Today’s post was written by Paul.
Pap picked out and paid for my first two vehicles. The first was the 1980 Buick Regal seen in the photo. He bought it from a man in our community named Buster Laney.
I believe Buster was a WWII Veteran. He worked for Kearns Bread at the intersection of the Blairsville Highway and US74. Pap gave Buster $1,500 for the Regal, which was a lot of money for us at the time. I believe the Regal had a little over 100,000 miles when I got it.
In those days, in NC, you could get your driver’s permit (with almost no restrictions) at age 15 and your full license at 16, which is exactly what I did, starting the day after my 15th birthday.
I drove the Regal the last three years of high school and my first two years of college, when I attended Young Harris College as a commuter. After YHC, I enrolled in the University of NC in Asheville.
I lived on campus at UNCA, but Pap didn’t trust the Regal to make weekly trips of 2+ hours, so he got me a 1985 Cutlass Oldsmobile (the one that Corie and Katie stood by as toddlers in our last video). He gave $3,500 for the Cutlass. It was a much better car than the Regal, featuring a 5-liter V8, whereas the Regal had a 3.8-liter V6.
I wrote the song in today’a video right when I transitioned from the Regal to the Cutlass.
I am one of those people who gets sentimentally attached to cars (and many other things!). Though in my song, I said that the Regal was “still,” implying a junkyard fate, Pap sold it back to Buster for $500.
Driving a car for 5 years and paying $1,000 rent on it, was a great deal, even back then. Pap and Buster were pretty tight friends. Just as in the song, the very last time I drove the Regal, I drove it home to Pap and Granny’s house. Pap then drove it over to Kerns Bread and turned it over to Buster.
Pap chose both cars with safety and reliability in mind. I never had any real trouble with either car, even though I drove them mercilessly with a lead foot. My first cars weren’t as cool as the cars that most of my friends drove, but I really liked them. They had great stereos. The only things I didn’t like about the Regal were that it had a heater core leak that would make your feet sweat in the summer; and one of the valve covers had a slight oil leak. It wasn’t enough to make much difference on oil consumption, but after a 30-min drive to YHC, a little dab would leak out and begin smoking on the manifold. I would park the car and walk away pretty quickly, a little embarrassed. I don’t know why I didn’t just install a new gasket under that cover.
When I wrote this song at age 19, I wasn’t just trying to memorialize my first car. I was trying to comment on a bit more than that, especially with the final chorus. If any of you watched the recent video in which I took apart and cleaned an old VHS tape, you know that I mentioned the concept of “planned obsolescence,” something that many manufacturers in many fields now employ by design, so that consumers have to buy a new product after a certain amount of time. Though planned obsolescence wasn’t a thing back then (at least not to my knowledge), with this song, I was trying to say that the Regal wasn’t like that. It did its job simply and reliably, something worthy of respect.
Buster and Pap were both sedan men, meaning, they liked mid to full-sized cars for their transportation, rather than trucks or anything compact. They were also GM men. Buster owned a string of Buicks and Cadillacs. Unfortunately, GM, like many American corporations later declined significantly in quality. In the early 2000’s, my girlfriend was looking to replace her Mitsubishi Eclipse. It was running fine. She was just looking for a change. She asked my advice. Thinking back to my experience with the two cars mentioned above, I sagely told her to get something American-made, something GM. That proved to be bad advice. She bought a brand new Pontiac and had to trade it after just two years, due to frequent mechanical problems. It made her miss and appreciate her Eclipse. Today, I’m a Toyota man all the way (although I hear that even Toyota seems to be slipping with their most recent models).
The little boy sitting on the Regal in the photo and video is my nephew Ben, Steve’s oldest son. That particular day, I happened upon a tiny cowboy hat and toy six-gun, complete with holster. I bought it and brought it home for Ben. The hat just happened to match the color of the Regal. Little did I know then how close Ben and I would become, through our mutual love of music and tennis.
I played and sang pretty sloppily in this video, but as I learned when collaborating with Darrell Savage, making split screen videos takes almost an entire day, so I used the very first take with both instruments. The timing is shaky throughout. I had forgotten about this song but saw the title written down in an old folder of mine. I have several more original instrumentals that I’ll try to do with Corie and share in the future.
Thanks for watching!
Paul
Original singles released on Spotify.
Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016).
The Wilson Brothers Words of Life Album released in the 70s.
Paul, I understand I used to get emotionally involved with my vehicles… I had a Regal, Regal, then a Reatta which was a special edition Buick. All of these in the 90’s . I really liked a Buick then I have heard that they have really declined. I haven’t been able to drive or work since I was 35 years old due to my health. Such a bummer but I’m used to it now. I know that the Lord had a plan for me. I was needed at home with my parents. We had some good years but 3 years after I moved home my dad had quadruple bypass surgery and was sick for a while. Then 5 years after I moved home my mom found out she had cancer in her right breast, ovarian lining, and later her lung. She passed away in 2008 but I was there, if I had been working and living out of town like I was I would not have been able to help and spend that quality time with her which was so important. I loved her so much she was my favorite person. If she were still with us she would have been 90 years old now dying at 72 she was cheated.. Then my dad and I were there left to grieve together for 6 more years until his heart gave out after breaking his hip at home. Now don’t get me wrong it wasn’t all bad after mom died but it was hard on both us. But I would not give back the time I spent with either one of them as painful as it was The Lord works in wondrous ways….He absolutely put me where I needed to be. Sure I had my own health issues but I could still take care of my dying mother.
My Dad worked in GM dealerships for over 60 years in parts and service. I drove GM products for many years. My favorite GM was 1965 Buick Special Dad paid $125 for. No power steering or power brakes, no A/C, but it had an AM radio (I could listen to WLS and WGM out of Chicago) and a good heater. After 14 years we gave it away to two boys so they could drive to school. I finally bought a Toyota on Dad’s advice and was hooked. I got my red truck! I loved the song and it sure didn’t sound sloppy. Thank you for sharing both the story and song.
Such a treat! thank you Paul.
Praying for Papaw Tony!
Paul, I like that song and can relate. My first car was a brand new Chevy Chevelle when I was in my last year of college when I needed security to drive a good distance alone. I had worked and save $1,500 and my daddy paid $1,500. But the husband I found was a Ford man so it was sold a few years after we married. We sold it to a friend for his teen son and kept up with it for several years. Last time I saw it the father was driving it sitting on a crate with a hole in the floor. When our second son was in high school he drove the old ‘79 Thunderbird my husband paid $500 for from a car lot when our sons were small just to drive while he had his truck motor rebuilt. It turned out to be a good car and we felt safe for our son to drive. It had one of the long front ends that I said looked like an airplane landing strip. My son wanted to keep it when he went to college but needed something more reliable by that time. It’s been in our barn for years. A friend bought it but can’t find anyone to restore it. I also have a ‘79 Mustang and a rusted 1980 F-150 4WD that I remember that same son standing in the seat as a toddler telling it to “get up this hill” on our farm. There are lots of memories and hard to believe the ones the boys rode in as toddlers they drove as teens and could drive their boys in now if the vehicles were running. I don’t think they make them like they used to either.
My granny Margie used to drive cars like that. We had a few of them growing up too. My granny and pawpaw lived on Warwoman Rd in Clayton GA. If anybody is familiar with that road…it’s got a few curves in it let’s say, and boy granny could really whip those old long cars around them. I remember riding out to the store with her one time and she liked to have scared me to death before we made it there lol. Good times
My great-great grandmother came from Warwoman census district in Rabun County. She was born in 1845.
Richard
Enjoyed the story and song. Made me remember my first cars. My first was a Chevy Impala, blue and white, 1964. Dad picked it out and paid for it.it was about 1969. My next was one I picked out. 1967 Mustang. I wish I still had that car. Dad paid 1/2 the monthly payment and a paid 1/2. Next I traded for my first new car and paid all the monthly payment. It was a 1972 Grand Toronto.
Hope everyone had a good 4th!
Sandra, you would be sitting pretty right now if you had any of those 4 cars right know, especially the 64 impala if it was a SS (super Sport) and a 4 speed with the 327 engine.
Good morning – yesterday when we were watching Tipper’s camping video – I remarked to my husband how common it was back in the day for people to sit around and talk about their cars and the love of them. I grew up with parents who owned first a Standard Oil and later Texaco stations. “Gear heads” was a commonly used phrase of my older brothers and their friends. Oh they loved to work on their cars back then. After we moved back to Indiana, and I the youngest of 3 (only girl), my parents were no longer in the gas station business. So, like Pap – my dad bought and paid for the first 2 cars I had – the first purchased from friends and was a 1968 Dodge Dart with 3 speed on the column – my first clutch – oh but the memories I have driving around the corn fields and back roads (and a hill or 2 for practice) of my dad teaching me how to drive that car and really mastering the clutch! Then he decided I needed an upgrade and bought a 1970 Dodge Duster. It was an automatic – but I always missed that clutch. Thanks Paul for sharing your song and the memories of Pap and the cars. Put a smile on face this morning and sweet memories of my dad Gib.
Those were great cars. My first car was a 66 ford galaxy 500, with no PARK in it, can’t remember why, for 200 dollars. The high school parking lot was sloped so I had to hope to get a parking spot against the curb….or wave one of the “smokers” to come over and hand them a chunk of wood and place it under a tire. No parking brake either.
I purchased myself a 2017 Silver Toyota Tacoma with suicide doors. She’s served this old gal pretty well and believe it or not, she had just turned over to 31,000 miles. I treat her like a special vehicle and to me she really is. I liked reading what you shared this morning-especially about engineered obsolescence. It’s another way to make sure the broke stays broke and down and out! I really don’t nor ever had feelings about a car except a Datsun 280 Z with T tops and a turbo. I liked it and I like my Toyota. I was impressed but not at all surprised you attended UNC at Asheville. You’re educated and smart folks I must say. What was your major? You’re all plumb interesting down in the Brasstown area. We got rain all day yesterday and I see you had rain in your area too… have a blessed day and don’t put the lead foot down in your TOYOTA… lol don’t worry about the TACOMA. She’s an absolute joke with an oil filter HALF TGE SIZE OF ORDINARY to gum up the works and kill the engine… there’s a special place in hell is all I can say…
I got my SC drivers license in 1949 at 16 in a friend’s ’29 Model A Ford tudor. Like all country boys, I had already driven trucks and tractors by then, hauling hay bales, etc., from the fields. We had a ’48 Fleetline Chevrolet for a family car that my brother and I fought over to use on weekend dates. The first car I owned was a ’50 Chevvy I bought in Germany and drove all over Europe while in the Army during the Cold War. After that I’ve owned a string of Buicks ( including a Regal) Oldsmobiles, VW campers (2), and, now, a dependable 2009 Chevvy Impala that I believe will be my last.
All of us who related to Paul’s post today would enjoy a 1985 song by Dan Seals called “My Old Yellow Car.”
Y’all forgive me for writing this, but now at my age, it seems like I have a memory of something of the past on about everyday. Today, July 5th, two memories , one good, one bad. It is the birthday of the best man and friend I will ever have in my life, my Daddy, he was born in 1922 and died on January 20, 1991. Now for the bad, in the early morning hours of July 5, 1991, another best friend’s 12 year old son was burned to death when a cabin at Cheraw State Park, SC caught fire after a very bad thunderstorm. His son and some other boys from their church were in the cabin, he was the only one that didn’t make it out and was found at the front door. There are a lot more details about this other than to say the state was found at fault, the cabin was not supposed to have been used, but the park had overbooked for the week of July 4th.
Lot of Veterans supported GM products. After WWII GM was the first with automatic transmission and Veterans, especially wounded ones, were given first opportunity to buy as there were shortages switching from a wartime economy back to a consumer economy. My uncle was severely wounded and couldn’t drive a standard shift clutch. He had one of the first new cars in our area after the war a red and white Pontiac that he kept and drove into the early 1970s. He always drove a GM product. It rubbed off on me too,until as you said, their quality dropped.
I really enjoyed the write up and song! It’s so sweet that Pap helped you carefully get your first two cars and cared so much about your safety. He was a wise and thoughtful man, always looking out for the well-being of his family.
Yep, first vehicles leave lasting memories. Mine was a gray Ford Ranchero , one of those car-truck body styles with a pickup bed but without the ‘suspension of a ‘real’ pickup. It was, as Randy mentioned, a ‘three on the tree’ aka ‘column shift’. I learned to drive on Dad’s Ford pickup and passed my test in it. At the time it had a stock rack mounted on it. It also was a column shift. To this day (though I no longer own one) I like to drive straight shift vehicles especially on curvy mountain roads where shifting is a near-constant need. The trick going up is to downshift just before you have to (too slow) but the same thing applies going down, (too fast) just less often. Thanks for the memories.
Ron, I also got my license driving my Grandaddy’s 62 Falcon with the three on tree transmission. I would still have a manual transmission in a pickup truck it was not for my bad knees, there were times when I had my last one I would have to catch my britches leg with my hand to help my leg work the clutch. Something teenage boys in my time liked to joke about – three on the tree, 4 in the floor and a fifth under the seat- the fifth didn’t pertain to the transmission! I remember the Ford Rancho and Chevrolet El Camino real well.
God Bless America!!! Watching different special television broadcasts about America yesterday showed me that the American Spirit and Pride of Country is alive and well!!! So many American people in their communities were highlighted and all were proud to be American. All were excited about the future of America. May the United States continue to grow and thrive.
Everyone have a BLESSED Sunday. And, thank God, rain came late last night.
thank you for the song and thank thank you for the story, God bless you and have a great day, God bless the sick lost suffering and struggling make life easier in Jesus name
That was a great story, Paul and the song is so cool!
“…[E]ven though he’s still…” Careful there, some folks might think you were saying it’s “A” still. Now, if people want to do “artisanal distillation” it’s their business and none of mine, but you DO have to watch yourself…though I’ll be honest, I never heard of car being turned into a still. 😉
I am sentimental about things and am bad to keep things for this reason. My uncle drove a Trailways bus for over 30 years and was always wheeling and dealing, he only cared how much money he could get for something. When he died he didn’t have enough money to pay for his own funeral, his church paid for it. In the 60’s SC was like NC, get your drivers permit at 15, keep it for a few weeks and then get restricted license until 16 and no restrictions. At 16, high school students could also get license to drive the school bus. I did all of this and drove a school bus for my last 2 years of high school. We were paid $1.65 an hour, I made $5 a day, I learned to drive when I was about 13 in a 1958 Chevrolet Delray, straight 6 cyl engine, and three on tree manual transmission. I had already been driving on the country roads I lived on for 2 years when I turned 15. I didn’t have a car until I finished school and went to work with my Daddy. In April of 1973, I have saved enough for a down payment to buy a new 1973 Plymouth Duster with the Twister package, 318 V8 engine, $2,500 and $84.98 payments for 36 months. I worried about paying for it, at that time I was making $2 an hour. In my day, only a few kids had a car to drive to high school. Most of the cars were clunkers ready for the junk yard bought by kids working after school jobs. A few kids had newer cars, these kids were going to school and working a full 40 hour a week job at the local cotton mill either on the 2nd or 3rd shift at the same time. Cheryl, I read your yesterday comment about parents teaching respect for teachers, police and others, it was the same for me. If I had gotten into trouble, I joke and say I would have called the law and begged them to lock me up, don’t let my parents get to me. Nowadays, many parents only look for someone to blame and sue when their kids get into trouble, it is never the kids fault.
Randy, I just read your comment from yesterday about the Bible reading and prayer in school. I, too, had a 3rd grade teacher who allowed 3 or 4 students each day to lead the in the morning recitation of pledge, reading of scripture, and perhaps singing a patriotic song. Not sure about the prayer part. But it would have been in keeping with the spirit of the day at that time around 1970. So very different now but at least the schools I taught at stood and recited the pledge each morning.
I am simply amazed at the detail you can recall about your life, Randy. It’s always interesting to read your comments and I’m impressed with how you can remember so much and so vividly. Have a blessed day!
when I was in highschool a cutlass was a ‘cool’ car to have, I still like them and for seperate reason other than ‘coolness’ I like the regal too.
hope you had a fun and blessed Fourth…I was watching the PBS show America Made in Virginia and of course singing along with all the old songs that were performed several which you never hear any more. I am sad to say that I forgot a few of the words to This Land Is Your Land’ (written by Woody Guthrie an Oklahoma boy, side note- I had the privilege of knowing his younger sister Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon until she passed away) I also failed to remember all of the words to The Impossible Dream, and God Bless America (that one I am sorely disappointed I had forgotten some of the words). I remember in my very early years of school we sang all those songs in various school productions so school is where I learned all the words to them, rather than picking them up when I watched them being performed on some tv variety show. As I feebly sang along to all three I had tears rolling down my cheeks and felt The Holy Spirit in my home–tears partly because the pride and love of country is not wide spread like it was all those years ago, it has been replaced by hatred and conflict…the tears were also because God had blessed our country so very much but now due to those same issues and rampant defiance of Christ, and vile sin, one can seem to feel His Blessings slipping away from our country—that is so very sad. Next time you do a viewer request ‘song fest’ maybe instead of Ole Paint you could sing one of the three I mentioned today.