Musicians | 1st Street Bar Encinitas, CA | 5.26.2023
Dan Greenbaum
Mike Hunt
Mark ODonnell
Mike Pritchard
Lyrics
Some say that the love of the wanderlust
Is just a life that won’t amount to much,
A man born with rambling shoes
Is just another man born to loose
I want to set the record straight
Before I hit the road today
Got a ragtop car, enough gas to take us far
Enough away, cause I plan to drive all-day
When the evening comes
We’ll be like loaded guns
Out in the night shooting stars out the sky, baby
When the blue sky’s lost in a concrete maze
I get the feeling, I wanna get lost for days
Lace up my rambling shoes
Get a chance to beat the 3rd street blues
Race up the Taconic Parkway
Drive until the break of Day
Make a love stop along the way
Got a ragtop car, enough gas to take us far
Enough away, cause I plan to drive all-day
When the evening comes
We’ll be like loaded guns
Out in the night shooting stars out the sky, baby
I got myself a roady in my hand
Talking Pabst Blue ribbon, in a can
I’m not trying to be tough
Just priming up the motor of love
Gotta loosen up
Here come my baby struttin’ that stuff.
Got a ragtop car, enough gas to take us far
Enough away, cause I plan to drive all-day
When the evening comes
We’ll be like loaded guns
Out in the night shooting stars out the sky, baby
About the Song
Ragtop Car is the last of a series of songs recorded in the spring of 2022 in a studio-live setting with minimal overdubs. We played the song two times back to back. The extended take was the second take where we stretched our legs a bit and explored some ideas while jamming the song out. Our normal tracking workflow leaves the drums & bass untouched, then we sparingly overdub the rest to achieve a sound true to our live performances. No click tracks were used, no quantization, just a legendary local drummer, Mike Hunt whom I played with years ago in another band. Local San Diego musician and engineer, Mike Butler takes care of the mixing and mastering.
About the Day
In a previous life, my friends and I got together, formed a band, and shared the bill with the legendary Witches Tit. We played a bunch of shows over the course of a few years from Solana Beach, Encinitas, to the Redlands. At the time, I lived near D Street and surfed the area’s local breaks. Our regular haunt was First Street Bar in Encinitas, CA.
It’s the same stage I performed my first original songs. Flash forward to this show, the night before I scoped out the sound man Isik (cool guy, drives an Ambulance), saw that he had the same PA that I own, so I asked what I needed to bring, and if we could record the following night. He agreed, all was cool, so I went out, had a tri tip sandwich and smoked a mini jay with the owner of the food truck out front. Good times.
We didn’t promote this night’s gig too widely as it was a warm up for another night on the weekend. To our pleasant surprise, the entire crowd (friends, family, neighbors) from the Camp Store came down and partied hard. Ended up a big night after we played down at the Roxy. I think I had just gotten that cream SG Custom Shop, huge tone.
About the Ram
Mark "The Ram" O'Donnell is an independent American composer, producer, filmmaker, multi-instrumental performer, designer, and visual artist based out of Carlsbad, California. He performs original, surf-inspired rock-and-roll music on the West Coast.
For more information about the Ram and his music, go to www.TheRamMusic.com
To view the Ram’s latest release on all streaming platforms:
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/theram2/everything
Song Metadata
Ragtop Car
The Ram
UPC: 197085038087
IRSC: QZMEP2297687
Release date: August 19, 2022
ASCAP Work ID: 920728953
ASCAP Singer Songwriter IPI Number: 375350750
ASCAP Publisher IPI Number: 375351159
Ragtop Car | 5.26.2023