Classic Car Tunes - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Classic Car Tunes

A college friend who grew up on a Botkins farm offered the following comment after reading recent blogs about the $1M combine and the rock & roll song written about the Olds Rocket 88:

"Enjoyed your recent Fish reports. Farm equipment, we were poor enough to share a combine, chopper and hay baler for many years. Had the first hay baler with a bale kicker in the area, eliminated need for a son to load bales. (likely since the son left for college!) We also had an Olds Rocket 88. I remember the trip my brothers and I took to my grandfather's funeral, we were late, I think we got it up to 90 MPH.” 

As promised last week, this blog is about other songs paying tribute to classic cars and the memories they bring up. Many were by the Beach Boys. A favorite was 409, about the infamous big block Chevy engine highlighted in this previous blog from 2016. 

Another Beach Boys classic was Little Deuce Coup about the original customized hot rod derived from the 1932 Ford V8. The song referred to a “big slip daddy”, which was the nickname for a limited slip differential that allowed both rear tires to be smoked simultaneously.

Another Beach Boys tune I like is Fun Fun Fun, about a cute girl who’s daddy took her T-Bird away. When I retired, we bought the retro 2004 Thunderbird pictured here.

Ronnie and the Daytona’s had this one hit classic called Little GTO with the famous refrain "Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out, GTO”

Another one hit wonder was Hey Little Cobra by the Rip Cords. I actually tried buying a Cobra a number of years ago, but unlike the driver in the photo, my head stuck up over the windshield about 6”, plus the legroom for my 6’4” frame was totally inadequate. Oh, the sound and the speed - too bad!

John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival fame, far from a one hit wonder, did a nice tune called Hot Rod Heart that I had written about in this previous blog. "Let’s go riding, rolling down the open road. We can put the top down and listen to the radio”

As a Ford retiree now driving Lincolns, I’d be remiss in not including the 1955 classic Hot Rod Lincoln by Charlie Ryan.

Prince’s 1999 hit called Little Red Corvette was a late comer to the car tunes, but for me probably brought back the most memories. It was in the summer of 1968 when my ’62 Chevy needed a new set of tires. I recalled that Dad would use that “excuse” to convince Mom it was time for a new car! So I tried the same approach on Dad cause I’d need a loan from him to buy a car since I was in college.

The car I wanted was a beautiful 1967 red Corvette convertible that was being offered at $3100 as a model year closeout at Katterheinrich Chevrolet in New Knoxville. Dad took one look at the car and quickly said No! (Note: the car would now be worth ~$100k!)

He instead suggested why not buy a stripped down Chevy Nova also on the show room floor. Fortunately it has just been sold and they had no more in stock. The Katterheinrich salesperson suggested I could order a Nova that would be delivered before I headed back to school in the fall. To close the deal, they promised to put new tires on my current car immediately since they would eventually be taking it on trade. Dad said yes, so unbeknownst to him, I ordered the gold Super Sport model pictured above for $1900 after trade-in. The Nova SS came in by fall; it was fast and sporty; I loved the car.

But that meant I was in debt to Dad for ~$1900, which I fortunately didn’t have to pay off until after graduation. Then life got in the way of my loan payments! It was a diamond ring for our engagement!. By the time we were married, the debt was only down to $1700, but fortunately my fiancé had $1800 in the bank, so we had a net worth of exactly $100 the day we were married! Heading off to our honeymoon after the reception, we needed some quick cash, so my new wife opened one of the wedding cards we had received. Lo and behold, inside the first card was what appeared to be a folded $100 bill! from my uncle and aunt. For a second, we had aspirations our net worth had just doubled!

After the honeymoon, with both our incomes, we quickly paid off the loan to Dad and actually did buy my first Corvette, the first of three pictured below.

1963 Split Window Coupe

1965 Stingray Convertible

1968 Stingray T-top  

After writing this blog, a google search for top classic car songs yielded this link of 100 best car songs, of which the first few match up well with my favorites described above. Promise, I didn’t cheat and look this up before composing this post.

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Rocket 88 - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Rocket 88

It was really tough to find time to write the blog this weekend because of all the sports on TV (finally); with the US Open, NBA Finals, Major League Baseball, NHL playoffs, NCAA football and the NFL, Plus I played tennis and golf! But here goes:

A friend mentioned this week that his neighbor had purchased a classic car on eBay from a seller in California. The classic was a 1954 Oldsmobile Rocket 88.

The car hauler who transported the classic from California blew a hydraulic hose on his hauler after unloading the Olds on the street right in front of my friends place. About 20 gallons of hydraulic fluid spilled all over the street. My friend was really upset because the driver left without cleaning it up or telling anyone about the spill. The haz mat unit was dispatched to clean it up and will be sending the clean-up bill to the car hauler.

Larry, the best man in my wedding had a Rocket 88 as a teenager. Like my ‘59 Chevy, it was a hand-me-down from his Dad. The car wasn’t a cool 2 door like the classic my friend's neighbor bought, rather a base 4 door sedan but with the famous Rocket V8 engine. Larry’s car was about 10 years old when we were riding it around after getting our drivers license in 1964. The Olds had worn out shocks so drove like a boat but would go like hell with that big 302 Rocket V8. Larry lived near Willowdell where the local Olds dealer was located until 2010 when the Oldsmobile brand was dropped by GM. They also sold John Deere farm implements. Here’s the auction flyer for the dealership.

Larry’s Dad was a great customer of the dealership, which also included a general store next door where Larry at age 16 could buy 3.2% beer. So every Friday night before going to Minster’s Eagle Park dance hall, Larry would buy a case of cold beer and we’d meet up and cruise around in that big Rocket 88 boat. Fun times.

The Rocket 88 was so popular, like many subsequent classic cars, this song was written about the car in 1951 by Ike Turner, of Ike & Tina Turner fame. In fact, the tune was considered the first rock & roll record when Alan Freed invented the famous moniker while playing the song as a DJ in Cleveland on 50,000 watt AM station WJW. That distinction earned Clevelend the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, of which naturally Alan Freed as well as Ike and Tina Turner are honorees.

Look for a future blog featuring other songs about classic cars and all the memories they bring.

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Beverly Hillbillies - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Beverly Hillbillies

A Facebook friend posted this MTV Beverly Hillbillies spoof by Wierd Al Yankovich that brought back memories from yesteryear. The show, which debuted in 1962 and ran for 9 years, was a family favorite that made us all laugh. I can especially remember Dad chuckling spontaneously while viewing every episode. I think his childhood during the Great Depression was a lot like the Clampett clan before they moved to California after striking oil on their property in Arkansas's Ozark mountains. They drove their truck pictured here with all their godly possessions and settled in a Beverly Hills mansion.

The series starts as Jed Clampett, an impoverished and widowed mountaineer, is living alongside an oil-rich swamp with his daughter Ellie Mae and mother-in-law Granny. A surveyor for the OK Oil Company realizes the size of the oil field, and the company pays him a fortune for the right to drill on his land.

Patriarch Jed's cousin Pearl prods him to move to California after being told his modest property could yield $25 million, while pressuring him into taking her son Jethro along. The family moves into a mansion in wealthy Beverly Hills, California, next door to Jed's banker, Milburn Drysdale, and his wife, Margaret, who has zero tolerance for hillbillies.

Incidentally, the Hillbillies mansion pictured here recently sold for $150 million to Rupert Murdock’s son. The Clampett's called the huge swimming pool their “cement pond”.

The Clampett's brought a moral, unsophisticated, and minimalist lifestyle to the swanky, self-obsessed and superficial California community. Double entendres and cultural misconceptions are the core of the sitcom's humor. Plots often involve the outlandish efforts Drysdale makes to keep the Clampett's' money in his bank and his wife's efforts to rid the neighborhood of "those hillbillies." The family's periodic attempts to return to the mountains are often prompted by Granny's perceiving a slight from one of the "city folk".

The popular show was followed by two other "country cousin” TV series on CBS: Petticoat Junction and its spin-off Green Acres, which reversed the rags-to-riches, country-to-city model of The Beverly Hillbillies.

The Beverly Hillbillies' theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett”, was performed by bluegrass stars Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs playing banjo and guitar while Jerry Scoggins sang the lyrics during the opening and ending credits of each episode. The song actually reached number 44 on Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart and number one on the Billboard Hot Country chart.

10 little know facts about the Beverly Hillbillies:
https://screenrant.com/beverly-hillbillies-facts-never-knew/

Jethro played by Max Baer is the only cast member still living at age 83.

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New Specs - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

New Specs

While playing tennis last week, my eye glasses fell off and the frame broke. My prescription had just been updated last fall but they didn’t carry the frames, so I went online to find a replacement. Fortunately, eBay had a pair listed at half the price I paid several years ago, so I put in a low ball offer and sure enough, they accepted. The replacement frame arrived a few days later and today, I had the lenses installed in the new frame by my local eye doctor.

So all is well. However, the whole process brought to mind my eyeglass encounters as a kid on the farm, where it seemed I’d break my glasses about every few months. I can recall our family optometrist Doctor Connor in St. Marys giving me an eye exam during the spring of 1959 at age 11 after carelessly breaking my frames. Meanwhile, Mom was observing the exam and worrying about how to pay for new glasses. Dr. Connor diagnosed me with “lazy eye” which meant my left eye would apparently not focus or properly follow the item being sighted. He told my Mom the lenses were fine and only a new frame was needed, but in the meantime, he told me to wear a patch on my normal right eye 8 hours per day with my old glasses taped up until new frames came in and hopefully my “lazy” left eye started to act properly. What a summer that was!

First of all, I looked like a nerd with my taped up glasses, plus with the covered right eye, I looked like a pirate! Doctors orders were for me to do detailed work, which Mom interpreted to mean stuff around the house. I can recall picking strawberries, plucking the stems off green beans, peeling carrots, shucking peas, pealing potatoes and many other duties around the house Mom interpreted to be detail oriented. I even learned to sew! Eight hours a day come hell or high water. To Dad’s and my consternation, Mom felt regular farm work was not focused enough for my lazy eye to correct itself. What a terrible summer! But it worked, as by the time I got to high school, no glasses were needed until about age 50 when I again required glasses. To this day, my left eye is still weaker, but my right eye remains at 20-20. As I discovered after my glasses broke, I probably really don’t need glasses.

Speaking of eye glasses, this previous blogpost about neighbor Pete Quinter, unfortunately since deceased at too young an age, about how I almost ruined his sight, came full circle as he became a renowned surgeon who did bypass surgery on my Mom extending her life by at least a decade.

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Swing Speed - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Swing Speed

Of the remaining sports that I can still play at age 72, golf is my favorite. So recently, after golfing with my son, who had just purchased new clubs and was hitting them great, I decided to check out a new set for myself because both the elevation and distance from my current clubs weren't meeting my expectations. I can vividly recall my first set of cheap Spalding irons (odd numbers only), flat blade putter and MacGregor woods (yes, they were indeed made of wood) that I could hit a mile, albeit rather wildly, given my consistent slice.

Recall this previous blogpost about some of those exploits. Back then, I could hit a 7 iron 160 yards via a high trajectory, but now only a 140. And most hits are low liners that bounce through the green as opposed to an arching flight pattern that lands softly on the green. Backspin like the pros is out of the question!

The local golf practice center is called Carl’s Golfland and includes a training facility appropriately called the Launch Pad with all the latest Trackman technology and comprehensive club selection. So I signed up for a session with a fitter to try various clubs. Carl’s charges a fee, but if you buy any clubs, they give you a credit towards the purchase. So what’s to lose? First the fitter had me hit my current Taylormade irons I’ve had about 5 years, then try a number of other clubs including the same set my son purchased and many others.

When all done, the club fitter declared my existing clubs (white & yellow) were the best for distance, accuracy and trajectory! He claimed the laws of physics won’t allow me to hit the ball further or higher because my basic swing speed of 81mph with a driver is deficient (9th percentile). He said this is a natural aging phenomenon but can be reversed or at a minimum held in check with different exercises and drills. Oh crap - the “e” word!

A fellow golfer older than me with a lower handicap was consulted for his golfing secrets and he referred me to a personal trainer he uses to keep in shape. His name is Tom, a young guy with a nice golf game.Check out Tom’s stair drill here I made contact with him, and we've been holding workout sessions once a week right at our home on the back patio. It’s helping but it’s too early to really tell. My favorite drill is taking a 10# medicine ball and throwing it against the wall or down onto the floor.

Tom also has me use stretch bands to build upper body and core strength. But the best drills to improve swing speed according to him are doing sit ups, push ups and pull-ups. Ironically, those were the top drills coach Kremer had us do back in high school to improve or strength. Coach was an excellent golfer, always in great health and is still living at age 95. Here’s a past blogpost celebrating his 90th birthday.

My situp, pushup and pullup counts have doubled since starting, but doubling a small number is not much of an accomplishment! We’ll see how it goes. My main measure of success will be holding onto my single digit golf handicap. A friend once said, 9 handicappers are the easiest money on the course, because they really should be higher but keep stretching their game to stay single digit. My case precisely - easy money! Maybe with a little luck and perseverance, I can win a few bucks to somewhat offset the cost of the club fitting and personal trainer. We’ll see, recalling what an old friend once told me, gambling money has no home!

PS: I’ve been really impressed with the performances of two young area high school golfers, the Redskin’s Adam Ballas and the Raider’s Ross Fiessinger. Wish I had their swing speeds!

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