Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters to rock the Englert in Iowa City

Jayne Mansfield's car had quite an impact on Billy Bob Thornton. Well, not literally but certainly figuratively. Thornton wrote a song and a film with the same name, “Jayne Mansfield’s Car.”

The movie, which hit screens in 2012, was also directed by Thornton, who stars in the flick along with such icons as Robert Duvall and John Hurt.

The hard rocking tune, which was crafted before the script was written, has finally been released. "Jayne Mansfield's Car" graces the latest Boxmasters album, "Love & Hate in Desperate Places," a longtime band which features Thornton.

An event in the tiny town of Malvern, Arkansas, where Thornton grew up during the 1960s, inspired the art. "When I was a kid, snake oil salesmen would come to small towns and present things like the five-legged guy and spider woman," Thornton said while calling from his Los Angeles studio.

"A guy, who bought the convertible Jayne Mansfield died in, came to our town and sold tickets so you could see the car, which had a mannequin with her head on the floor. My father loved morbid stuff and he made my brother and I go to this event. I remember seeing the fake blood and the images from that day stuck with me. My father couldn't wait to get there and my brother and I couldn't wait to leave."

Like many of his peers, Thornton took an event from his life and turned it into art. It was fitting that Thornton wrote the song before he penned the screenplay since the gifted entertainer is a musician first, an actor second.

Like Johnny Depp, Billy Bob Thornton arrived in Hollywood during the 1980s attempting to become a recording artist but instead became an actor of considerable renown. Thornton, 69, a vocalist-drummer, took a hiatus during the Reagan era as a musician but started writing songs again during the 1990s. After recording a solo album, "Beautiful Door," in 2007, Thornton formed the Boxmasters with vocalist-bassist J.D. Andrew.

"I arrived in Hollywood during the height of hair metal back in the '80s and I didn't fit in," Thornton said.

However, Thornton, who won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for "Slingblade,“ and has won acclaim for his work in such films as "A Simple Plan" and "Monster's Ball" stumbled onto acting.

"Some guy asked me to come into an acting class and the acting teacher said, 'You can do this,’" Thornton recalled. "I started getting little parts and it paid. I would get $350 for the day by saying something like, 'Hey Mister, you forgot your hat.' It paid the rent."

Thornton's career was elevated courtesy of an encounter with late, legendary writer-director Billy Wilder.

"He was the nicest, gruffest guy you would have ever met," Thornton said. "He was very cool and very good to me. I met him as a waiter at a Hollywood party. Dudley Moore was playing piano. Debbie Reynolds and Sammy Cahn were there. It's funny, I told Dan Ackroyd, who is a friend, that I served him a fish appetizer at Stanley Donen's party and he said, 'Really?’ Billy advised me to write and not just stand around like all of the other actors. He gave the best (Academy Award) acceptance speech I ever heard. 'I went to the doctor and told him that I can't pee anymore. The doctor said, 'How old are you?' 95. 'Well, the doctor said. "You've peed enough.' Hilarious."

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Thornton, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for the television show "Fargo," has had an extraordinary career as an actor. However, Thornton also has worked hard as a singer-songwriter-drummer with The Boxmasters, who have released 17 albums.

“I’m passionate about music,” Thornton said. “I really love it.”

Andrew enjoys performing with Thornton. “It’s such a great time to play with Billy,” Andrew said. “There’s nobody quite like him.”

The roots rock band, which will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, is old school. The Boxmasters, which also includes guitarist Kirk McKim, bassist Raymond Hardy and drummer Nick Davidson, live in the moment and enjoy engaging the audience. The band has switched gears with the rollicking "Love & Hate in Desperate Places," which is its most visceral album in the Boxmasters canon.

"This album is more rock than rock and roll," Thornton said. "That's why ‘Jayne Mansfield’s Car’ was sitting around all of these years. It didn't fit on the prior albums, but it works with this one since this is a rockin’ album. It fits our live show, which we have fun with. Get ready for a fun show with a lot of energy since what we do onstage mirrors ‘Jayne Mansfield’s Car.’“