Musicians as drivers

[Misterioso]

Didn't Miles Davis crash his Miura (just to buy another one)?

Chet Baker occasionally forgot where he parked his Alfa Romeo (according to his Dutch biographer).

John Carter obviously liked his yellow Porsche but I don't know whether he was a good driver.

[David Ayers]

19 hours ago, BillF said:

Saw Ronnie driving a flash sports car in Shaftesbury Avenue in the 1960s with a woman young enough to be his daughter.

Never heard he had any daughters though! 

 

Um...time to get back to the reruns of On The Buses. I’ll ‘ave you, Butler!

[JSngry]

When there were lots of gigs, a lot of times you had to drive to get to them. Some of them were close, some were not close. Sometimes you shared the driving, sometimes you did all the driving. Sometimes it was easy, sometimes it was not. Sometimes the ride was comfortable, sometimes it was not. Occasionally it was fucking miserable, occasionally delightful. What it always was, was driving.

I have done a buttload of driving to and from gigs in my life. Too much. But I have never had an accident, nor been in the car when somebody else did. Not everybody drives to my liking, nor I to theirs, but the object of the game is to get there, get paid, and then get back (or to the next gig, as the case may be). As long as that happens, it's all good, ultimately.

[Al in NYC]

Allen Eager won his class and finished 10th overall at the 1961 12 hours of Sebring, co-driving with his girlfriend, and more experienced racer, Denise McCluggage.  The next year he crashed out of the same race when he collided with Ken Miles of Ford vs Ferrari Christian Bale fame.

Here is a longish, but fascinating, story about the pioneering Denise McCluggage, her struggles in auto racing and her relationship with Eager, and the story of that 1961 race.

https://www.si.com/racing/2018/10/29/denise-mccluggage-racing-driver-journalist

No thread on jazz musicians and cars would be complete it seems to me without mentioning Herbie Hancock and his unique 1963 Shelby Cobra, which he bought brand new for about $6,000 and still has today.

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/14/a-rude-car-salesman-did-me-a-favor-says-jazz-icon-herbie-hancock.html

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Al in NYC

[AllenLowe]

On 6/1/2020 at 10:52 AM, Larry Kart said:

I think Richie's wife was behind the wheel.

not only was Powell's wife driving, but according to what Curley Russell told me, everyone knew she was a terrible driver and warned them not to let her take the wheel.

[Mark Stryker]

On 6/2/2020 at 1:37 PM, Al in NYC said:

Allen Eager won his class and finished 10th overall at the 1961 12 hours of Sebring, co-driving with his girlfriend, and more experienced racer, Denise McCluggage.  The next year he crashed out of the same race when he collided with Ken Miles of Ford vs Ferrari Christian Bale fame.

Here is a longish, but fascinating, story about the pioneering Denise McCluggage, her struggles in auto racing and her relationship with Eager, and the story of that 1961 race.

https://www.si.com/racing/2018/10/29/denise-mccluggage-racing-driver-journalist

No thread on jazz musicians and cars would be complete it seems to me without mentioning Herbie Hancock and his unique 1963 Shelby Cobra, which he bought brand new for about $6,000 and still has today.

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/14/a-rude-car-salesman-did-me-a-favor-says-jazz-icon-herbie-hancock.html

 

The one time I was at Herbie's house, I was disappointed to find that he keeps the Cobra offsite in a private garage for protection. However, I did get to see his everyday car in the garage -- a red Ferrari. 

Also, this is my favorite Herbie/Cobra story. This excerpt is from an LA Weekly story a number of years ago:

--

I bought the car, for $6,000. Then I got hired by Miles, maybe a month later, and I’m gonna go on the road. But I had one more gig, at the Village Gate in New York, as a sideman for Clark Terry. … When we were playing the last set, I looked out the corner of my eye, and who do I see? Miles! Miles had come down. We finish the set, we come down and Miles says, [gravelly voice] “I’ll give you a lift home.” He knew I was living nearby. I said, “Aww, man, that would be fantastic, but I just bought a new car.” He said, “It’s not a Maserati.” I said, “No, no it’s not.”

We get downstairs and my car is near the exit. He says, “Cute.”

We both get to the stoplight at Sixth Avenue. It’s like 2, 3 o’clock in the morning. I knew what was going to happen: As soon as the light turns green, we’d floored it, right! So we drove several blocks before the next red light. I got to the light shortly before Miles, and I smoked Marlboros in those days. I grabbed one, lit it, rolled down the window as Miles drives up. He looked over at me and he says, “What the fuck is that?” I said, “It’s an AC Cobra.” He said, “Get rid of it.” I said, “Why?” And he said, “It’s dangerous.” And then he started driving [off]. And I’m thinking, “I beat Miles!”

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by Mark Stryker