1952 Vincent Black Lightning

Posted by Eric for DAVE WADE

If you wanta ride a Motorcycle, you've got to know about the old days... What it really meant to be a motorcycle type guy. Nowadays, it's like Ham Radio, anybody can walk into the local dealership and walk off with a Big Red Ducati. For about a mile or so, they will be king of the world. Then they die.



1952 Vincent Black Lightning (((CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL POST, Quoted Below)))

created by ideath, Wed Oct 02 2002 at 16:36:38

One sign of a great song is when it is has been successfully performed in multiple musical genres. "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" is one such song.

Richard Thompson wrote this song, and it he recorded it on Rumor and Sigh in 1991. Thompson is an English singer-songwriter known for his days with the groundbreaking folk-rock band Fairport Convention and for the duo albums he recorded with his then-wife Linda. His recording of "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" falls into that same category and the recording is a prime example of the artistic style that is Richard Thompson.

A couple other singer-songwriter and folkie types covered the song in the mid 1990s, but things changed in 2001 when the premiere bluegrass unit performing today, the Del McCoury Band, put this on their record Del and the Boys. Rob McCoury's banjo kicks off the tune, and Jason Carter's mournful fiddle provides musical contrast, portraying both the celebration and sorrow inherent in the story. Del, who was 62 years of age when he made this recording, sings like he really did used to ride around like James Dean picking up up leather-clad redheads. If folks didn't know any better, the Del McCoury Band could make them believe Thompson wrote this as a bluegrass song.

The McCourys did make one change to the lyrics. Thompson sang about riding to Boxhill which is in Surrey near Dorking. Del replaces that with Knoxville, a city in Tennessee.

Since Del and the Boys came out, the bluegrass community has been clamoring for this song everywhere Del goes. He's performed it on a PBS bluegrass special, on Austin City Limits, and it has been featured in the Down from the Mountain tour. Del has been recording since 1963 when he joined Bill Monroe, and it appears that nearly 40 years later he has finally found a signature song penned by an English folk-rocker. With its newfound audience, I wouldn't be surprised to hear this song performed at every bluegrass festival held over the next few years.

Yet none of this takes away from Thompson's own performance. For the past decade he has sung this at many of his appearances, and it is a quintessential Richard Thompson song. But the way the song is at home in more than one genre shows just how great "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" is.

Richard Thompson

1952 Vincent Black Lightning lyrics

Said Red Molly to James that's a fine motorbike
A girl could feel special on any such like
Said James to Red Molly, my hat's off to you
It's a Vincent Black Lightning, 1952
And I've seen you at the corners and cafes it seems
Red hair and black leather, my favourite colour scheme
And he pulled her on behind
And down to Boxhill they did ride

Said James to Red Molly, here's a ring for your right hand
But I'll tell you in earnest I'm a dangerous man
I've fought with the law since I was seventeen
I robbed many a man to get my Vincent machine
Now I'm 21 years, I might make 22
And I don't mind dying, but for the love of you
And if fate should break my stride
Then I'll give you my Vincent to ride

Come down, come down, Red Molly, called Sergeant McRae
For they've taken young James Adie for armed robbery
Shotgun blast hit his chest, left nothing inside
Oh, come down, Red Molly to his dying bedside
When she came to the hospital, there wasn't much left
He was running out of road, he was running out of breath
But he smiled to see her cry
And said I'll give you my Vincent to ride

Says James, in my opinion, there's nothing in this world
Beats a 52 Vincent and a red headed girl
Now Nortons and Indians and Greeveses won't do
They don't have a soul like a Vincent 52
He reached for her hand and he slipped her the keys
He said I've got no further use for these
I see angels on Ariels in leather and chrome
Swooping down from heaven to carry me home
And he gave her one last kiss and died
And he gave her his Vincent to ride