Blessings for The Man in Black

A broken-down bus that long lived at Austin’s famous honky-tonk shows some respect for the Man in Black.

The missing 1948 Flxible Clipper bus that once lent its retro funk to Austin’s best-known dance hall, the Broken Spoke, made an unannounced road trip last spring to Adkins, Texas and ended up parked at Texas Pride Barbecue. Seems that the leader of the 1960s Western swing band, the Texas Top Hands, finally reclaimed his ownership rights to their touring bus, putting himself firmly back at its wheel. But the Clipper’s disappearance came as an unwelcome surprise to the Broken Spoke’s owner and fans—as Johnny himself might describe them, “men with broken hearts.”

During its time spent at the Broken Spoke‘s parking lot, the bus had become a landmark there, but despite its rough condition, the band’s passion for Johnny Cash still showed on one of its many cracked windows. God Bless Johnny Cash. And broken old tour buses, too. ♣

BUY THESE PRINTS: Choose from 99+ Vanishing Austin prints and a poster by Jann Alexander, starting at $25.

Shop my Vanishing Austin series: While many Austin landmarks are lost, many are survivors still. Admire them all in a slideshow, HERE. Prints start at $35.

You can marvel at what’s lost and what’s survived in my Endangered Species of Austin poster, featuring 16 Austin icons, and sized at a handsomely large 24 x 36,” available for $25, HERE.

• How the Vanishing Austin project began
• The 99+ photographs in the Vanishing Austin series
• More articles in Vanishing Austin blog series
• The Endangered Species of Austin

Click Here to get your free monthly digest of Popular Pairings.