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"Hot Rod Lincoln" | |
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Single by Charlie Ryan and the Livingston Bros. | |
B-side | "Hank Williams Goodbye" |
Released | 1955 |
Genre | Rock and roll, rockabilly |
Length | 2:57 |
Label | Souvenir (SOUV-101) |
Songwriter(s) | Charlie Ryan |
"Hot Rod Lincoln" | ||||
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Single by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen | ||||
from the album Lost in the Ozone | ||||
B-side | "My Home in My Hand" | |||
Released | March 1972 | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Length | 2:40 | |||
Label | Paramount | |||
Songwriter(s) | Charlie Ryan | |||
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen singles chronology | ||||
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"Hot Rod Lincoln" is a song by American singer-songwriter Charlie Ryan, first released in 1955. It was written as an answer song to Arkie Shibley's 1950 hit "Hot Rod Race" (US #29).
It describes a drive north on US Route 99 (predecessor to Interstate 5) from San Pedro, Los Angeles, and over the Grapevine which soon becomes a hot rod race that ends with serious consequences.
The car race is described between two hot rod cars, the narrator's Ford Model A (with a Lincoln motor) and a Cadillac. The song says the Ford's "got 12 cylinders", overdrive, a four-barrel carburetor, 4.11:1 gear ratio, and safety tubes. The narrator ends up being arrested by the police for his high-speed driving and describes the exasperation of his father: "He said, 'Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin' / If you don't quit drivin' that hot rod Lincoln!'"
Ryan's original rockabilly version of the song was released in 1955 through Souvenir Records under the artist name Charley Ryan and the Livingston Bros. [1] A second version was released in 1959 through Four Star Records, credited to Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders. [2] Ryan based the description of the eponymous car on his own hot rod, built from a 1948 12-cylinder Lincoln chassis shortened two feet, with a 1930 Ford Model A body fitted to it.[ citation needed ] Ryan raced his hot rod against a Cadillac sedan driven by a friend in Lewiston, Idaho, driving up the Spiral Highway (former U.S. Route 95 in Idaho) to the top of Lewiston Hill. [3] Some say he incorporated elements from this race in his lyrics to "Hot Rod Lincoln", but changed the setting to Grapevine Hill (a long, nearly straight grade up Grapevine Canyon to Tejon Pass, near the town of Gorman, California) to fit it within the narrative of "Hot Rod Race".[ citation needed ]
Another version of "Hot Rod Lincoln" was recorded by country musician Johnny Bond and released in 1960 through Republic Records, with Bond's lyrics changing the hot rod's engine from a V12 to a V8 [ citation needed ], among other changes. It reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1960. [4] Bond released a sequel in the same year called "X-15", set in 1997, about an air race in an X-15 plane. [5]
A 1971 version, by country rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen on their album Lost in the Ozone , became the most successful version of "Hot Rod Lincoln", reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 28 Adult Contemporary, No. 7 in Canada, [6] and was ranked No. 69 on the U.S. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972. [7] The song peaked at number 45 in Australia. [8] This version maintained most of the lyrical changes from Johnny Bond's version but changed them further while maintaining the original story.
Chart (1960) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [9] | 33 |
U.S. Billboard Country | 14 |
Chart (1960) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [9] | 26 |
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [10] | 25 |
| Year-end charts
|
In addition to Johnny Bond and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, many other artists have recorded "Hot Rod Lincoln" in the decades since its original release, including:
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Kristofferson and Miller are distant cousins in the Chenoweth surname family tree. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the U.S. singles chart in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance On Me." Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.
"For All We Know" is a popular song published in 1934, with music by J. Fred Coots and lyrics by Sam M. Lewis. Popular versions in 1934 were by Hal Kemp and Isham Jones.
Allroy's Revenge is the second studio album by the American punk rock band All, released in 1989 through Cruz Records. It was the band's first release with singer Scott Reynolds, replacing Dave Smalley who had left in late 1988. The album includes two songs written by Tony Lombardo, the original bassist for All's precursor band the Descendents. It also includes a cover version of "Hot Rod Lincoln", a 1955 song by Charlie Ryan that was a hit for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in 1971. "She's My Ex" was released as the album's single.
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"Break It to Me Gently" is a pop song written by blues musician Joe Seneca with lyrics by Diane Lampert. Both Brenda Lee and Juice Newton were met with considerable success with their versions of the song.
Lost in the Ozone is an album by American rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Their first album, it was released in 1971. it contains their hit cover version of "Hot Rod Lincoln" as well as the band's live staples "Lost in the Ozone" and "Seeds and Stems (Again)".
"Since I Fell for You" is a blues ballad composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 that was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra.
"Another Saturday Night" is a 1963 hit single by Sam Cooke from the album Ain't That Good News. The song was written by Cooke while touring in England when staying in a hotel where no female guests were allowed. It reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was No. 1 on the R&B chart for a single week. In the UK, the song peaked at No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart.
Jesse Lee Shibley, known as Arkie Shibley was an American country singer who recorded the original version of "Hot Rod Race" in 1950. The record was important because "it introduced automobile racing into popular music and underscored the car's relevance to American culture, particularly youth culture."
"Clean Up Woman" is a song by Betty Wright from her second studio album, I Love the Way You Love (1972). Written and produced by Clarence Reid and Willie Clarke, it was released in November 1971 in the U.S. as a 7" single with "I'll Love You Forever" on the B-side. The song's distinctive guitar lick was played by Willie "Little Beaver" Hale.
Charles Ryan was an American country music and rockabilly singer and songwriter, best known for co-writing and first recording the rockabilly hit single "Hot Rod Lincoln".
"Don't Let Go" is a song written by Jesse Stone. The song was first a hit for Roy Hamilton in 1958. The Roy Hamilton version reached number 2 on the R&B charts and number 13 on the pop charts.
"I Love You Because" is a song written and recorded by country music singer and songwriter Leon Payne in 1949. The song has been covered by several artists throughout the years, including hit cover versions by Al Martino in 1963 and Jim Reeves in 1964.
Solitaire is the thirty-first studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the fall of 1973 by Columbia Records and was an attempt to move away from his formulaic series of recent releases that relied heavily on songs that other artists had made popular.
The Way We Were is the thirty-second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records and was a return to singing songs that his audience was already familiar with after Solitaire, his previous LP that was less reliant on covers of recent pop hits, did not perform well.
When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.
I Only Have Eyes for You is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on May 10, 1976, by Columbia Records and included two new songs, "Yellow Roses on Her Gown" and "Ooh What We Do", which was written specifically for him, as well as a contemporary arrangement of the 1934 title track that foreshadowed his recordings of standards that incorporated a disco beat a few years later.
"Come On, Let's Go" is a song written and originally recorded by Ritchie Valens in 1958. It was the first of four charting singles from his self-titled debut album, and reached number 42 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in May 1958.
"I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Nilsson in 1969. A track from his fourth studio album, Harry, it became his second charting single.