In 1976, Johnny Cash made an impressive comeback with his hit song “One Piece at a Time,” reaching the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. The Man in Black had been longing for another chart-topping record since his 1971 hit “Flesh and Blood.” At 44 years old, Cash attributed part of his dry spell to being spread too thin, as he poured his creative energy into various projects such as his TV show, book writing, and the production of his movie “The Gospel Road.” However, he admitted to being somewhat lazy when it came to recording, regretting his decision to release soundtrack tapes from his TV show instead of meticulously crafting new songs in the studio (although it’s hard to imagine a better version of classics like “Sunday Morning Coming Down”).
Cash’s triumphant return to the top of the country chart was made possible by “One Piece at a Time,” a whimsical tune about an assembly-line worker who gradually steals parts of a Cadillac over a span of 20 years. The song was penned by talented songwriter Wayne Kemp, who had previously achieved success with hits like George Jones’ “Love Bug” and several early country hits for his friend Conway Twitty.
Kemp recalled the challenges he faced while writing “One Piece at a Time.” It took him over two years to perfect the song after his wife initially came up with the concept. The difficulty lay in finding the common thread that would tie the story together. Thankfully, Kemp’s wife came to the rescue once again and suggested that the stolen parts wouldn’t fit properly if taken over several years, resulting in an incredibly unsightly car. That was the breakthrough Kemp needed to complete the song.
To promote the record, Columbia’s advertising department approached Bruce Fitzpatrick, the owner of Abernathy Auto Parts and Hilltop Auto Salvage in Nashville. They enlisted Fitzpatrick and his team to construct the vehicle featured in the song for international promotion. Fitzpatrick gathered various parts from old Cadillacs ranging from 1949 to 1970 and painstakingly assembled them, mirroring the actions of the song’s narrator.
The outcome was an astonishingly hideous car, which was personally presented to Johnny Cash in April 1976. It spent many years in front of Johnny’s publishing company and museum, the House of Cash, located in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville. The car became a popular tourist attraction. However, after the House of Cash closed, the vehicle was towed away and returned to Hilltop Auto Salvage, where it met its ultimate fate—being crushed.
Another interesting parallel between art and reality was the weight of the car’s title in the song, described as weighing 60 pounds. In a similar fashion, Kemp’s handwritten lyric sheet for “One Piece at a Time” was incredibly lengthy, spanning seven pages. Despite the vast number of words in the song, Cash managed to fit them all in within the four-minute runtime.
The story behind “One Piece at a Time” is a testament to Johnny Cash’s enduring creativity and his ability to captivate audiences with his unique storytelling. It is a tale of triumph, inspiration, and a quirky car that left an indelible mark on music history.
Released: 1976
Artist: Johnny Cash
Album: Capitol Music Hall 1976 (live)
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
