The first car I ever had was a 1963 Chevy II that my girlfriend had bought for $300, in 1979. I bought it from her after I had borrowed it and my beloved Malemute, Jaco, tore up the back seat and threw the cushioning out of the window.
She bought it in Baytown, Texas from a friend of my mother. I had moved from Baltimore in 1975 and had, neither, a driver’s license OR a car……Didn’t need one. I was city boy. So, I got my license and fled Baytown for urban Houston. I was a wannabe musician and the place to be was Austin, it was already legendary in my mind. The Armadillo World Headquarters was there and I had heard albums recorded there, notably Frank Zappa, Commander Cody, and Doug Sahm.
Well, I moved to “heaven” and went out to see music EVERY NIGHT. It was truly amazing. Eventually, I did a reggae gig with a band I had been playing with in Baytown. I schmoozed my way to sit in with The Austin All-Stars, Extreme Heat and The Lotions, the popular reggae band. (It didn’t hurt that I owned a busy used record store in town and knew a slew of musicians-see RECYCLED RECORDS entry
Eventually, I earned a spot with THE LOTIONS, not a band member, technically, but I played with them all the time, including Houston/Dallas/San Antonio dates. Their main Austin Club was Liberty Lunch. Anyone who ever played there, or hung out there, will tell you it was incredible.
So, back to my first car….the air conditioner had a leak under the right side of my dashboard that would leave about an inch of water sloshing around in the passenger side floorboard, making waves as I drove along. Not being mechanically inclined and rather than pay to have it fixed I just took a hammer and a Phillips head screwdriver and pounded about 5 holes through the floorboard of the car, so it would drain. Smart huh
One night on the way home, from a gig at Liberty Lunch, I looked down to my right and “Lo and Behold”…..there was a PERFECT little pot plant growing out of my carpet. It was beautiful and looked like a tiny palm tree growing in an oasis. I proudly left it there for a few days, to show friends but finally plucked it because I thought the Police might not think it was as cool as I did,
PS, The Baltimore Kid got to play one gig, with the Lotions, at The Armadillo World Headquarters….how about that?
My Entertaining Life-Steve Carter 