Comments on: Truckin’ Music Tuesday 6: “Pinball Machine”

By: Alan T

Alan T — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:10:37 +0000

If you watch an old Warner’s movie called “They Drive By Night” (Stars George Raft and Bogart before he was really big-time) you;ll see Roscoe Carnes playing a trucker who stays in the diner playing pinball for much much longer than he ought and eventually, I think, he gets sacked or at least chewed out for this. Some nice shots of an old pinball in that film too!

Hear also Amarillo by Emmylou Harris… in which a man neglects his girlfiend in favour of Jukes and Pinballs.

Best
Alan T

By: RCWG

RCWG — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:40:10 +0000

great to hear the original. im sure on the fall album its under anonymous. i also heard a good version live in london about 10 years ago by BR Wallers (the Rebel) from the country teasers.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:23:48 +0000

Thanks for posting this. It is a genuinely moving song. As you noted, The Fall have indeed covered this song, and The Fall’s shambolic version was actually the first one I heard. You might be interested to know that The Fall produced a studio version of “Pinball Machine”; it can be found on the 1989 album Seminal Live.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:42:19 +0000

There was an episode of Growing Pains where Ben snuck out of the house to go to a nearby truck stop where he’d heard they played by “house rules,” i.e. for money. Who among us didn’t fantasize as a kid about being able to play video games for cash?

“California…”