1976 · Country · Behind the Songs
The 1976 novelty No. 1 — a Detroit worker builds his dream car, one smuggled part at a time.
“One Piece at a Time,” written by Wayne Kemp, is the funniest record Johnny Cash ever made — and the last No. 1 country single of his career. It tells the story of a Detroit assembly-line worker who, over twenty-five years, smuggles home one Cadillac part at a time in his lunchbox, dreaming of the day he can build his own car for free.
The punchline is pure country comedy: when the car is finally assembled, the parts span two and a half decades of model years, and the result is a glorious Frankenstein — one headlight, mismatched everything, and a title that weighs sixty pounds. Cash narrates it deadpan, letting the absurdity build verse by verse, with a spoken-word delivery that recalls his prison-concert storytelling.
Released as a single in 1976 from the album of the same name, “One Piece at a Time” topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It proved that Cash, two decades into his career, could still surprise — trading the preacher’s gravity for a workingman’s wink, and landing his final chart-topper with a laugh.
What to listen for: Cash’s timing — he delivers the setup like a man telling a true story, and the final verse like a man who can’t quite believe it himself. The perfect novelty record: funny because it’s true to the working life it celebrates.