Musicians | The Camp Store Carlsbad, CA | 9.1.2024
Dan Greenbaum
Mike Hunt
Mark ODonnell
Mike Pritchard
Jay Phillips
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 Live Video:
As with previous shows, I’m going to release a song a week until the complete show is uploaded and archived on Substack. This concert is being released in support of the new single “Perpetual Change” (released on November 8, 2024). We started video taping and recording our live shows consistently in 2023, when I took over the live sound. Prior to that the recording sound quality was a bit spotty.
Related stories tied to the November 8, “Perpetual Change” release:
Perpetual Change: Official Music Video
Perpetual Change: Studio Notes
Live Performance of Perpetual Change, First Time We Played It at the Camp Store
About the Ram
Mark "The Ram" O'Donnell is an independent American composer and visual artist based out of Carlsbad, California. He performs original, surf-inspired, West Coast rock-and-roll.
For more information about the Ram and his music, go to www.TheRamMusic.com
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
More Information
I currently use DistroKid to get everything out to the streaming platforms, Disco for all sync requests, Bands In Town to list live shows, and Substack for just about everything else.
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