Second Coming – "She Has Funny Cars" (1967)

Every day I try so

Hard to know your mind and

Find out what’s inside you

The only sixties album that comes close to matching the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds is Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 masterpiece, Surrealistic Pillow.  (So saith 2 or 3 lines.)

“What about Sgt. Pepper?” you ask.  Are you joking?  Sgt. Pepper has one truly great song and a few very good ones, but it also has several truly awful tracks.  What sets Pet Sounds and Surrealistic Pillow apart is that you can play them from beginning to end without ever feeling the slightest desire to skip a song.

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“She Has Funny Cars” may be the most interesting track on Surrealistic Pillow.  (You should click here to listen to it before you go any further – although doing that may inspire you to listen to the whole album . . . possibly several times . . . rather than continuing to read this post.)

It’s a quintessential Jefferson Airplane song.  It’s hard to imagine anyone else pulling it off – especially someone like the Allman Brothers Band, who couldn’t have been more different from the Airplane if they had tried.  

The Airplane were all about Northern California, psychedelic light shows, and LSD trips.  The Allman Brothers were all about Florida and Georgia, bluesy jamming, and heroin addiction.

Can you imagine the Jefferson Airplane covering “Whipping Post,” or “Dreams,” or “Midnight Rider”?  I can’t.

Neither can I imagine the Allman Brothers covering “White Rabbit,” or “Somebody to Love,” or “She Has Funny Cars.”

Except that the Allman Brothers did cover “She Has Funny Cars.”  Sort of.

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In 1967, guitarist Dickey Betts and bassist Berry Oakley formed a band called Second Coming, which often performed in the Jacksonville, Florida area.  

After bouncing around for a couple of years, Duane Allman moved to Jacksonville, where he met Oakley and invited him and Betts to jam with him and some others – including Duane’s drummer friend, Jai Johanny Johanson, and drummer Butch Trucks.  (The Allmans had previously recorded a demo album with Trucks’ band, the 31st of February.)  Duane’s brother Gregg joined the group when he returned from a stint in Los Angeles, and – voila! – the Allman Brothers Band was born.  

A few months later, the brand-new sextet was in New York City, recording its eponymous debut album for Atco Records.

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The Second Coming released a 45 with “She Has Funny Cars” and a Cream song, “I Feel Free,” in 1967 – I’m not sure which one was the B side – and that’s the recording I’m featuring today.

But there is a recording of Duane and Johanson and Trucks and the Second Coming playing “She Has Funny Cars” during one of their Jacksonville gigs in March 1969.  You can click here to listen to it if you wish, but I’m warning you – it’s a bit of a hot mess.  

Click here to listen to the Second Coming’s recording of “She Has Funny Cars,” featuring future Allman Brothers Band co-lead guitarist Dickey Betts and bassist Berry Oakley.

Click here to buy that recording from Amazon.