Amazing Stories from the USA (Arizona: Part 1)

Um! today somewhere on earth Is headed for the west of America a land where the pioneering spirit & dreams of fortune still live on al fall Is a musician he plies the deserted roads of Arizona at the wheel of his old taxi the concerts he gives In the little towns keep him In close contact with the slice of genuine America Richard fox who grew up In the mountains of Wyoming has chosen to live close to nature by running the family ranch he's perpetuating the cowboy tradition of the American west the mountains & canyons of Utah still echo with Indian chants step Davis has made this her playground climbing skydiving & base jumping this Is the daily bread of this enthusiastic woman In search of the extreme It kind of feels like being a bird when you have a wing suit because you can go where you want you can steer It you can you know spin around In circles It's just such a & just an amazing thing that you could do that you know you could be like a bird up there It's just It's kind of amazing that we have that chance al fall couldn't Imagine his life any other way for more than 20 years now he's been living for & from his music rock & roll so al fowl at the wheel of his old jalopy travels Arizona’s dusty desert scattered with cactus It's like he stepped right out of another age America of the 1950s al an exceptional musician has become a well-known figure of Arizona’s rock scene one fine day while hitchhiking across the states with a friend he decided to put down roots here they were 18 & were pursuing their dreams of freedom what we were planning Is I wanted to go out to California I was I heard a lot about san Francisco & I had a few friends out there but you see we were kind of homeless at the time & I've been pretty much on & off the street through most of our teenage years so we were hitchhiking & uh I wanted to go to California & he said It's October It's going to be real cold If we're going to be sleeping outside In san Francisco In October so he says let's go to Arizona I met some people It's a cool little town & It's warm all winter long I actually fell In love with Arizona when I first came here from the east coast the whole state Is just filled with beautiful drives I was getting ready for the show I got to get you know I was I getting pretty dirty driving around In this car you know so just put on the good shirt for the gig music Is his livelihood & his old guitar Is his most valuable possession on the roadside under a lead In sun he carries out the same unchanging ritual before each concert the guitar used to be uh like a red like a red sunburst & uh It had gotten smashed actually the whole thing got broken In & when I repaired It uh I was going to paint It a different color or paint go back to the red sunburst & when I primed It & sand It to the primer It kind of gave like It looked kind of like the taxi actually so I decided I just clear coat It like this & It matches I can barely make you out here please all right cheers everybody al often plays solo guitars drums singing he's kind of a one-man band he's also his own manager always on the lookout for the next gig today ale’s making a stop at kilo to see end a real character of the far west like you can meet In Arizona hey end how are you howdy really nice to see you again all right welcome to cow town kilo thank you thank you thank you I haven't seen you In a while oh It's been a while yeah you know last night I was up In Tucson & I was playing a show & me & Marcus got to talking & we were thinking that maybe we could come out here I'm thinking right around the last weekend of June maybe we could put on another concert on here oh yeah you can do that or you can sit up on the stage you know It makes no difference uh a lot of folks just a few months ago we had eight bands here okay yeah I'll show you where you can set up now come over here & all right yeah you know you can sit up here on the stage end kulak gave his name to this Improbable spot a little village that he planned & built himself kilo Is a very special ranch with Its own saloon church prison & cemetery end a Korean & Vietnam war veteran has spent his civilian life keeping alive the flame of the pioneering spirit of the far west you know out here people Is treated with respect everyone Is welcome In this town It's the colder the west you don't jersey person by the color of his skin he's judging by the contents of his character & that's what we do here but somehow the west Is losing that the deserts Is a school where final examinations Is given every hour every day every month you have to understand you learn to live In correlation with animals with rattlesnakes with halo monsters everything that's here you have to know where to find water because It looks green out there behind you but that's a dangerous place It can take your life they'll find your bones weathered someplace you have to know so goal the rocker also has a kind of crazy dream In mammoth a small town with a population of 2 000 he's renovating the blue front Inn this bar Is a legend unto Itself It used to be owned by the son of a Chicago gangster who made a fortune during prohibition the blue front Inn also used to be a dance hall & maybe this place In the heart of the desert will come alive again at least that's what al Is hoping this Is a 1965 row ambassador I bought It In Scottsdale Arizona there's a guy who actually the guy I bought It from had three or four of them & out of them he took all the parts together & piece together one working one & I've filled It with all my own records & records that I got from my father when he died somehow well now fifty dollars about three weights no use target to put It In the tank this will you have a going to get ripped off too so I called up driving Is something I do all the time as a musician I do a lot of driving even If I just stay In Arizona & just play my regular circuit of shows In Arizona sometimes I'll do 1200 miles In a month & that's just for the gigs sometimes It's where I write songs because there's nothing else to do my mind just starts to work overtime but I like It I like driving 250 kilometers from ale’s place just a stone's throw for Arizona Is the town of Bisbee & the shady dell a very original motel here the rooms are all vintage trailers this morning al Is paying a visit to his friend Justin the moving spirit of the place like al he's a great fan of the fabulous 50s we don't have much of a history & this Is uh this was a big part of our culture between the car culture the movies & the old diners & unfortunately yeah everything’s fading away um nobody knows what these diners were like anymore they're pretty much all gone for me to get to Bisbee In the taxi It's you know three hours with no air conditioning holes In the bottom of the floor you know but uh It's all part of the adventure you know If I wanted to drive a car with air conditioning & stuff I mean that's not for me you know good music a head full of yarns Inspired by his Mexican taxi al fowl's life Is written on the highways & byways of Arizona behind the wheel of his 1954 Chevrolet bell air al Is a happy man yeah man I love It I love this car I can't stop anywhere without somebody saying wow man that's a cool car I love It the trunk popped open It's got a bad luck I got to close It again none of these gauges work you know on the thing & they didn’t when I got It & just kind of replaced them all Is a little expensive & a real pain to do so you know I don't know you know If I need to know what bass It Is you know I don't even know If I'm the one who owns the car I think I'm just a passenger for a while miles away god bless America ale’s car Is the faithful companion of every moment of his life...Click Here and Read More.