Hot Rod Race - Hot Rod Lincoln

Let's go back 41 years to 1971. FM radio was pushing AM to the back burner, but here in the USA the car manufacturers made a great effort to keep FM radios and cassette players out of cars and succeeded for most of the 70's at keeping them high end products. A pretty big Top 40 hit that year was Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, a popular band on the college circuit. After hearing it for the hundredth time or so I actually took notice of the lyrics that start the song which is something like "well you heard the story of the hot rod race where the Fords and Lincolns were setting the pace? well that story's true, I'm here to say, I was the kid driving that Model A". I suddenly realized I had indeed heard that story many times. When I was a little kid I lived in a house that had a basement with 3 walls above ground and rather than being dark and dingy was actually bright and cheery and a good place for kids to hang out. There was record player attached to an amp with a big speaker cabinet and a pile of 78's and a stack of 45's which were still the new kid on the record block. There was also a player piano and a closet with a couple shelves of boxes containing old piano rolls. One of the records I enjoyed playing, and there was both a 78 and a 45 of it, was Hot Rod Race by Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan on Capitol Records and that was the "story" that Commander Cody was talking about.

In 1950, in Bremerton, Washington, a 17 year old kid named Ron Wilson wrote out the lyrics for a song about a hot rod race. Hot rod culture pretty much went out with the 60's, but was thriving in those post war years. Bremerton is across Puget Sound from Seattle on the Kitsap Peninsula in an area that is home to some big Navy Bases, or at least it used to be and was at that time. Ron showed his lyrics to his father, George Wilson, and he took them to a hillbilly singer named Arkie Shibley.
Arkie, real name Jesse Lee Shibley, was a 36 year old local performer at bars and honky tonks and also had his own radio program. He had recently relocated from Arkansas, thus the nickname Arkie.
Arkie liked the lyrics very much and immediately set them to music. Arkie and his band, The Mountain Dew Boys, began performing the song to enthusiastic audiences at the Peedlewheezer Tavern in Kitsap. The owner of the tavern thought it would make a great record and he financed a trip down to Los Angeles for himself, Arkie and guitarist Leon Kelly. They went to 4-Star Records, a big label at that time, but they turned them down. They recorded the song but 4-Star decided against issuing it but arranged for Arkie to get about 200 copies made on his own "custom" Mt Dew record label so he could sell them at his performances.

The record proved popular and 4-Star decided to issue it on their subsidiary Gilt-Edge label and it became a hit.

 

Ron Wilson, the 17 year who wrote the lyrics, never received a dime for his efforts. His father sold the rights for $500. Welcome to the music business, kid.
Capitol Records picked up on the song right away and on the evening of November 9 had their artist Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan record it with some of their top country studio musicians and with Capitol's slick production, advanced distribution network, strong promotion department and Jimmie's strong vocals, this record became the big hit for Hot Rod Race. Chuck Berry has stated that this record was a big influence on him in writing Maybelline, the 1955 recording that help launch his career and rock 'n' roll.

 

The scan above is the same record I found in the basement and used to play sometime back in the late 50's.
Very quickly the other major labels wanted to get one of their acts in on the deal. Decca Records issued it by Red Foley

 

and Mercury Records in Chicago released it by big band leader Tiny Hill

 

In Tennessee it hit the shelves by Bob Williams

 

and it was released by Arthur Smith & His Crackerjacks

 

a label in Meriden, Connecticut issued it by Rex Turner & The Westerners

 

and it also came out by Bob Sandy & The Rhythm Rangers but I'm going to skip over that as it really was a somewhat lackluster performance. There's a CD available called Hillbilly Sidesteps that lists Hot Rod Races 1, 2 and 3 as being done by Ramblin Lou. Ramblin Lou (Lou Schriver & His Twin Pine Mountaineers) was a guy out of the Buffalo, New York area, who like Arkie was both a performer and a radio guy, but the songs on that CD are not Ramblin Lou as they are the recordings done by Bob Williams and Arthur Smith.
So.....for the most part, Arkie's record ended up being a hit for other people. What would you do if that happened to you? I know what Arkie did. He continued the story and recorded Hot Rod Race No. 2!

 

Well, if it worked a second time for Arkie, maybe it will work again for others too. Bob Williams also did No. 2

 

and Tiny Hill also did No. 2. I've never come across the recording but I know it was done because pictures don't lie

Arkie knew he was on to something good so what did he do next? Hot Rod Race No. 3: Arkie Meets The Judge

 

so back east in Tennessee Bob Williams did No. 3 too.

 

Next up from Arkie came Hot Rod Race No. 4: The Guy In The Mercury

 

and finally the end of the race - Hot Rod Race No. 5: The Kid In The Model A

 

In 1955 a guy named Mick Woodward adapted the song to be about racing Navy ships and called it Hot Rod Race Navy Style.

 

In 1955 an answer song to Hot Rod Race, called Hot Rod Lincoln, was recorded by Charlie Ryan for a small label in Idaho and in 1959 he recorded it again for 4 Star.

 

A cover version of Hot Rod Lincoln was done by Johnny Bond and it became a decent hit in 1960.

 

and 11 years later was revived again by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen

 

and this story is true, I'm here to say, because I was the kid driving that 1963 Ford Fairlane listening to it over and over on WRKO.