Fred Eaglesmith – Pontiac

It’s a PontiacIt’s a ’63 Stratochief with a three on the treeAnd it belongs to me

I’m taking a break from work and posting…It’s nice to be back if only for the weekend…I hope you all have been doing good!

I had this song bookmarked and I bet ya that CB forgot he sent it to me a long time ago … but I’ve listened to it for a year or so now. I love car songs and this song slots in very nicely.

Fred Eaglesmith is a Canadian and he is in the alt-country genre. He is from Port Dover, Ontario. When I listen to him he seems to ride a line between 1960s rock and country music. He has formed country bands, rock bands, and bluegrass bands…he switches lanes quite nicely. John Prine was a huge influence on Eaglesmith.

This song is from the album  Lipstick, Lies, and Gasoline released in 1997. Now that is a great name for an album. This guy has been a true working musician. At one point he would average four to eight hours between shows in his converted 1990 Bluebird tour bus. He outfitted the bus with a system of filters and pumps which he designed himself to enable them to run on waste vegetable oil recycled from deep fryers in venues and restaurants along the road. He is what I would call a musical troubadour.

He has toured all over Canada, the Letterman show, the Grand Ole Opry, and everywhere in between. He is worth diving into for some great music. His debut album Fred J. Eaglesmith was released in 1980 and he has released 22 altogether.

One concert reviewer in Los Angeles said: “Eaglesmith snarled out lyrics that underscore his overriding attitude that music and musicians ought to be cherished in the here-and-now and valued for the quality of their art, not the size of their bank accounts or TV ratings.”

Fred Eaglesmith: The biggest epiphany I had was when I was 10 or 12 and I saw Elvis in a movie. I thought he wrote his own songs. I was working on a farm, just dying, you know…cold and tired…and I walked into the kitchen. We’d just gotten a television, and there was Elvis. That’s when I started writing songs-at 10 or 12.

Fred Eaglesmith: There really are two different schools of songwriting-American and Canadian. It’s interesting. You guys have this history of guys like Paul Williams and Jimmy Webb, and they’re different than Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. All those weird voices come out of Canada. That’s because it’s so cold here we can hardly open our mouth. We get much less light in Canada. No wonder the writing’s dark.

I’m including this song from his Letterman appearance.

Pontiac

It’s a PontiacIt’s a ’63 Stratochief with a three on the treeAnd it belongs to meAnd my babyHer and meWe go driving down old highway seventeenShe puts on the radioRolls down the windowLays her head backIt’s a Pontiac

It ain’t got no wild horses painted on the sideAnd the objects in the mirror are precisely their own sizeIt’s got a chrome Indian in front of the doorMight be an Apache or an ArapahoOr a Pontiac

There was an incident last nightAt seventeen and thirdIt all happened so fast nobody’s really sureBut somebody held the rifle, somebody held the sackAnd as fast as they were thereWell they were gone just like thatIn a Pontiac

The anti-freeze is boiling and the oil pressure’s lowAnd the pedal’s to the metal and it’s as fast as it can goAnd the stain on her shoulder I getting darker you knowAnd the radio keep blasting out the factsIt’s a Pontiac

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

42 thoughts on “Fred Eaglesmith – Pontiac”

  1. Pretty decent song. I’d never heard of him unfortunately,even though he was from only about 100 miles from where I grew up. Interesting point he had on the differences between Canadian & American music traditions. I think Canada is just a bit more receptive to that style of music than Americans. I think he’s got something too about how long & bleak the winters are through much of Canada, also how remote much of the land is. If you’re not playing hockey, you probably want to be staying indoors.

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    1. Yea I could see how that would lean to a more dark outlook in songwriting. He is a very good songwriter and is a true working musician…he has been to Nashville a few times…I want to see him when he comes again.

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    1. Thanks for listening Keith! It’s good to talk with people again. It’s a cool song man. I love car songs…I would imagine Chuck Berry was on your playlist for cars as well.

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  3. You are getting way under the radar here Max. Fred is a gem in my pile. ‘Pontiac’ is just such a cool song. I bet Bruce would dig this one (He’s a car guy also). Love the way this song builds. The whole album is good. Fred is good. I remember that Letterman bit. Fred never plays it straight. Really like that tune. He had his Artful Dodger look happening.
    ‘The radio keeps blasting out the facts” Is that Boss lyric or what?

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    1. You can’t help but like the guy. The more I read about him the more I like. He doesn’t give a damn if a song is commercial or whatever…he just wants it to be good.
      I agree…I felt a Bruce vibe as well. I read of review of an album he did called Tambourine…great album.

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      1. I continued listening to the album after the cut u posted. ‘Time To Get a Gun’ is just another great song of that album. His lyrics are so good. He puts a smile on my face.
        He has such a huge output Max and always worth catching. You’re right he just wants to the music out there. A buddy (A Fredhead) turned me onto him years ago. Nothing not to like. You will find lots. I cant keep up but I try.

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      2. He has so much music to listen to and I get that “first” feeling which is great but it’s daunting because you don’t know where to start…but yes I started on this album. He seems eccentric in a great way…
        I also liked Seven Shells and 105… he writes a lot of Train songs…I’ve heard quite a few of them…including one on Tambourine.

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      3. The song sounds like the way some of my old handed down beaters sounded. The guitar also has that cool sound.
        Glad you like him Max. I guess the song resonates because a Pontiac was one of the first family cars we had. The old man rolled it. He lived to tell about it.

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      4. With those older cars that was some feat…but I love those old cars man. Works of art…some of them. My dad had an old Valiant….that is the first car I remember….my aunt had an old Rambler Station wagon…cool car as well.

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      6. I’m looking at them now…beautiful car. I think my aunts was around 1960 witch those protruding part over the headlights…it made it look mean almost.

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      11. I think the ’55 Rambler was the last car we paid money for. The rest, I’m pretty sure, were under-the-table trades for advertising with no money exchanged. Being a kid, that was never made explicit to me.

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      1. Fits into the ‘Nebraska’ vibe. I love the guy obbverse. The way he delivers his lyrics works for me. On one of the other songs of this album I mentioned to Max the character says ‘Time to get a gun. That’s what Ive been thinking. I could afford one if I did a little less drinking.” He has his finger on that throwback rural Americana. Woody Guthrie vibe.

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  4. Great post and nice find from CB. I have not talked about this guy before and for some reason never got deeply into his music. He has played locally several times but I never took the time to go see him. Cowboy Junkies do a great cover of his “Carmelita”. You have shone the light on someone as CB said has been way under the radar.

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    1. He has had a great output as well…I was shocked at 22 albums…thats around 1 every 2 years or so…I really like what I’ve heard so far…he is out there personality wise…and I like that. I’m going to try to catch him in Nashville.

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  5. Another one to add to the playlist- you guys have to stop this, I don’t have the capacity or time to listen to all these lost treasures. Maybe you Dave or Randy will do a car series? One I’d add to the dark car songs is ‘Bull Black Nova’ Wilco, an upbeat little ditty if I ever heard one. But this song I’m adding soon as I stop yammering on WP.

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    1. Thanks obbverse. I know what you mean…on weekends it’s fun to break out of the Beatles, Stones, Who, and POP hit rut…but my playlist is getting long as well.
      THAT is a great idea… I think I will claim that…I’ll take on that challenge….if time allows tomorrow’s post.

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  7. Just finished listening to the album. Damfine! Reminds me of Drive-By Truckers. Favorite song (on first listen) is, “Spookin’ the Horses.” I like how the lyrics talk around what’s going on. Sophisticated lyrics. Very cool on the alternative fuel for his vehicle!

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    1. Oh cool Lisa! Glad you liked it. I’m glad people are using Spotify…I thought I would add that when they have the complete album.
      Isn’t that cool about his bus?

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    1. He did some good music man…I’ve listened to a couple of his albums so far…this one and Tambourine…some really good songs man. Hope you have been well Christian.

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