I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle (Nick Gravenites)

Subject: RE: I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle (Nick Gravenites)
From: pdq
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 05:20 PM

Nick Gravenites wrote "Born in Chicago", the first song by the Butterfield Blues band that many people heard. It is autobiographical to an extent, not really about Butterfield.

Gravenites was a angry kid who liked Blues clubs. The better known players in BBB were pretty well upper and middle class kids. The BBB would not have been the same without his working with various members and getting them together and getting White kids accepted in tough Blues clubs.

Subject: RE: I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle (Nick Gravenites)
From: GUEST,999
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 05:14 PM

Ya are, Bobert. The rest of us were just looking for it :)    LOL

Subject: RE: I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle (Nick Gravenites)
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 04:11 PM

Thanks all... I was hopin' I wasn't the only person in the world who loves this song...

B~

Subject: RE: I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle (Nick Gravenites)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 03:46 PM

That's what I mean, Michael. The Grateful Dead lyrics Website is a gem, and it's far more reliable than the www.oldielyrics.com Website I used for the Pure Prairie League lyrics. I made the correction you suggested, plus a few others.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: 'I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle'...
From: michaelr
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 03:24 PM

More reliable? Not in this case - the lyrics as recorded by PPL are in Joe's 2:30pm post. One little correction: the last line of verse 2 should read "And every other week a check comin' in the mail".

Subject: ADD: 'I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle'...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 02:49 PM

Here's the Big Brother and the Holding Company version, from Grateful Dead Lyric And Song Finder, a far more reliable source:

I'll Change Your Flat Tire Merle

Lyrics: Nick Gravenites
Music: Nick Gravenites

Played by Jerry Garcia with Nick Gravenites and Pete Sears on 29 Apr 1990. A riposte to Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee". Not yet checked against a tape: this is the Big Brother version:




I'LL CHANGE YOUR FLAT TIRE, MERLE
(Nick Gravenites)

I was cruisn' down old 99
Speeding down the old Grapevine
Must have been doing about ninety five
Well I saw a new car all broken down
And who do you think was a-standing around
But the greatest country singer alive

CHORUS
Oh I'll change your flat tire, Merle
Don't you get your sweet country picking fingers
All covered with oil
You're a honky I know, but Merle, you got soul
So I'll change your flat tire, Merle

Well I heard about them records you did
Putting down all them long-haired kids
For saying what they're feeling and how they think
Well it's hard to make a world your own
And if you have to go out and get stoned
It's better with a joint than a drink

CHORUS

I heard you had an adventurous youth
Camping out in a telephone booth
I even heard you spent some time in jail
But now you've got a brand new car
Brand new ranch house with a bar
Picking up your cheques in the mail

CHORUS
CHORUS


Recordings
Nick Gravenites recorded this with Big Brother And The Holding Company on "Be A Brother" (1970), and it was covered by Pure Prairie League on "Two Lane Highway" as well as on the live album "Live Takin' The Stage"

Further Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography


Source: http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/introjs.htm?/~acsa/songfile/I2LLCHAN.HTM

Nick Gravenites replaced Janis Joplin as lead singer in Big Brother and the Holding Company.

---

Cultural note: The Grapevine is the highway across Tejon Pass, separating Bakersfield from Los Angeles, CA. The highway has been designated U.S. 99, California Highway 99, and Interstate 5. The Grapevine has some of the most spectacular views in California, but it's a very dangerous place to have a flat tire.
Merle Ronald Haggard was born April 6, 1937, in Oildale, a suburb just across the Kern River from Bakersfield. Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), better known as Buck Owens, was born in Texas and died in Bakersfield. Buck Owens had his headquarters in an old theater in Oildale.

Subject: ADD: I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 02:30 PM

For the record, here are the lyrics:

I'LL FIX YOUR FLAT TIRE, MERLE
(Nick Gravenites)
(as sung by the Pure Prairie League)

As I drove down on 65, I was cruisin' down that old Grapevine
Well, I must have been doin' at least about 95
Well out there on the side of the road all broke down and
Who do you think was a-standin' around
But the greatest country singer alive!

I'll fix your flat tire Merle
Don't ya get your sweet country pickin' fingers all covered with erl
Cause you're a honky, I know, but Merle you got soul
And I'll fix your flat tire Merle

Well I hear you had an adventurous youth, makin' love in a telephone booth
And I even hear you did a little stretch in jail
But now you got a big ranch house with a bar
And eight, nine, ten of them fancy cars
And every other week a check comin' in the mail

I'll fix your flat tire Merle
Don't ya get your sweet country pickin' fingers all covered with erl
Cause you're a honky, I know, but Merle you got soul
And I'll fix your flat tire Merle

Now I heared all them records ya did, makin' fun of us long haired kids
And now ya know we don't care what ya think.
Merle, if you're gonna call the world your home
Ya know you're gonna have to get out and get stoned
An' it's better with a joint than with a drink, I think

So I'll fix your flat tire Merle
Don't ya get your sweet country pickin' fingers all covered with erl
Cause you're a honky, I know, but Merle you got soul
And I'll fix your flat tire Merle
So I'll fix your flat tire Merle


The Harry Fox Agency lists this song as "I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle."
source: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/pure_prairie_league/ill_change_your_flat_tire_merle.html (corrected)

Subject: RE: 'I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Earl'...
From: GUEST,Tom
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 12:05 PM

That tune is a classic !

The actual title is " I'll Change Your Flat Tire Merle" although the words are "fix".

Two Lane Highway was one of the all time great country rock releases and this tune never left PPL's setlist, very, very popular. It's still in their set today, and Mike Reilly and John David Call (whose pedal steel is absolutley incredible, the best )still put it over like it was 1975. Originally written by Big Brother's Nick Gravenites, it was made a classic by PPL.

Subject: RE: 'I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Earl'...
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 09:31 PM

"Well, you're a honky I know
But, Merle, you got soul
So I'll fix your flat tire, Merle...

Man, don't get much better than that...

B~

Subject: RE: 'I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Earl'...
From: BobKnight
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 09:20 PM

It's by the "Pure Prairie League," from back in the seventies. Best track on the album was, "Two Lane Highway."

Subject: RE: 'I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Earl'...
From: GUEST,999
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 09:20 PM

The thread title should read "I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle."

(The lyrics, tabs, chords and videos are easily available on the www.)

Sorry, Bobert. I'm just letting the mods know.

Subject: RE: 'I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Earl'...
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 06:01 PM

My bad.... "Merle", gol danged it...

B~

Subject: 'I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Earl'...
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Oct 12 - 06:01 PM

Well, it's been years since I was covering this song but the danged thing is stuck in my head of late...

Anyone else doing this song or done it in the past???

B~