07/05/2024
Phonetically, such is life. One "peace" at a time.
Johnny Cash’s GM “One Piece at a Time” car, April 1976.
After Johnny Cash recorded his smash hit, his producers needed some publicity photos. They contacted Bruce Fitzpatrick, owner of Abernathy Auto Parts and Hilltop Auto Salvage in Nashville, Tennessee, about a unique custom vehicle. They did not offer Fitzpatrick any money, but he liked the song and agreed to build them a car for fun.
Fitzpatrick re-listened to Johnny Cash's song and noticed that the narrator builds a car with parts from 1949 through early 1970s Cadillacs. Fitzpatrick had lots of Cadillacs, so he walked through his scrapyard and identified donor cars spanning twenty years. He had his employees assemble a piecemeal jalopy. They worked for just over a week.
When the Cadillac was complete, Fitzpatrick drove it to Johnny Cash's museum: The House of Cash. Fitzpatrick got to meet the singer and his band, and they had a great time doing a photo shoot for the upcoming single.
Fitzpatrick left the car at the Cash museum. Until a spot opened to display it, the museum left the vehicle parked out front--to the neighbors' dismay. Once inside, the historic car remained on display for a decade. Then, in 1986 Fitzpatrick got a phone call. The House of Cash was going bankrupt and shutting down. They asked if he could pick up his creation. Obligingly, Fitzpatrick drove to Hendersonville, Tennessee, and towed the car back to Hilltop Auto Salvage. Today, the original car featured on the album art would be nearly priceless. There are numerous museums, and even Nashville bars, that would love to feature a piece of country history. Sadly, when Fitzpatrick got the prop car back to Hilltop Auto Salvage, he crushed it and sold it as scrap metal. Fitzpatrick says he now receives phone calls about the car often and is amused that at the time, he didn't think it would ever be a big deal.
'One Piece at a Time'
Lyrics.....
"Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
An' went to Detroit workin' on a 'sembly line
The first year they had me puttin' wheels on Cadillacs
Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black
One day I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand
I'd get it one piece at a time and it wouldn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style, I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round
So the very next day when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friends
I left that day with a lunch box full of gears
I've never considered myself a thief
But GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years
The first day I got me a fuel pump
And the next day I got me an engine and a trunk
Then I got me a transmission and all of the chrome
The little things I could get in my big lunchbox
Like nuts, an' bolts, and all four shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home
Now, up to now my plan went all right
'Til we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong
The transmission was a '53 and the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone
So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help with an adapter kit
We had that engine runnin' just like a song
Now the headlight' was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch all three of 'em come on
The back end looked kinda funny too
But we put it together and when we got through
Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tail-fin
About that time my wife walked out
And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts
But she opened the door and said, "Honey, take me for a spin"
So we drove up town just to get the tags
And I headed her right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around
But up there at the court house they didn't laugh
'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff
And when they got through the title weighed sixty pounds
I got it one piece at a time and it didn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style, I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around
Uh yow, Red Ryder, this is the cotton mouth
In the Psycho-Billy Cadillac come on, huh, this is the cotton mouth
And negatory on the cost of this mow-chine there Red Ryder
You might say I went right up to the factory
And picked it up, it's cheaper that way
Uh, what model is it?
Well, it's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56
'57, '58' 59' automobile
It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67
'68, '69, '70 automobile
Texas Music Manager 
