box with wheels that gets you from A to B. I appreciate the craftsmanship and riding in high-performance vehicles and luxury liners. I think new cars, expensive cars are cool…I just have no desire to own one.
The last car I owned and that I cared about, was a jukebox on wheels. The stereo was worth more than the damn vehicle. That being said…I loved that vehicle. I loved it because it was a classic American ride; that it was low maintenance; that it was great for driving around and listening to tunes in . Yeah, I loved that rig. The rig in question was my 1994 Jeep Wrangler. I called her, “The Steel Horse”.
The “Steel Horse” was a thing of beauty…no, Ragged Glory suited her best. I bought it off of some Swiss dude who was living in Tampa, FL. He was a tennis coach at a program down there. He had to sell the the 1994 jeep in order to pay for his lawyer who had just helped him get his green-card. He told me that his dream…his life long dream…was to move to Florida, teach tennis and buy a jeep. He damned near broke down and cried when I drove it away.
I did him proud whilst I owned ‘er. I had plan for the new ride. First, I named her…very important to name your ride. Second, I Florida-ized her (I was living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL). I ripped put the backseat, pulled up all the carpets and took off all of the bar pads. I got a new top for it…which I didn’t leave on often…and then added the crucial bits…the stickers. You can’t have too many stickers…just the rigt ones and the right amount.
Once I got her road ready, I topped her off with a bow-down car stereo and speakers. I had the speakers surgically implanted in her walls and had a detachable faceplate for the stereo. No top & no doors in FL means easy pickings for thieves.
When you get a new car, the first song played in it is very important…very important. I chose mine wisely. It had the fit and feel for driving a jeep along side the Atlantic Ocean, with no top on (the jeep, not me) and the speakers rattling in their cages: ‘Blue Sky‘ by the Allman Brothers. There is no better song to have on the radio when the sun is shining bright, your elbow is propped up on the open window and the gas pedal feels a little sticky. Damn straight.
Ok…is there a fucking point to this post? Why yes, there is, faithful readers. I was looking through a box of mix CDs that was buried in the back of my closet and I found my fave Steel Horse driving CD. I made this sucker one late night (early morning) in 2000 after an evening fueled by music, Turkey and friends. Its called, “Southern Thang”.
If you guessed that it has a southern feel to it, you’d be right as rain. The mix is a collection of olds and news with some nice tempo changes throughout. I used to play this on the Friday ride to and from work. It was the perfect mix to get me thinking about the weekend on the way in to work and putting pedal to metal (literally…I tore out the carpets, remember) on the way home to put a paw on an ice cold beer.
Truly great music is never dated. Just because this mix was made ten years ago doesn’t mean that it won’t make your big toe shoot up in your boot. I have uploaded it here so that you can all ride fast in the passing lane to these killer, southern tinged trax (look out for smokies). Here is the list:
When I moved to Australia I had to say goodbye to the Steel Horse. She and I had a great run, but it was time for us to part ways. Hey, I know what you are thinking…no, I did not take the old girl out behind the barn. The thought never even crossed my mind. Instead, I decided to give her a good home. My right hand man, Gilly, was the only one I could have trusted with the Steel Horse. Instead of selling her to Gilly for blue book or some other shit like that, I sold her for fair value. This is what I requested he give me for The Horse:
- A Taj Mahal CD (“Giant Steps“)
- A Townes Van Zandt Cd (“Live at the Old Quarter“)
- A 6-Pack of Good Ol’ Boys (16 oz.’ers) of the Champagne of Beers (bad beer, good vibes)
- All the change he had in his pocket at the time…which turned out to be $1.47.
Fair value, indeed. Gilly brought a trailer and pulled her across the state over to Sarasota. That was back in 2002, right before I left for Australia. Gilly still has the Steel Horse and rides her daily.
_____
I’m not sure what the hell I am going to do about my expired license when I need to rent my car. Funnily enough, I need it because Gilly and his wife are coming to visit us in September; we are going to tour the English country side. Hey Gilly…make sure your license is on the up and up…you rent and I’ll buy. Oh yeah, don’t worry about music…I’ve got a sick playlist for the ride.
Here are pics of the day I handed over the reigns of the Steel Horse to Gilly (Feb 2002)
