Ten Favorite Real People Songs: Oh King Richard (#8)

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My final two concerts of the year have been cancelled due to pleurisy, or something that feels like pleurisy. I’m not going to drive 300 miles and discover it’s something worse than pleurisy. No, there’ll be other concerts (and other bouts of pleurisy...seems like it’s my annual Christmas present ). But that won’t cancel the next song on my list of favorite songs with real people in the title, a concept stolen from @teamfreak16 . Here’s the next one. #8: Oh King Richard - Rodney Crowell There are things in this world that separate me from the stereotypical southerner. I joke about things like “dad, brother, and husband are not the same person” but in reality there are “southern things” that I don’t like. One of them is grits. “Oh, just put some butter and sugar on ‘em and you’ll love ‘em.” How about I just eat the butter and sugar without the grits? The other thing that’s “southern” is NASCAR. I lived in Daytona Beach for years as a teenager and was always overwhelmed by the tripling of the town’s population during “Speed Week” before the Daytona 500. I even remember as a kid going to the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway here in Louisville for a race....and all I remember is the smell of fuel and the noise. That’s not saying I don’t appreciate its history. If you didn’t know, stock car racing is a byproduct of moonshine running. It’s the stuff of legends and many a song, both country (Roy Drusky’s “White Lightnin’ Express”) and rock (“Junior Johnson running through the woods of Caroline,” Springsteen sang in “Cadillac Ranch”). And, when it comes to NASCAR, there’s only one king: Richard Petty. For years Petty was the man in stock car racing. His seven NASCAR championships was thought to be a record. Even though Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson both caught him (and Johnson, still an active driver, can easily get an eighth title), Richard Petty is still the king. When I saw Rodney Crowell in 1988 he was just enjoying some breakout success with his album Diamonds and Dirt. He played at the now-defunct Louisville Motor Speedway (you can tell we really don’t like anything but college basketball here), and he closed the show with this song, saying, “If I’m playing at a race track, I’ve gotta do this song.” Crowell wrote this song (that Petty’s son, Kyle, covered) about the legendary King. He never mentions Petty’s last name, but when you’re talking NASCAR, all you have to do is say “The King,” and everyone knows exactly who you’re talking about. Even if Jimmie Johnson wins a dozen titles, there will always only be one King: Richard Petty. Oh King Richard Written by Rodney Crowell Recorded by Rodney Crowell From Street Language, 1986 They’re never gonna stop you, never gonna top you: