Lyr Req: One Piece at a Time (from Johnny Cash)

Subject: Lyr Req: One Piece At A Time
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Oct 03 - 02:31 AM

Many years ago I heard a (country-style) song about the guy who worked in a car assembly plant. He smuggled out the pieces and assembled a car, one piece at a time. The gag was that it took him many years, and the models changed every year, so all the fenders were different, etc

Robin

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE PIECE AT A TIME (Wayne Kemp)
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Oct 03 - 03:32 AM

Sung by the late Johnny Cash:

ONE PIECE AT A TIME
Written by Wayne Kemp

1. Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
And I went to Detroit workin' on an assembly 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.

2. 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 lunch box 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.

CHORUS: 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 around.

3. So the very next day when I punched in
With my big lunch box and with help from my friends,
I left that day with a lunchbox 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.

4. 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 the chrome.
The little things I could get in my big lunchbox,
Like nuts and bolts and all four shocks,
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home.

5. Now, up to now, my plan went all right,
Till we tried to put it all together one night,
And that's when we noticed that somethin' 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.

6. So we drilled it out so that it would fit,
And with a little bit of help from an adapter kit,
We had that engine runnin' just like a song.
Now the headlights they 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.

7. 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."

8. So we drove up town just to get the tags,
And I headed right on down main drag,
And I could hear everybody laughing for blocks around;
But up there at the courthouse they didn't laugh,
'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff,
And when they got through, the title weighed sixty pounds.

(CHORUS)

Uh, yeah, Red Rider, this is the Cottonmouth in the psycho-billy-Cadillac, come on.
This is the Cottonmouth and negatory on the cost on this machine there, Red Rider.
You might say I went right up to the factory and picked it up. It was cheaper that way.
What model is it?

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.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: One Piece At A Time
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Oct 03 - 09:26 AM

Ok, thanks, any provenence?
Author, date etc?

Any chords anywhere?

Didn't think it would get answered so quickly...

Robin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: One Piece At A Time
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Oct 03 - 10:17 AM

HTH

ONE PIECE AT A TIME
Recorded by Johnny Cash
Written by W. Kemp
Recorded by Johnny Cash on 3/5/76 Number one - County Chart; Number 29 - Pop Chart

[F] Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
An' [Bb] went to Detroit workin' on a 'sembly line
The C] first year they had me puttin' wheels on cadil- [F] lacs
Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And [Bb] sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I [C] always wanted me one that was long and [F] 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.

CHORUS                                             
[F] I'd get it one piece at a time
And it [Bb] wouldn't cost me a dime
You'll [C] know it's me when I come through your [F] town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna [Bb] drive ever'body wild
'Cause I'll [C] have the only one there is a-[F] round.

Etc etc….

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: One Piece At A Time
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Oct 03 - 10:24 AM

Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: One Piece At A Time
From: GUEST,A Cash Fan
Date: 03 Oct 03 - 10:27 AM

a search with WWW.GOOGLE.COM for [cowpie corral] yields:

http://www.roughstock.com/cowpie/songsnflister.html/c/cash_johnny/one_piece_at_a_time.crd