Here’s a slightly different version of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66″ by Nat King Cole, a decade after he hit the charts with it. This is off King’s all-jazz “After Midnight” album in 1956. This take on “Route 66″ also features excellent playing by Harry “Sweets” Edison on trumpet John Collins on guitar.

In this sound file with a still photo, you’ll have to sit through “It’s Only a Paper Moon” before “Route 66″ begins. But I don’t think you’ll mind a bit.

According to the information with the video, this is a student film shot at Dry Creek Station on old Route 66 east of Barstow, Calif. It’s not an earth-shattering story, but it serves to show the value of slowing down and thinking about things — a Mother Road attribute if there ever was one.

Incidentally, it’s fairly obvious from its design that Dry Creek Station was a former member of mostly vanished Whiting Bros. chain.

Here on this version of Bobby Troup’s “Route 66,” you get not one, but two talented guitar-slingers in Popa Chubby (the bald, portly one) and Arthur Neilson.

Great stuff.

If you like football and the Mother Road, the Oklahoma Route 66 Association has an event for you.

The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of the Arena Football 2 league, along with POPS in nearby Arcadia, are hosting a Route 66 Night on April 27.

Association members can purchase tickets for $5 off. Members can buy their tickets by calling the Yard Dawgz at 405-228-3294. Callers will need to ask for Ryan and let him know they are part of the Route 66 group.

For Route 66 Night, the Yard Dawgs host the Austin Wranglers at Oklahoma City’s Ford Center at 3:05 p.m. Fan activities outside the venue start at 1:05 p.m. that day.

If you want to join the association, go here or call Marilyn at 405-258-0008.

There’s an excellent article in the Daily Oklahoman about Larry Nance, a photographer based in El Reno, and the impact he’s making with local preservationists.

It’s advisable to read the whole thing. But the gist is that Nance as a child suffered from epilepsy, and was unable to stay at Route 66 landmarks such as the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Ariz., during family vacations because problems with his seizures.

Nance was cured of his epilepsy in his early teens. As an adult, he opened a photography business in El Reno. In 2005, he rekindled his interest in Route 66 and decided to cruise the road westward in his Harley Davidson motorcycle. He finally got to stay at the Wigwam Motel, and along the way he documented the Mother Road with his camera.

Back at home, his images made an impression on the local movers and shakers:

Nance has shown his work to El Reno’s Main Street Inc., and city officials who have embarked on a preservation plan. His pictures are helping planners brainstorm and see what projects are possible. Seeing what has worked out-of-state is important, he said.

“If I don’t share this with the next generation, it will be lost,” Nance said.

Codie Lee Finnigan, tourism director of the El Reno Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Nance’s photography is important to the city.

“It’s my guess that he will be heavily involved in the future plans for Route 66 in El Reno,” Finnigan said. “El Reno is really just getting on that path.”

Nance said his next plan is for a Route 66 trip to Chicago, so that more pictures can reach more preservation committees. He said he thinks a revitalization of Route 66 in Oklahoma is attainable.

“We have to strive to get it restored with as much authenticity as possible,” Nance said. “That is one of my missions. I would like to bring back that nostalgia.”

Godspeed, Mr. Nance.

Vern Hestand III of Bear Mountain Woodworx created a mural inspired by the “Cars” movie, complete with three-dimensional touches (check out the power lines and Route 66 sign).

The mural obviously is inside a private residence, but he made a video of it so you can see it. Here’s the original proposal for the mural. You can see more of Hestand’s artwork here.

The music for the video is “Real Gone” by Sheryl Crow and “Route 66″ by John Mayer, both from the “Cars” soundtrack.

The blog for RedFork Main Street reports that the Southwest Tulsa Chamber of Commerce is applying for a cost-share grant to build a visitors center for the Route 66 transportation theme park under construction.

The chamber is filling out an application to the National Scenic Byways program for the grant.

Dittman said he and other Chamber members are working on an application for a federal Scenic Byways grant that would fund 80 percent of the estimated $330,000 cost of converting the bottom floor of the two-story “Chamber house” on Southwest Boulevard to a visitors’ center complete with rest rooms, interpretive materials, and information about local businesses and attractions.

The deadline for submitting the grant application is Monday. The grant is expected to be awarded by December, Dittman said.

BFJO is based in Japan, and does a version of “Route 66.” Apparently a guest pianist sat in during this session (you’ll see him later in the video), but the regular pianist is pretty good, too.

Taking Hollywood types on a tour down historic Route 66 is getting to be old hat for best-selling nonfiction author Michael Wallis

He hasn’t been guiding just Tinseltown actors, however. The first two tours Wallis guided were for employees of Pixar Animation Studios, who were researching the Mother Road for the 2006 summer hit movie, “Cars.” Wallis became technical adviser for the film, and was cast as the Sheriff of Radiator Springs in the movie.

Recently, Wallis guided a crew of Disney “Imagineers” — architects, artists and producers — who are assigned with designing the Cars Land amusement park at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. Cars Land, part of a massive $1 billion expansion, is slated to be finished by 2012. One report said the Radiator Springs Racers feature itself will cost $200 million.

“The main purpose of this trip,” Wallis said during a phone interview this week, “was to give them an up-close and personal view of the ‘footprint’ of the mythical Radiator Springs, which I tell people is between Gallup (N.M.) and Winslow (Ariz.). But the influence is from the entire length of the road.

“It was a totally successful trip. These men and women just ate it up.”

The Disney crew and Wallis flew in to Amarillo, Texas. There, they were given a big “howdy” by the Big Texan Steak Ranch in town.

“The trip started out so well … we were greeted by a pair of Big Texan limos, complete with the longhorn horns affixed to the hood,” Wallis recalled. “They had some Big Texan cowboys driving, and Becky Ransom, who I call the Hostess of the Highway, was there to meet us. We immediately took them on a detailed tour of the urban old road through Amarillo.”

Wallis also took the Disney bunch to the Cadillac Ranch west of town before settling in at the Big Texan for supper.

“I was even able to entice these folks, who’d never experienced this before, to try calf fries. They thought they were most exotic,” he chuckled.

Wallis said he was also grateful to Ransom and the Big Texan for the gift bags they left for their Disney guests in the Big Texan’s hotel rooms. Bags were filled with “Cars” memorabilia and useful travel items.

The next day, Wallis and the Disney crew went back east in Oklahoma to immerse themselves in the music and comedy experience that is Harley and Annabelle Russell, aka the Mediocre Music Makers, at their Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick. Incidentally, Harley Russell (right) is a significant influence to the Mater character in “Cars.”

“I’ve never seen Harley and Annabelle better. They were out there, waving flags and wearing their ‘redneck tuxedos.’ It was quite a visit there,” Wallis said.

After that, the entourage headed west on the Mother Road. Among the many sites they visited were the Devil’s Rope Barbed Wire Museum in McLean, Texas; La Posada in Winslow, Ariz.; the ghost town of Glenrio; the Aztec and El Vado motels in Albuquerque; Joe and Aggie’s Cafe in Holbrook, Ariz.; Teepee Curios in Tucumcari, N.M.; La Fonda in Santa Fe; U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas; Jackrabbit Trading Post in Jackrabbit, Ariz.; El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, N.M.; and the wild-burro haven of Oatman, Ariz.

Wallis also took the crew to obscure spots, such as old dirt-road alignments of Route 66 and the former site of the Regal Reptile Ranch in Texas.

The Route 66 trip ended at the Arizona-California border after eight days. The Disney people then flew home from Las Vegas.

He said the Disney Imagineers agreed that one of the trip’s biggest highlights was at a little diner in Adrian, Texas.

“They were blown away by the Midpoint Cafe,” Wallis said. “Out of all the meals we had on the road — and we had great food all the way — the bottom line was that their favorite meal was at the Midpoint. All of us had burgers and fries and ugly-crust pie. The burgers were cooked to perfection … and then we had a whole medley of ugly-crust pies. I mean, it was pie heaven. But it wasn’t just the great food — it was the whole atmosphere, making everyone feel good.”

Wallis said the warmth of Route 66’s people made an impression on the group.

“I think what they really got out of this trip was how grateful people were on the road that this movie was made,” he said. “What impressed them the most was the overall attitude and demeanor of the people on the road.

“All along the way, people are coming up to me and getting Sheriff autographs,” Wallis added. “We ran into a lot of tourists with kids and early spring-breakers. We get these testimonials from them about why they’re out on the road, and a lot of them were because of ‘Cars.’ “

Wallis thinks Cars Land will be an excellent addition for future Route 66 travelers.

“Now we have a place where people can start their journey if they’re going east,” he said, “and a good place to end their journey if they’re going west.”

(Top image: Artist’s conception of Cars Land, courtesy of Disney.)

Cheever’s Cafe in Oklahoma City needed more catering space. So the owners purchased a cottage-style Phillips 66 gas station at 401 Northwest 23rd (aka Route 66) and are converting it, reports the Daily Oklahoman.

The onetime Phillips 66 station — one of only two of the original designs left in the city — was bought by the couple last year for $128,000. They are spending another $100,000 restoring the station to its original appearance with plans to open “Market C” — home to an upscale market and the Pauls’ catering operations.

Robert Black, chef at Cheever’s, said the old gasoline station is ideally set up for the catering operation thanks to a garage door facing Hudson Avenue that will allow quick loading of vehicles. [...]

While the catering will move from Cheever’s kitchen to the back section of the old gasoline station, the front section will feature a market that will offer fresh cuts of steaks sold at the Pauls’ restaurants, salad dressings, sauces, fruits, drinks and bakery items.

According to the article, the station was built in 1935.

Navistar has introduced a new line of trucking parts called Lonestar DoubleSix Customs that takes its inspiration from the Mother Road, the company said in a news release today.

The initial offering for LoneStar will feature 23 exterior parts and 17 interior parts — including custom sunvisors, light bars and panels, exhaust, shifter accessories, door handles, and much more.

“The name of this new parts line derives from the importance of Route 66 to the American trucker,” Miranda said. “On Route 66, there was no doubt who owned the road. We think DoubleSix will speak to the very heart of the driving professional who wants to stand out from the crowd.”

The DoubleSix site is here.

(Via Truck.net)

The “cowboy jazz” band Cow Bop is doing another Route 66 Challenge tour, from Chicago to Los Angeles starting May 12. Cow Bop has done two other Route 66 tours for charity.
It says on the band’s Web site:

Not willing to rest on the laurels of their past trips, they are once again proving their commitment to music and the future of our culture. Unlike previous trips (where the band departed with a mere $100 and no scheduled gigs, playing, begging and bartering their way to the West Coast), this time they’ll be playing concerts along with spontaneous troubadour-style “hits” and celebrating the release of their new CD, “Route 66,” along the 2,500-mile journey. All proceeds from per-mile pledges, concerts and street performances will ensure that music performance remains a vital part in lives’ of young people.

Proceeds will go to the Jazzmasters Workshop, a music outreach program for kids. There’s a donation button on the Route 66 Challenge main page.

Band member Bruce Forman also told me that the band will maintain a blog and post a few videos during the tour. Gig venues and other details about the tour will be forthcoming on the challenge site.

Logan County, Ill., has a new tourism guide coming out soon, and it features both Route 66 and Abraham Lincoln on the cover, reports the Lincoln (Ill.) Courier.

The logo was designed by McDaniels’ Marketing in Pekin. It shows Abe Lincoln tipping his top hat as he drives Illinois U.S. Route 66 in a red convertible.

Bureau director Geoff Ladd said the logo, which features the main themes of tourism in Logan County, will be used in future marketing campaigns.

“We needed to update our offerings and do it in a fun and visually exciting way,” Ladd said. “The logo, the imagery, the organization of the guide — all were designed to get the tourists’ interest and give them everything they need and keep them smiling, too.”

The 47-page guide, also designed by McDaniels’, replaces the Historic Lincoln/Logan County brochure. It includes the main tourism attractions and events in the area. [...]
The new booklet includes an updated shopping and dining guide; a calendar of events for 2008 and 2009; more pictures of attractions emphasizing the rich history and bright future of Logan County; and GPS coordinates for many locations (especially hard-to-find attractions).

The guide will be distributed to tourism centers throughout the state and at hotels and at tourism attractions in the region.

You also can request the tourism guide to be mailed to you through this online form here, but only to those in the United States.  But even if you’re in a foreign country, don’t fret. The guide will be available for download in PDF form on April 1.

Two program managers for the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, under the auspices of the National Park Service, honored the town of Atlanta, Ill., for its ongoing Route 66 preservation efforts regarding the  historic Palms Grill, reported the Lincoln (Ill.) Courier.

“When Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985,” a Park Service brochure explains, “many of the mom-and-pop establishments that comprised the soul of the highway fell on hard times as traffic and customers were diverted to the interstates.

“Today, significant buildings and businesses are threatened by economic hardship, deferred maintenance, development pressures and a lack of awareness of the importance of these recent-past resources.”

Atlanta – with an appreciation of its buildings and ongoing community preservation projects – is an exception. That’s why its Palms Grill project, which includes restoration of a 1930s café and added space to house a museum, is so important.

“We saw this building before you stated working on it,” Barthuli said following a tour. “This is a Cinderella story.”

This isn’t a one-time thing. Atlanta has been a model for years in regards to historic preservation and Route 66 promotions. Check out its Web site as an example.

A few things that should be of interest to most roadies:

• Roadside America has revamped its Web site. Not only did the purveyors of roadside oddities give it a spiffier design, but there’s a new blog, more animation, new tools and more videos.
• Route 66 roadie Mark Potter reports that the Hot Dogs and Hot Rods on Route 66 festival in Clinton, Okla., on June 27-28 tentatively plans to have popular Oklahoma country-rock band Cross Canadian Ragweed perform in the amphitheater at historic McLain Rogers Park.
• The Web site for the Triangle Motel in Amarillo, Texas, has a lot of encouraging news about the restoration efforts for the historic Route 66 motel.
• The folks behind the excellent “Independent America” documentary are shooting a sequel in New Orleans. “Independent America: Rising from the Ruins” is checking to see how independent businesses are doing in the years after Hurricane Katrina. You can follow the filmmakers’ adventures on their blog.

POPS, one of Route 66’s newest icons, will be featured in a national television advertisement for Gordmans, a clothing chain.

The ad will begin airing Monday, but you can view it by going here at Gordmans Web site and clicking on the “Spring Fashion II, On the Road … Oklahoma” icon under the “Television” listing.

According to POPS:

“Gordmans was looking to feature upscale and notable buildings as a backdrop for their commercials,” said Producer Paul Tompkins. “ I previously took notice of POPS and knew it would be a perfect fit for this shoot.”

The commercial features models in young, fresh and hip Gordmans products. The crew has filmed similar commercials featuring landmarks in Memphis, TN and plans to produce up to 12 commercial in other cities nationwide.

The Oklahoma City commercial will air in US markets nationwide and features other Oklahoma landmarks such as the Chesapeake Boathouse, The Oklahoma City Downtown Library and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Photos from the Gordmans shoot can be found here.

Here’s a screen capture of the TV ad:

Starting Saturday, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is hosting “The Art of Cars” — an exhibition of artwork that was created while Pixar Animation Studios was producing the “Cars” movie.

According to the museum:

“When we started working on Cars, I knew that getting the details right would be essential to the story,” says Lasseter.  “The spirit of Route 66 is in every scratch on a fender and every curl of paint on a weathered billboard.  Pixar is honored to partner with the Petersen Automotive Museum on the ‘The Art of Cars’ exhibit, so that the public can experience firsthand our passion for the movie through our artists’ eyes.”

“The Art of Cars” exhibit includes more than 60 watercolor and pastel drawings, pencil and marker sketches, and a variety of three-dimensional pieces, including:

• Life-size replicas of the movie’s main characters: Lightning McQueen and his tow-truck buddy, Mater
• Three-dimensional maquettes of Mater, Doc Hudson, Sally, and The King,  which were used as reference to guide animators when drawing their characters
• Illustrated character studies that illuminate the development of supporting characters Flo and Ramone, Luigi and Guido, Fillmore, Sarge, DJ, and Wingo
• Digital, pencil, and marker sketches interpreting the cars’ eyes, gestures, and expressions
• Pencil and marker drawings of the fictional Los Angeles Motor Speedway, Sally’s “Cozy Cone” motel (Editor’s note: seen above), and iconic diners, curio shops, and service stations based on actual locations along “The Mother Road”
• Pastels, watercolors, and pencil sketches of such scenic vistas as Ornament Valley, Cadillac Range, and Radiator Cap Butte, based on familiar landmarks as Arizona’s Monument Valley rock formations and the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas

A few samples of artwork can be seen at the Petersen Museum’s site. “The Art of Cars” will be on display there through Nov. 2.

If you can’t make it to L.A., you can buy “The Art of Cars” book (reviewed here).

(Hat tip: Jim Hill Media) 

For 21 years, former big-league pitcher Frank Pastore held the speed record for finishing the Big Texan Steak Ranch’s 72-ounce steak meal in an eye-popping (and stomach-churning) time of 9 1/2 minutes.

On Monday, his record was broken. By a professional eater, no less.

Those unfamiliar with the 72-Ounce Challenge think you have to eat just the steak. That’s not so. You also have to consume a salad, dinner roll, baked potato and shrimp cocktail in a 60-minute time frame. You also have to do it in one sitting; there’s no getting up to upchuck your meal in the restroom so you have more room in your stomach.

If you eat it all in one hour, it’s free. If you don’t, you’re out $72. Only about one in five people who take the 72-ounce challenge finish it.

Amazingly, Pastore not only inhaled the big steak in record time, but he did it seven times — all in rapid fashion. Pastore wrote in Townhall.com on Tuesday:

The first time I did it was in February 1976, on my way to my first Spring Training with the Cincinnati Reds, and I did it in 21 minutes. That fall, on my way home, I completed it in 19 minutes. The next spring, 17; on the way home, 15; the following spring, 13; then 11 on the way home in 1978.

My fastest time — and the world record for almost 21 years — was set in May 1987 in which I did it in 9½ minutes. I thought it would be my last time through town, since my career was coming to an end, and I was right. I haven’t been back to the most famous steak house in the world since then.

I’ve always been so proud of The Record. In many ways, I’m more known for The Steak than I am for my 8-year mediocre pitching career or my radio show in Los Angeles.

The record was broken by Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who is ranked No. 1 in the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Chestnut polished of the 72-ounce steak and all the trimmings in 8 minutes, 52 seconds. Before his latest feat at the Big Texan, Chestnut held 16 eating records, according to Wikipedia.

No video of Chestnut’s steak eating has surfaced yet. But if you want to see his prodigious talent, watch him cram down 28 Krystal burgers in two minutes:

Pastore was a good sport about his record being broken, but added:

You know, these professionals are taking all the fun out of gluttony.

Donald Gray, who’s been trying to save the historic Harvey House in Seligman, Ariz., from the wrecking ball, reported Tuesday that negotiations to buy or move the property broke down and that the structure will be razed within three weeks.

Gray said he confirmed the bad news through Lena Kent, who is regional public affairs representative for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, which owns the long-vacant property.

The Harvey House, also known as the Havasu, received a reprieve last fall when a group of local residents persuaded the railroad to hold off on the demolition.

Gray also told the Route 66 yahoogroup:

I did get some good news with the bad … the good news is that they’re trying to get me permission to go inside and do a “historical” final photo shoot of the interior of the building.

The other positive was the word that they may also allow either the Chamber of Commerce or Seligman Historical Society to salvage some of the smaller historical items before the demolition is completed. Details are being worked out and I should get the word in the next few days. The BNSF rep said she’d do her best to get me on the inside for the photos since I’ve been working on this preservation project for such a long time and have put in such an effort to save it. [...]

I will do my very best to preserve (through my photos) the last days of the 1905 structure where my grandparents first met. I’m glad my grandparents aren’t still alive to see this happen. Grandma was proud to have been a Harvey Girl and enjoyed the life and ability to see the “wild west” that some of the Harvey Girls were offered.

Most of you have already seen this music video. But this high-quality clip of the Cheetah Girls‘ version of “Route 66″ came over on YouTube today. The sound is clearer, and you can see the details in the film — including a bunch of “Cars” movie highlights — a lot better, too.