Ragtop Car:  Ram's Waves
Channel: The Ram
Date: 2022-08-18

Ragtop Car
By The Ram (Key of C ) (Harmonica Key of F)
Released August 19, 2022
© 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED – THE RAM / OD SOUL, INC.

★ ABOUT THE SONG ★
Ragtop Car is a laidback funky homage to car cruising. The beat follows the footsteps of a street musician playing to an audience of pedestrians, passing vehicles, and street traffic. He daydreams out loud about cruising through the night with his baby in his decked-out convertible. 

The song 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 VIDEO ★
On the summer solstice in 2022, while still on the mend of a knee injury, I was lucky enough to go to Kelly Slater's fabled surf ranch in the Central Valley of California.  The people, were amazing, the facility was like nothing I've ever seen in my life, and the experience will be something that will stay with me for life.  This version highlights a few of my waves, I'm going to cut another version with my friend Jerod Coleman's waves, then do a highlight reel as well.

I synched live concert footage from the Camp Store at South Carlsbad State Beach with the recorded track to mix in with the surf footage.

Special thanks to all the people in the water, Raimana, the Jersey crew, and all the others who were so helpful with getting our crew situated and ready to ride the wave.  I almost had to cancel as I could barely walk the week before going, I am glad it all worked out.

★ SONG 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
Because 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

Got a ragtop car
Enough gas to take us far
Enough away
Because 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 roadie in my hand
Talking a cool 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 just a strutting that stuff

She got a ragtop car
Enough gas to take us far
Enough away
Because 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


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★ LEARN TO PLAY MY MUSIC, IF YOU DARE ★ 
Music Tutorials - https://www.theram.io/music-four-column/
Have you ever used a Jazz fake book? Then you get the point. Fake books show the chordal structure and a song's basic melody (the head in Jazz). These are not meant to be professional arrangements or sheet music, just a quick down and dirty way for me to show people the basic chordal structure of my originals.

★ ABOUT ★ 
The Ram is a singer-songwriter based out of North County San Diego, California playing with musicians from all walks of life and exposure to all sorts of different genres, styles, and instrumentation. The most important part about being a songwriter is to pivot naturally and to seize upon any chance to collaborate with others. Striving to work from a collective of musical talent as opposed to managing a working band in a specific genre or class of music.

© 2005-2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED – THE RAM / OD SOUL, INC. Registered with ASCAP. 
Always be ORIGINAL. Treat yourself and go write yourself some bad-ass groves.