Prior to joining the Navy I worked in the cannery and put all my money into my car. I had a 1966 Dodge Coronet with a 361 that I re-built into a 383. After ordering a short block with high compression pistons and "Wedge" heads I added a tunnel ram and a couple Carter carburators. I was the shit in town "Dragging the Gut"! Have any of you heard or remember that term?
Ray, I'm really enjoying watching you "Re-Live" your youth and telling your stories (Keep-em-comin'!!).
Just wanted to ask you if you had ever heard the term: "Draggin' the Gut" much outside of your reference to it above? I know that it was a great (and about the only) pastime on a Sat night where I went to high school in Canon City, CO but I didn't know how many towns did that. (actually until you said the words I had often wondered if cruising mainstreet was only called that in my high school town).
So I googled "Dragging the Gut" and "Draggin' the Gut" and only got 2 hits: A my space vid and a poem (see both below) so it must not have been too common.
At least I know it was in your town, my town, and Larned, KS (note the biker bar)!
Oh, also did you ever "Drag the Gut" on your motorcycle? I only remember cars.
Shovelcowboy
[ame=http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=41833127]Tour of Larned Kansas (Draggin' the Gut) Video by CD - MySpace Video[/ame]
Johnny Hot Rod (Draggin' the Gut)
v) Gather 'round, all you kats
Yeah you ankle biters too
Come lend an ear for a stack-up story
Every word's I swear the truth
Listen close and tight, hey
And don't you tank a word
To the story of Johnny Hot Rod
Saddest story that you've ever heard
ch) Johnny was the fastest, yeah
The quickest kat around
In his baby-blue thirty-two
Hopped up rockin' Ford Deuce Coupe
Johnny was the ginchiest, yeah
The coolest kat in town
And wherever Johnny made the scene
Was the coolest hangout around
v) Johnny was a romeo
With dreamy eyes in his leather coat
And whenever Johnny
dragged the gut
All the Dollys came in tow
Johnny gigged at Old Roy's Shop
Changin' oil, givin' tune up jobs
Old Roy said when he retired next year (he'd be 68)
Old Roys would become Johnny's Shop
v) Chariots always came from all around
Lookin' to chase that Johnny Hot Rod down
When they found him, (well Johnny never hid)
He'd take 'em out to old Boggstown Road
The blacktop was old, full of cracks and potholes
Quarter mile up a fat line was painted in gold
And at the finish, time after time
Johnny was first to cross that golden line
ch) Johnny Hot Rod, Johnny Cool
The fastest kat, the hippest dude
In your wailin' rocket dipped in baby blue
Hopped up thirty-two deuce coupe
All the rodders came gunnin' for you
To find out if the legend was true
But you took 'em on, one at a time
Man, you were the fastest kat of all time
v) One day a kat came from outer space
With an unknown name, unfamiliar face
In a fifty-five Chevy dipped in gunmetal gray
Soundin' mean and lean and full of rage
When he found Johnny they set the race
At dusk they'd meet, well, you know the place
And man Boggstown Road was antsville for sure
When the sun kissed the earth that day
v) Off the line the chariots flew
Layin' rubber, leavin' nothin' but fumes
Halfway down they were still neck n' neck
'Til Johnny edged ahead and made his move
Johnny's chariot was first to cross the line
But just as he did, trouble arrived
The deuce coupe slid, spun and flipped over
Rolling smack-dab into an old telephone pole
ch) Johnny Hot Rod, Johnny Cool
You were the fastest kat, the hippest dude
That day you died you were only 22
And they buried you in your Ford deuce coupe
Many years have scooted by since that fateful day
But rumor has it, well, some oldtimers say
They still see you, Johnny Hot Rod, just at dusk
In your rockin' deuce coupe, still
draggin' the gut
Cin Sweet Fields