The $65 Corvette by Ed Kilbourne

THE $65 CORVETTE

ONE MORNING WHILE READING THE PAPERS, IN SEARCH OF A NEW SET OF WHEELS

THE CLASSIFIEDS HAD A MOST CURIOUS AD IN THEIR LISTING FOR AUTOMOBILES

I READ WITH SUSPICIOUS AMUSEMENT, WHAT SEEMED LIKE A WILD STROKE OF LUCK

CORVETTE STINGRAY IT READ, LOW MILEAGE THE AD SAID, '83 MODEL, $65 BUCKS

WELL I WAS USED TO MY NEWSPAPER'S TYPOS, BUT I CALLED UP THE NUMBER STRAIGHTWAY WHAT RESPONSE HAVE YOU HAD TO YOUR CLASSIFIED AD, SHE SAID NONE, YOU'RE MY FIRST CALL TODAY

I SAID THERE'S BEEN A MISTAKE IN THE PAPER, THEY PRINTED YOUR PRICE WRONG SOMEHOW OH NO, REPLIED SHE, THEY CHECKED THAT WITH ME, I SAID DON'T SELL THAT CAR, I'M LEAVING NOW

SHE LIVED IN A PART OF THE CITY, THAT FOLKS LIKE ME ONLY PASS THROUGH AIRLINE CAPTAINS, BANK PRESIDENTS AND LAWYERS ARE THE RESIDENTS & THE HOUSES ARE MASSIVE & NEW AS I TURNED UP HER HALF MILE LONG DRIVE WAY, THERE IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY IN THE BRIGHT SUNLIGHT GLEAMED THE CAR OF MY DREAMS, JUST $65 DOLLARS AWAY

THE UPOLSTRY WAS DONE IN WHITE LEATHER, IT HAD A 487 V-8 GULL WING-SPAN DOORS, HURST FOUR ON THE FLOOR AND THE 10-SPEAKER TAPE DECK WAS GREAT IT HAD CHROME ON THE CHROME ON THE FENDERS, AND AN AERODYNAMIC DESIGN IT HAD A BAR, A TV, BUT WHAT WAS BOGGLING TO ME WAS FOR $65 BUCKS IT WAS MINE

I THOUGHT THAT THIS WOMAN MUST BE CRAZY, TO BE SELLING THIS CAR AT THAT PRICE BUT AS SHE WALKED DOWN THE LANE SHE SEEMED PERFECTLY SANE, \SHE WAS CHARMING AND REALLY QUITE NICE ND SHE SMILED WITH COMPLETE SATISFACTION, AS SHE HANDED ME THE TITLE AND THE KEYS I SAID I'VE JUST GOT TO KNOW WHY YOU'VE LET THIS THING GO, WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE CAR TELL ME PLEASE

SHE SAID I'LL BE 60 NEXT THURSDAY, I'VE LIVED HERE WITH MY HUSBAND EARL AFTER 30 YEARS WED, WITHOUT A WORD SAID, HE LEFT ME FOR A YOUNG TEENAGE GIRL BUT WITH HIS CREDIT CARDS HERE ON THE TABLE, I KNEW THAT HE WOULDN'T GET FAR AND LAST MONTH FROM FLORIDA HE, SENT A WIRE TO ME, SAID I NEED MONEY, DEAR, SELL THE CAR!

Singing Around The Campfire

What goes together better than

marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers?

Guitars and campfires?

Huddie Leadbetter (Leadbelly)

The Real Story of Huddie Leadbetter 1889 - 1949

It was in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in July 1933 that Huddie met folklorist John Lomax and his son Alan who were touring the south for the Library of Congress, collecting unwritten ballads and folk songs using the newly available recording technology. The Lomaxes had discovered that Southern prisons were among the best places to collect work songs, ballads and spirituals and Leadbelly, as he now called himself, was a particular find.  Over the next few days the Lomaxes recorded hundreds of songs. When they returned in the summer of 1934 for more recordings Leadbelly told them of his pardon in Texas. As Alan Lomax tells it, "We agreed to make a record of his petition on the other side of one of his favorite ballads, 'Goodnight Irene'. I took the record to Governor Allen on July 1. On August 1 Leadbelly got his pardon. On September 1 I was sitting in a hotel in Texas when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up and there was Leadbelly with his guitar, his knife, and a sugar bag packed with all his earthly belongings. He said, 'Boss, you got me out of jail and now I've come to be your man'" He was not a blues singer in the traditional sense; he also sang spirituals, pop, field and prison hollers, cowboy and childrens songs, dance tunes and folk ballads, and of course his own topical compositions. It has been said his repertoire was at least 500 songs.  That many of his songs carried a blues spirit can be traced back to his days with Blind Lemon Jefferson, but his greatest contribution to American music was in the folk field. Leadbelly classics such as "Goodnight Irene," "The Midnight Special," "Rock Island Line", "Cotton Fields," and "Bring Me a Little Water, Sylvie" all contain black folk elements that many prewar bluesmen shunned, at least in the recording studio. He never saw any commercial success during his lifetime. Not until after his death did a broader public come to know his songs and the amazing story of his life.  He has inflenced artists such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, The Weavers, Brownie McGee, Sonny Terry, Bob Dylan, Joe Cainen and many others. Leadbelly's 65 years sometimes reads like a work of fiction

                     Midnight Special
 

Well you wake up in the morning, hear the ding dong ring,

You go a-marching to the table, see the same damn thing

Well, it's on a one table, knife, a fork and a pan,

And if you say anything about it, you're in trouble with the man

Let the midnight special, shine her light on me

Let the midnight special, shine her ever-loving light on me

                        Alabama Bound

I'm Alabama bound  --- I'm Alabama bound

And if the train don't stop and turn around

I'm Alabama bound

                           Goodnight Irene
D                                 A7
Asked your mother for you
                                               D
She told me that you was too young
                                                  G
I wish, dear Lord, that I'd never seen your face
D               A                   D
I'm sorry you ever was born.

CHORUS:
D                A7
Irene, Goodnight
                    D
Irene, Good night
                                     G
Goodnight, Irene, Good night, Irene
D               A              D
I'll see you in my dreams.

"Hand"-y Guitar Links

Guitar Calendar
http://www.guitartips.addr.com/guitar_calendar.html


Chord Chart(make your own)
http://www.chordguide.com/guitar/index.asp

Life Is Good

This is proof that God created us in His image - shall we not live in wonder and with praise