(Music playing)

HI, I'M DAVE SHUFFETT AND

WELCOME TO KENTUCKY LIFE

I'M SO GLAD YOU COULD

COME ALONG TONIGHT

BECAUSE WE'RE GOING

DOWN ROADS AND WATERWAYS

FEW FOLKS TRAVEL ANY MORE

FIRST WE'LL LISTEN TO SOME

OLD-TIME FIDDLE MUSIC

AND MEET A MAN WHO'S

DEDICATED SOME 30 YEARS

TO UNDERSTANDING AND

DOCUMENTING ITS TRADITIONS

THEN WE PUT DOWN THE TOP

ON A '60s CONVERTIBLE

THAT'S MORE THAN A CAR

YOU COULD SAY OUR SHOW TONIGHT

IS SOMETHING OF A TIME CAPSULE

THROUGH OUR TWO STORIES

WE MEET PEOPLE PROFOUNDLY

INTERESTED IN THE PAST

JOHN HARROD IS A FORMER RHODES

SCHOLAR AND HISTORY TEACHER

A MUSICIAN, TOO

IN THE 1970s

HE BECAME INTERESTED

IN THE FAST DISAPPEARING

FIDDLE TRADITIONS OF KENTUCKY

HE AND FRIENDS SOUGHT

OUT THE PRACTITIONERS

AND BECAME PART OF THEIR LIVES

THEY LEARNED FROM THEM

RECORDED THEIR TUNES

JOHN EVEN PERFORMS THEM

AS A MEMBER OF A GROUP

CALLED "THE CLODHOPPERS"

IT WAS A MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP

THE FIDDLERS KNEW THAT WHAT

THEY DID WAS QUITE OLD

JOHN CAME ALONG JUST WHEN

THEY WERE THINKING THEIR MUSIC

OUGHT TO BE RECORDED

IT WAS HISTORY

SPEAKING AFTER ALL

AND SOMETIMES YOU COULD HEAR

ECHOES FROM AS FAR AWAY

AS THE CIVIL WAR

♪ ♪

ALL RIGHT

ALL RIGHT, WONDERFUL

THAT "CHRISTMAS CALICO'S"

A GOOD OLD TUNE

NOW WHERE, WHERE

DID YOU GET THAT?

WAS THAT ONE OF YOUR...

DID YOUR DAD PLAY THAT?

UH, YEAH, MY DAD DID

(Chickens clucking)

♪ ♪

WELL, THE FIDDLE WOULD BE...

SOMETHING YOU COULD

CARRY ON HORSEBACK

OR YOU COULD CARRY

IT IN A WAGON

UH, YOU COULD PACK

IT OVER THE MOUNTAINS

IF YOU WERE COMING INTO

KENTUCKY FROM NORTH CAROLINA

UH, IT WAS EVEN SOMETHING THAT,

THAT WAS FAIRLY EASILY MADE

UH, I'VE SEEN SOME,

SOME PRETTY GOOD FIDDLE

FIDDLES MADE WITH NOT MUCH

MORE THAN A POCKET KNIFE

UH, AND YOU COULD PLAY ON THEM

THERE WERE, THERE WERE

EVEN LITTLE TOY FIDDLES

MADE OUT OF CORNSTALKS

AND A LITTLE BETTER

FIDDLES MADE OUT OF THE

OLD WOODEN CIGAR BOXES

SOMETIMES YOU SEE THOSE

AND SO IT WAS SOMETHING

THAT, THAT UH, COULD BE MADE

AND IT WAS SOMETHING THAT

COULD BE CARRIED AND SO

UH, CERTAINLY THE FIDDLE

WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO KENTUCKY

UH, BY, BY EUROPEAN PEOPLE

OR PEOPLE FROM THE EAST COAST

AND UH, THERE'S RECORDS OF THE

FIDDLE FROM THE VARIOUS...

VERY EARLIEST TIME

OF KENTUCKY HISTORY

♪ ♪

THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT,

KENTUCKY IS FIDDLE COUNTRY

BACK IN THE 1970s

I BEGAN TO WONDER WHY KENTUCKY

HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE

IN THE HISTORY OF FIDDLING

SO A BUNCH OF US, THE

LATE GUS MEADE, MARK

WILSON AND SOME OTHERS

TOOK OFF ON THE BACKROADS

AND WE COVERED MANY MILES

WE CROSSED A LOT OF CREEKS

AND SWINGING BRIDGES

TO TRY AND TRACE BACK

THE LOCAL TRADITIONS

AND WE WANTED TO DESCRIBE FOR

POSTERITY THE CONDITIONS THAT

ENABLED THESE TRADITIONS

TO FLOURISH

♪ ♪

I'M NOT ONLY A FIDDLER,

I'M ALSO A HISTORY TEACHER

AND I SUPPOSE I'VE ALWAYS

BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT THE ORIGINS

OF ANYTHING THAT INTERESTS ME

THESE DAYS I PLAY WITH A GROUP

CALLED THE KENTUCKY CLODHOPPERS

EVERYWHERE I GO,

I HEAR A NEW TUNE

AND MEET OTHER FIDDLERS WHO

WANT TO LEARN THE TUNES I PLAY

♪ ♪

WORKSHOPS PROVIDE

ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY

TO PASS ON THE FIDDLE TRADITION

THAT GOES SO FAR BACK

IN THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY

AND OUR COUNTRY

AND I'VE CONTINUED THE WORK GUS,

MARK AND I STARTED SO LONG AGO

PRESERVING THE TECHNIQUES

AND THE MUSIC OF THE

OLD-TIME FIDDLERS

♪ ♪

I THINK OUR MOTIVE WAS REALLY

TO LEARN TO PLAY THE FIDDLE

UH, WHEN, WHEN GUS AND I WERE,

WERE DOING THIS COLLECTING

WE WEREN'T AT THE TIME THINKING

ABOUT PUTTING IT OUT ON A RECORD

WE WERE JUST SORT

OF RECORDING IT

FOR OURSELVES SO WE COULD

STUDY IT AND LEARN TO PLAY IT

IN THE OLD-TIME WAY

AND UH, THERE WAS A LOT

OF STUFF OUT THERE THAT

NOBODY ELSE WAS PLAYING AND

NOBODY ELSE WAS LEARNING

AND SO, THAT, THAT MADE IT UH,

EVEN MORE INTERESTING TO US

ONE OF THE THINGS I TRY TO

GET UH, MY STUDENTS TO STUDY

IS, IS WATCHING THE BOW HAND

AND THE... ♪ ♪

THE OLD-TIME FIDDLERS I LIKE

BOWED IN CIRCLES

♪ ♪

IT IS NOT JUST A CIRCLE

GOING ONE, ONE WAY

YOU GET A CIRCLE GOING

AND THEN YOU REVERSE IT

♪ ♪

IT'S SYNCOPATED

KIND OF LIKE RAGTIME

IT'S A LITTLE BIT JERKY

♪ ♪

SOMETIMES WE WONDERED WHY

WE WERE SO CRAZY ABOUT IT

BUT WE JUST... WE JUST

CALLED THE WHOLE THING

OF TALKING ABOUT IT

"FIDDLEOSOPHY"

WE'D HAVE PROBABLY DRIVEN

A LOT OF PEOPLE CRAZY

IF THEY WEREN'T INTO IT

BUT UH, THERE, THERE IS

A KIND OF A LORE TO IT

UH, AND THERE'S A

LOT OF HISTORY TO IT

THERE'S LORE ABOUT

FIDDLES THEMSELVES

AND THERE'S LORE

ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO

WHO PLAYED THE FIDDLE

AND THERE'S LORE ABOUT

THE, THE NAMES OF THE TUNES

AND WHAT THEY'RE NAMED AFTER

AND SO THERE, THERE'S A LOT

OF STUFF THAT JUST KIND OF

IS ALL ABOUT THE AREA

AND THE PLACES PEOPLE LIVED

♪ ♪

I'LL PLAY YOU A LITTLE

BIT OF A TUNE

THAT PRETTY COMMON

OLD-TIME TUNE

IN NORTH CAROLINA THEY

CALL IT "PEAR TREE"

AND IN KENTUCKY IT WAS CALLED

"SHOOT THE TURKEY BUZZARD"

A NORTH CAROLINA FIDDLER

WOULD PLAY IT LIKE THIS

♪ ♪

BUT A KENTUCKY FIDDLER

WOULD BOW THAT LIKE THIS

♪ ♪

LET'S SEE

YOU READY?

YEAH

"SUGARFOOT RAIN"

♪ ♪

THE NAMES OF OLD-TIME

FIDDLE TUNES

ARE AN EDUCATION IN THEMSELVES

THEY'RE NAMED AFTER KENTUCKY

TOWNS LIKE MAYSVILLE

SHIPPENPORT

WHITESBURG

AND ONE'S NAMED "CRAB

ORCHARD QUICK STEP"

♪ ♪

THERE ARE TUNES NAMED

FOR CIVIL WAR BATTLES

EVEN REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLES

AND CREEKS TOO

I BET YOU CAN'T FIND

A CREEK IN KENTUCKY

THAT AT ONE TIME DIDN'T HAVE

A FIDDLE TUNE NAMED AFTER IT

TUNES LIKE "SEVEN CREEK"

"BOATING UP THE SANDY"

AND "THE BRUSHY

FORK JOHNS CREEK"

OTHER TUNES ARE NAMED FOR

LADIES LIKE "MARTHA CAMPBELL"

THOUGH NOBODY'S QUITE

SURE WHO SHE WAS

AND TUNES ALSO BECAME KNOWN

BY THE NAMES OF FAMOUS

FIDDLERS THEMSELVES

LIKE OLD VIRG, JIMMY

ARTHURS AND BOB WALKER

♪ ♪

(Chickens clucking)

THE FIDDLERS THAT WE WERE

MEETING IN THE 1970s

WERE, WERE OLD FIDDLERS

AND UH, THEY WERE PLAYING MUSIC

THAT, THAT PREDATED THE RADIO

SO IT WAS TRADITIONAL

IN, IN THAT THEY DIDN'T

LEARN IT OFF OF RECORDS

OR FROM THE RADIO

BUT UH, IT WAS MUSIC

THAT HAD BEEN PASSED DOWN

IN THEIR COMMUNITIES

AND SO YOU COULD TRACE

SOME OF THAT STUFF BACK

BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR

UH, EASILY

DARLEY FULKS, UP IN WOLFE COUNTY

LEARNED A LOT OF HIS MUSIC

FROM HIS GRANDFATHER

UH, WHO WAS PLAYING

BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR

SO, IN THE 1970s

WE WERE, WE WERE IN TOUCH

WITH SOMETHING THAT

THAT WAS OLDER

THAN THE CIVIL WAR

AND OF COURSE, SOME OF IT

WENT BACK BEFORE THAT TO UH

ENGLAND, SCOTLAND

IRELAND

UH, FRANCE

AND GERMANY

UH, WELL, EVEN AFRICA, A LOT

OF THE MUSIC IN CENTRAL KENTUCKY

REALLY UH, HAD A BLACK INFLUENCE

♪ ♪

DARLEY FULKS SAID,

"A TUNE IS A FEELING"

IN OTHER WORDS

ALL TUNES DON'T SOUND ALIKE

LIKE SOME PEOPLE SAY

BUT I THINK WHAT HE MEANT WAS

FOR HIM, EVERY TUNE HAD AN

ASSOCIATION OF SOME KIND

EITHER WITH THE PERSON

HE LEARNED IT FROM

OR WHAT IT WAS NAMED AFTER

OR SOME KIND OF STORY

AND UH, DARLEY WAS A

VERY EMOTIONAL PERSON

AND HE... THERE WERE

TUNES THAT HE WOULD PLAY

THAT EVERY TIME HE

WOULD PLAY THAT TUNE

HE WOULD CRY BECAUSE IT WAS

ASSOCIATED WITH SOMEBODY HE KNEW

OR SOME SAD STORY

AND IT DIDN'T MATTER HOW MANY

TIMES HE PLAYED THAT TUNE

HE COULD PLAY TUNES THAT

WOULD, WOULD MAKE HIM CRY

AND SO UH, I UNDERSTOOD

WHAT HE MEANT BY THIS

BUT EVERY, EVERY TUNE

HAS GOT A LITTLE

BIT DIFFERENT MOOD

AND A LITTLE BIT

DIFFERENT FEEL TO IT

AND UH, TO ME, IT'S HARD

TO LEARN A FIDDLE TUNE

JUST BY EAR

YOU CAN LEARN THE TUNE BY EAR

YOU CAN PICK OUT THE NOTES

BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT

THAT WE ALWAYS

NOTICED ABOUT IT WAS

YOU HAVE TO SEE IT

AND WHEN I TRY

TO TEACH FIDDLING

LIKE UP THERE AT WHITESBURG

UH, I EMPHASIZE THE,

THE VISUAL PARTS OF IT

AND I DO ALL THESE UH, EXERCISES

OF TRYING TO FIGURE OUT

WHAT SOMEBODY'S DOING JUST

BY WATCHING THEIR BOW HAND

BECAUSE THAT WAS THE

ONLY WAY I COULD FIGURE

OUT SOME OF THAT STUFF

IT'S REALLY GRATIFYING TO BE

ABLE TO PASS ON THIS MUSIC

I'VE LED WORKSHOPS

AT BEREA COLLEGE

APPALSHOP AND THE COWAN

CREEK MOUNTAIN MUSIC SCHOOL

THAT HOSTED A GATHERING

OF SOME OF THE AREA'S FINEST

OLD-TIME MUSICIANS

THE WORKSHOPS AND JAM

SESSIONS AT COWAN CREEK

LET US BRING IN GOOD FIDDLERS

LIKE PAUL DAVID SMITH

TO SHARE TUNES AND STORIES

WITH THE YOUNGER PLAYERS

♪ ♪

THAT TUNE'S CALLED

"DEVIL EAT THE GROUNDHOG"

IT'S ONE OF "SNAKE"

CHAPMAN'S TUNES

IT'S ABOUT DOG NAMED "DEVIL"

THAT ATE THE MAN'S GROUNDHOG

BEFORE HE COULD SKIN HIM OUT

♪ ♪

WE'RE REALLY INTO, INTO

THE TONES OF FIDDLES

AND WE KIND OF PUT...

DRAG YOUR BOW ACROSS IT AND

SHOW THEM HOW DARK IT SOUNDS

♪ ♪

SEE, IT KIND

OF GROWLS AT YOU

YEAH

AND HERE'S MINE

♪ ♪

IT'S A REAL DARK WOODY SOUND

AND SOME PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THIS

SOME PEOPLE

LIKE...

NO, SOME PEOPLE

LIKE THEM BRIGHT

BUT FIDDLERS...

I KNOW I AM

OR HAVE BEEN

AND I'M SURE

YOU HAVE

DOWN THROUGH

THE YEARS

ARE CONSTANTLY

SEARCHING FOR, FOR...

A BETTER FIDDLE

YOU KNOW

YOU LOOK FOR

SOMETHING

THAT SOUNDS MORE

TO YOUR NOTION

THIS IS THE BEST THAT I'VE

BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH

(Laughing)

I THINK LIKE THAT

BUMPER STICKER SAYS

úI FOUND IT'

YEAH

(Laughing)

I'M NOT REALLY

LOOKING ANY MORE

BUT UH, MINE'S AN OLD UH, I

GUESS, JUNK STORE FIDDLE THAT UH

WAS ALL BUSTED UP AND I TOOK

IT TO MY FRIEND-- GARY CORNETT

AND HE RESTORED IT

AND THIS IS PROBABLY FROM

THE 18th CENTURY AND IT'S UH

WELL, IT'S GOT A

LOT OF CRACKS IN IT

BUT THAT JUST

MAKES IT SWEETER

THAT'S RIGHT

IT'S GOT A LOT, IT'S

GOT A LOT OF CHARACTER

♪ ♪

MOST OF THE FIDDLE

MUSIC, NOT ALL OF IT

WAS ORIGINALLY DANCE MUSIC

AND SO IT SORT OF EVOLVED

AS, AS MUSIC THAT

PROPELS A DANCE

AND SO I THINK IT STILL

HAS THAT AFFECT ON PEOPLE

THE RHYTHM UH, OF FIDDLING

HAS ALWAYS BEEN, UH

SORT OF A DANCE

RHYTHM TO GET YOUR

YOUR FEET AND YOUR BODY MOVING

AND A GROUP OF PEOPLE

MOVING TOGETHER

SO UH, I THINK IT STILL

HAS THAT AFFECT ON PEOPLE

AND UH, I, I DO PLAY

FOR A LOT OF DANCES

THAT'S ONE THING A

FIDDLER CAN DO

WHERE THEY DON'T GET

TIRED OF LISTENING AT YOU

IN FACT, THEY'LL

WORK YOU TO DEATH

YOU KNOW, MOST FIDDLERS

SAY IT'S A PRETTY HARD JOB

PLAYING FOR A DANCE

♪ ♪

SOMETIMES PEOPLE MIGHT

THINK THE OLD FIDDLERS

WERE JUST BACKWOODS PEOPLE

AND OF COURSE A LOT

OF THEM WERE

SOME OF THEM HAD BIG OLD,

ROUGH HANDS FROM FARMING

OR WORKING IN SAWMILLS

BUT THEY COULD DO THE

MOST DELICATE THINGS

WITH THEIR FINGERS

AND THEY BOW HANDS

BUT THERE WERE ALSO FIDDLERS

LIKE CARLTON RAWLINGS

WHO WORKED IN A BANK

AND SOME WERE DOCTORS AND

QUITE A FEW WERE BARBERS

BARBERSHOPS SEEMED TO BE ONE

OF THE FAVORITE GATHERING PLACES

OF FIDDLERS IN THEIR LITTLE

TOWNS AROUND KENTUCKY

"SALLY GOODIN"

♪ ♪

GOOD FIDDLERS CAN MAKE

A CHEAP FIDDLE SOUND GREAT

BUT UH, IT'S JUST...

IT'S JUST FUN TO

TRY THEM ALL OUT

AND SEE WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE

AND YOU KNOW, EVERY ONCE

IN A WHILE YOU CAN FIND ONE

YOU JUST FALL IN LOVE WITH

AND YOU GOT TO

HAVE IT, BUT UH...

AND ADD IT TO YOUR COLLECTION

BUT I'M NOT A COLLECTOR

LIKE BILLY DON, HE...

HE USED TO HAVE 200 FIDDLES

AND I THINK HE'S ONLY

GOT ABOUT HALF THAT NOW

♪ ♪

THIS ONE IS...

IS THE BIRD'S EYE

FOR A, FOR A HOMEMADE FIDDLE

♪ ♪

IT'S GOT A PRETTY GOOD BALANCE

♪ ♪

ESPECIALLY THE BASS

♪ ♪

IT'S BEAUTIFUL

♪ ♪

I'M JOHN HARROD AND WE'RE

GOING TO PLAY YOU SOME

SOME OF THE TUNES THAT COME

FROM THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY

THE FIRST ONE WE'RE GOING

TO DO IS MY FAVORITE

AND IT'S CALLED

"EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE"

I THINK THAT WAS ONE THING

THAT DISTINGUISHED, UH

THESE, THESE FIDDLERS,

ESPECIALLY

IS THAT THEY, THEY KNEW

THAT WHAT THEY WERE DOING

WAS REALLY OLD

AND THEY WERE PROUD OF IT

AND THEY FELT A GREAT

RESPONSIBILITY TO PASS IT ON

AND SO THEY ALWAYS WELCOMED US

AND THEY WERE

GLAD THAT, THAT...

THEY WERE JUST THRILLED THAT

PEOPLE LIKE US WERE INTERESTED

NOT JUST IN RECORDING

IT AND DOCUMENTING IT

BUT, BUT LEARNING IT

BACK WHEN GUS AND MARK AND I

WERE MAKING OUR RECORDINGS

WE HOPED TODAY'S FIDDLERS

WOULD LISTEN TO THIS OLD MUSIC

IT WOULD BE LIKE GOING

BACK TO THE PRIMARY SOURCES

WE HOPED LEARNING THE OLD TUNES

MIGHT HELP TO UNSTANDARDIZE

MODERN FIDDLING

I THINK TO SOME EXTENT,

THAT'S HAPPENED

THERE ARE A LOT

OF GOOD NEW FIDDLERS

THAT JUST DON'T SOUND

LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE

THEY'VE STUDIED THE OLD STUFF

AND THEY, JUST LIKE

THEIR INNOVATIVE

AND IDIOSYNCRATIC PREDECESSORS

ARE CONTRIBUTING TO

THE HISTORY OF FIDDLING

♪ ♪

JOHN'S WORK, WHICH HAS

HELPED FURTHER THE RICH

HISTORY OF FIDDLE TUNES

IS NOW INCLUDED IN A BOOK

OLD TIME KENTUCKY FIDDLE TUNES

IS BY JEFF TODD TITAN

AND PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY

PRESS OF KENTUCKY

THE AUTHOR USED MANY RECORDINGS

MADE BY JOHN AND HIS FRIENDS

AS SOURCE MATERIAL

THE TAPES THAT JOHN COLLECTED

ARE NOW PRESERVED

IN THE TRADITIONAL MUSIC

ARCHIVES AT BEREA COLLEGE

WELL, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY

IF YOU SAW A CUTE, 1960s

VINTAGE CONVERTIBLE

SUDDENLY ACCELERATE

TOWARDS THE WATER'S EDGE

PROBABLY THAT IT'S DRIVER

HAD LOST HIS MIND

OR AT LEAST HIS WAY

WELL, OWNERS OF AMPHICARS

ARE A LITTLE CRAZY OVER

THEIR AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES

THEIR VINTAGE AUTOMOBILES

BUILT IN GERMANY

BETWEEN 1961 AND 1968

THEY ARE THE ONLY CIVILIAN

AMPHIBIOUS PASSENGER CAR

EVER MASSED PRODUCED

ONLY A LITTLE LESS THAN

4,000 WERE EVER BUILT

IT'S ESTIMATED THERE ARE

500, MAYBE 1,000 LEFT TODAY

WELL, AS SUMMER TURNED TO FALL

REGIONAL AMPHICAR OWNERS

GATHERED AT LAKE CUMBERLAND

AT LEE'S FORD MARINA

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE

TO TAKE A RIDE?

(Music playing)

IT'S EXCITING TO GO AMPHICARRING

UH, IT ATTRACTS A CROWD

NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE

AND OFTEN TIMES YOU CAN READ

THEIR LIPS OF ASTONISHMENT

WHEN YOU HIT THE WATER

UH, DEPENDING AT WHAT

SPEED YOU HIT THE WATER

HOW BIG A SPLASH YOU MAKE

IT CAN BE VERY DRAMATIC

(Music playing)

GOING INTO THE WATER IS QUITE

AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE

YOU'RE DRIVING ALONG ON LAND,

EVERYTHING SEEMS FINE

YOU APPROACH A BOAT RAMP AND

JUST SLIDE RIGHT

DOWN INTO THE WATER

AND IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE...

IT'S A LITTLE NERVE-RACKING

THE FIRST TIME YOU GO IN

BECAUSE IT'S LIKE WHAT

EXACTLY IS GOING ON?

BUT AS SOON AS YOU,

YOU GET INTO THE WATER

YOU CAN JUST IMMEDIATELY

FEEL WHEN THE CAR STARTS

STARTS FLOATING

AND YOU JUST PRESS THE GAS

AND PULL AWAY AND IT'S...

YOU JUST ARE COMPLETE... IT'S

A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FEELING

YOU'RE OUT IN THE WATER

IN A BOAT

(Music playing)

YOU TOOL AROUND FOR A WHILE

AND YOU GET READY TO COME OUT

YOU HEAD RIGHT

TOWARD THE BOAT RAMP

AND AS YOU APPROACH THE RAMP,

YOUR FRONT WHEELS PULL OUT

UP ONTO THE RAMP

UNTIL THE REAR WHEELS

TOUCH THE RAMP

AND THE WHEELS PULL

YOU RIGHT ON OUT

YOU PUT IT IN FIRST GEAR

AND DRIVE RIGHT ON OUT AND

DRIVE AWAY

WHEN YOU COME OUT OF THE WATER

YOU LITERALLY CAN DRIVE

STRAIGHT DOWN THE ROAD

THE ONLY THING THAT YOU DO IS

JUST DISENGAGE THE PROPELLERS

WHICH IS JUST ONE

LITTLE SLIP OF A LEVER

TURN THE PROPELLERS OFF

AND YOU'RE OFF, YOU'RE

DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD

(Music playing)

WELL, THE AMPHICAR WAS THE ONLY

PRODUCTION VEHICLE MADE THAT'S

EQUALLY AT HOME ON LAND

AS IT IS IN THE WATER

IT...YOU KNOW, AT FIRST GLANCE

IT LOOKS PRETTY MUCH

LIKE A NORMAL CAR

UNTIL YOU START WALKING AROUND

AND YOU SEE TWO PROPELLERS

ON THE, ON THE REAR

END DOWN BELOW THE

THE REAR BUMPER

BUT UH, IT WAS A CAR THAT WAS

MADE DURING THE '60s IN GERMANY

FROM '61 TO 67

ABOUT 3,500 CARS WERE MADE

MOST OF THOSE CARS CAME

TO THE UNITED STATES

THERE'S PROBABLY 500 OR 600

IN THE WORLD, STILL RUNNING

IT'S GOT UH, A BACK SEAT

SEATS FOUR PEOPLE

RELATIVELY COMFORTABLY

IT'S A SMALL CAR

AND ALL OF THE CARS

MADE WERE CONVERTIBLES

IT HAS A, A SMALL FOUR

CYLINDER, TRIUMPH ENGINE

IN THE REAR

AND IT'S A FOUR SPEED,

MANUAL TRANSMISSION

WHEN YOU'RE OUT IN THE WATER

THE FRONT WHEELS ACT AS RUDDERS

AND STEER THE CAR

LEFT AND RIGHT

TOP SPEED IS ABOUT SEVEN OR

EIGHT MILES AN HOUR ON THE WATER

ON LAND, TOP SPEED WHEN THEY

SOLD THE CARS, THEY SOLD THEM AS

YOU KNOW, 70 MILES AN HOUR

ON LAND AND... BUT UH

45 AND 50 IS A

LITTLE MORE PLEASANT

WELL, I'M A MEMBER

OF THE INTERNATIONAL

AMPHICAR OWNERS CLUB AND

ACTUALLY I'M THE PRESIDENT

OF THE CLUB, WE HAVE UH

OVER 320 MEMBERS

ACROSS THE WORLD

UH, IT'S BASED RIGHT

HERE IN KENTUCKY

I'M FROM BURLINGTON, KENTUCKY

WHICH IS IN BOONE COUNTY

WE HAVE UH, REGIONAL EVENTS

THROUGHOUT THE, THE COUNTRY

THAT AMPHICARS GO TO

AND OUR BIG NATIONAL

EVENT THIS PAST JULY

WE HAD 64 AMPHICARS

FOR THE WEEK

THE WEEK-END LONG EVENT

MOST AMPHICARS IN THE

WORLD AT ONE PLACE

OF THE EVENTS ALL

OVER THE COUNTRY

ONE OF THE EVENTS

WE HAD THIS YEAR

HAPPENED TO BE IN SOMERSET,

KENTUCKY AT LAKE CUMBERLAND

THE UH, SWIM-IN OR THE SPLASH-IN

WE HAVE HAD IT AT

LAKE CUMBERLAND

WAS PART OF THE SUMMER

NIGHT CRUISES

WHICH IS A, AN EVENT

THAT HAS DEVELOPED

IN THE LAST COUPLE

OF YEARS IN SOMERSET

SOME LOCAL GENTLEMEN

PUT TOGETHER A, A HOT-ROD

AND CLASSIC CAR SHOW

AND IT HAS PULLED OVER

500 CARS ON A SATURDAY

AND WE ARE FEATURING

THE AMPHICAR SWIM-IN

AS PART OF THE EVENTS

(Music playing)

ONE OF THE UNIQUE FEATURES

OF OWNING THE AMPHICAR

ON LAKE CUMBERLAND

IS THAT YOU HAVE THE

EPITOME OF LUXURY

IN THAT YOU CAN DRIVE

FROM YOUR HOME

DIRECTLY TO THE LAKE

DIRECTLY IN THE WATER AND PULL

UP AND TIE UP TO YOUR HOUSEBOAT

I USE THE AMPHICAR TO

GET TO AND FROM WORK

WHEN WE TIE UP OUR

BOAT IN THE COVE

I WILL USE THE CAR TO COMMUTE

UH, AND SPEND THE NIGHT

AND THE NEXT MORNING,

GET UP BRIGHT AND EARLY

AND DRIVE IN STRAIGHT TO WORK

(Music playing)

UH, I'VE OFTEN SAID

IT'S NOT A GREAT BOAT

IT'S NOT A GREAT CAR

BUT IT'S A GREAT COMBINATION

(Music playing)

PERSONALLY I THINK THAT

THE AMPHICAR IS

PROBABLY THE BEST CAR

THAT'S EVER BEEN

MADE ON THE WATER

AND IT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE

BEST BOATS EVER MADE ON LAND

(Music playing)

PRESIDING OVER AMPHICAR

OWNERS THE WORLD OVER

IS BURLINGTON, KENTUCKY'S

MARC SCHLEMMER

PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL

AMPHICAR OWNERS CLUB

WHOM YOU'VE JUST MET

THE CLUB HAS MEMBERS FROM

THE EAST COAST TO CALIFORNIA

AND IN GERMANY

THE AMPHICAR'S BIRTHPLACE

MANY OF THE MEMBERS HAVE FUN

REGISTERED LICENSE PLATES

LIKE úI SWIM TOO'

AND GET A KICK OUT

OF STARTLING PEOPLE

WITH A PLUNGE INTO THE WATER

I GOT TO HAVE ONE OF THOSE

WELL, THANKS FOR COMING ALONG

ON THE BYWAYS AND WATERWAYS

OF "KENTUCKY LIFE"

YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE A

HEALTHY INTEREST IN HISTORY

AND TRADITION WILL LEAD YOU

BUT YOU KNOW, IF

KENTUCKIANS ARE INVOLVED

IT'LL BE A JOURNEY YOU'LL

WANT TO TAKE AGAIN AND AGAIN

I'M DAVE SHUFFETT, ALONG

WITH MY OLD DOG HERE

AND WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME

[Closed captioning

by the KET Caption Center]

[was made possible by a grant]

[from the Honorable Order

of Kentucky Colonels]

[and in part by a grant

from The Lexington Lions Club]

[and a gift from the

Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E.

Deutsch Foundation]