Crazy 'bout a Mercury....

lonewolfny42 · « **on:** 3 Jun 2010, 03:39 am »

Well if i had money
Tell you what I'd do
I'd go downtown and buy a Mercury or two
Crazy bout a Mercury
Lord I'm crazy bout a Mercury
I'm gonna buy me a Mercury
And cruise it up and down the road....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr3Jp_aF1Ok&feature=related

Well....better buy that Mercury soon....so long Mercury...

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/02/autos/mercury_dead/

ltr317 · « **Reply #1 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 04:00 am »

Great David Lindley tune. Two other DL favorites of mine are:

She took off my Romeos, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTJq3HnF6JI&feature=related

and Quarter of A Man, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONZk9y2crJk&feature=related

Lyndon · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 04:17 am »

A Quarter of A Man...He's just a quarter of a man...
Paul,
I interviewed David many years ago, after he had completed a great set with the full band at the Zephyr Club in Salt Lake City. Could not have been a nicer person. I remember asking him about the home stereo. All I can remember is he had a Phase Linear amp that his sound man had modified to such an extent, he felt he couldn't call it a Phase Linear amp anymore.
The man wears the polyester well, and wears damn fine shoes!
Lyndon

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #3 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 04:26 am »

1940 Mercury.....

ltr317 · « **Reply #4 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 04:31 am »

Quote from: Lyndon on 3 Jun 2010, 04:17 am

A Quarter of A Man...He's just a quarter of a man...
Paul,
I interviewed David many years ago, after he had completed a great set with the full band at the Zephyr Club in Salt Lake City. Could not have been a nicer person. I remember asking him about the home stereo. All I can remember is he had a Phase Linear amp that his sound man had modified to such an extent, he felt he couldn't call it a Phase Linear amp anymore.
The man wears the polyester well, and wears damn fine shoes!
Lyndon

Yeah, he always had a funky sense of style. Was the interview for the local paper or magazine?

Lyndon · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 05:41 am »

Chris, that is a honey of a Mercury.
Paul, I was interested in offering the piece to the local Univ. of Utah college paper, but they were not interested.
Never got one published.
Did three:
Mose Allison in the Gabe & Walker Saloon in Iowa City...remember the Falstaff commercials. What a fascinating man.
Commander Cody, who was more interested in my sister's art museum in NYC.
and Mr. Lindley.
Tried to interview Randy Newman, but he was brusque and not one to socialize. This was way before his success with the movie soundtracks.
Lindley is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, but I sure wish he would go on the road again with a band as good
as El Rayo-X. I just feel the other musicians "push" him more.
Lyndon
Ry Cooder and David Lindley in the early L.A. years. I believe it was David that beat Ry
in some bluegrass competition in the 70's. Fiddle, maybe?

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 05:45 am »

Quote

Lindley is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, but I sure wish he would go on the road again with a band as good
as El Rayo-X. I just feel the other musicians "push" him more.

I agree....

He's got something new out now....with Jackson Brown...

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Strange-Jackson-Browne/dp/B003C5FMIA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275543862&sr=1-1

Lyndon · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 05:53 am »

Already ordered it, Chris.
But listening to the samples, it is a pretty laid back affair.

Looking through Lindley's photo gallery on his website, I love this shot with Lindley, Richard Thompson and
Steve Morse.
Chris, if you enjoy Warren Zevon, I totally recommend Lindley's "Live In Tokyo / Playing Really Good (1994)
His version of Zevon's tribute song to Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Play It All Night Long" is superb.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 06:02 am »

Cool....thanks Lyndon !

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 06:42 am »

Some.....fine lookin' Mercurys....

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #10 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 08:59 am »

Thanks for the memories, Chris.

After my first car - a 1949 Austin A40 - my second was a maroon 1951 Mercury. It had "three on the tree" (three speed on the steering column), a flathead V8 (love the sound of those flatheads) and a crazy speedometer lighting scheme where the light went down the lucite needle and illuminated a red circle on the end which circled and lit the speed on the dial face. Ford seemed to have a thing about speedometer designs.
The radio was a tube model and at night after the local station went off the air I could pick up New Orleans or Chicago easily - the "air waves" were a lot quieter in those days - not so much RFI. The 6X9 speaker sounded good, too.

Love that David Lindley version!

mcgsxr · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 11:50 am »

Two personal fav Merc's:

Lyndon · « **Reply #12 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 01:22 pm »

Loved the German Ford plant Merc Capri's with the big six in them from the mid-70's. Much more of a solid car then the horrible Mustang II.
My earliest Mercury memory is a '59 bright red Mercury Station Wagon my family had. On our regular summer family trip, the engine literally blew up. We were in some small town between Sioux Falls and Lake Travers, Minnesota,
and the local junkyard was able to drop a big Lincoln engine into that car by the end of the day.
Took off from a stop sign like frogs jumping out of a dynamited pond! I renamed it the "MercMonster".
My dad always lamented the loss of fuel mileage. Great family wagon!

twitch54 · « **Reply #13 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 01:58 pm »

Quote from: mcgsxr on 3 Jun 2010, 11:50 am

Two personal fav Merc's:

Are you serious ??????????? styling disasters ! I doubt any real auto afficanado would put those two on their radar, now that '40 Merc, now we're talkin' !!!

Lyndon · « **Reply #14 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 04:41 pm »

Now, now, Twitch, different strokes for different folks.
I was down in Moab, Utah last summer for mountain biking on the slickrock, and it just happened there was an auto show at the same time.
Some of the modified and chopped Mercury cars from the 40's just stole the show for me. I love American car culture. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and Don Garlits were my childhood heroes!

Wayner · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 08:36 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 3 Jun 2010, 04:26 am

1940 Mercury.....

Great, but a couple of things are missing from this fine automobile, large foam pair of dice hanging from the rear view mirror, and some dingle berries lining the back window. Of course, to finish it off, the driver should be wearing a zoot suit, hat and all!

Wayner

Lyndon · « **Reply #16 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 08:40 pm »

I wonder how much that roof was lowered!

Goosepond · « **Reply #17 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 08:42 pm »

The problem with the Mercury brand was always not enough identity difference from the Ford models.

If you had shown me that pic of the 40' Merc and asked me what was it, I would have readily said that it was a 40' Ford of course. You can't mistake that grill.

I didn't even know what a 40' Merc looked like.

Gene

boead · « **Reply #18 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 10:15 pm »

Quote from: mcgsxr on 3 Jun 2010, 11:50 am

Two personal fav Merc's:

I had nearly one of each. A Capri Sport but with the V6 and a 80 Mustang - I had a 86 too, a 66 and a 71 too. The Capri and 80 Mustang were POS's!! The 86 wasnt much better, it was just fast.

Lyndon · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 10:26 pm »

boead,
What model type Mustang did you have in the '66? A friend's dad had a
'67 Mustang convertible, gloss piano black, red interior, with the high chrome luggage rack and custom wheelset. It is still in parades back in my hometown. Another friend in college had one of those '72? Shelby 500
Convertibles, which was gorgeous. He trashed it in less than two years, and traded it in for a Triumph TR-6.