One Piece at a Time
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| “One Piece at a Time” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by Johnny Cash | ||
| Released | May 1976 | |
| Genre | Country | |
| Length | 4:00 | |
| Label | Columbia | |
| Writer(s) | Wayne Kemp | |
| Producer | Charlie Bragg / Don Davis | |
| Audio sample | ||
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"One Piece at a Time" is a humorous country song written by Wayne Kemp[1] and recorded by Johnny Cash in 1976. It tells a story from the point of view of a Detroit auto worker who watches Cadillacs roll by day after day on the assembly line, all the while knowing that he will never be able to afford one on his salary. Envious, he decides to steal a Cadillac, avoiding getting caught by taking parts from the factory, as the title suggests, one piece at a time (presumably one part per day). The worker takes the small parts by hiding them in his large lunchbox, while larger parts are smuggled out via his friend's mobile home. Many years later, he finally achieves his goal, albeit with a very odd-looking vehicle: it was created from parts of many different models (years 1949 to 1973), requiring extensive effort to make all the parts fit together. The vehicle title weighed 60 pounds, requiring the entire staff at the courthouse to type it.
Bruce Fitzpatrick, owner of Abernathy Auto Parts and Hilltop Auto Salvage in Nashville, TN, was asked by the promoters of the song to build the vehicle for international promotion. Bruce had all the different models of Cadillacs mentioned in the song when it was released, and built a Cadillac using the song as a model. The car was presented to Cash in April of 1976. It was parked for a few weeks outside The House Of Cash[2] in Hendersonville, Tennessee, until someone could find a place to store it.
Contents |
[edit] In popular culture
- The song was covered by Chicago rock band Tub Ring for the 2001 Johnny Cash tribute album, Cash from Chaos.
[edit] Trivia
Reality reflected the events in the song when a production line worker at the Landrover factory in Solihull, England was caught stealing parts from the plant. Police later found a half completed Landrover in his garage.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Lyrics as they appear on Yahoo! Music
- Music Video as it appears on YouTube
- Origin of the Second Cadillac as presented by the Antique Automobile Club of America
- Images of a similarly-produced Cadillac, as well as a scanned magazine article
| Preceded by "After All the Good Is Gone" by Conway Twitty |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single by Johnny Cash May 29, 1976- June 6, 1976 |
Succeeded by "I'll Get Over You" by Crystal Gayle |
