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.

Can't Get Enough Of You Baby

Was out somewhere the other day and heard this song playing, the recording done by the California band Smash Mouth in 1999. I was looking for a short subject quickie for this blog and that seemed like a good fit. 

Can't Get Enough Of You Baby was written in 1965 by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, two guys who mainly worked with musician/writer/producer Bob Gaudio and producer/writer Bob Crewe. Gaudio was a member of the Four Seasons and also wrote many of their big hits. Randell originally joined the production team as an arranger and eventually joined up with lyricist Linzer to write or co-write songs such as Working My Way Back To You, Let's Hang On, Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me). In 1965 they were assigned a new project of writing/producing for a new act, a trio of young ladies from Queens, New York City, called The Toys. Their first hit, A Lover's Concerto, came in Autumn 1965 and was followed up by the song Attack.

In January 1966, three different recordings of Can't Get Enough Of You Baby were released. The first by The Toys and it also found its way onto the Four Seasons LP Working My Way Back To You and also was released on a single by Sue Darby.  

 The Toys

 

The Four Seasons

 

 Sue Darby

I don't know much about this Sue Darby record (other than it's very good!) but I think she might be the same Sue Darby out of Dayton, Ohio that was in the Mark V in the mid-60's and also in the Green Lyte Sunday in the late 60's/early 70's. I seem to have read once that in between those two bands she went to Vegas to try to establish a solo career, so the timing would be right. It was her sole release on ABC. Green Lyte Sunday had a LP in 1970 that received airplay on many FM stations. It was never re-released in any form but if you search youtube for Green Lyte Sunday you can listen to about 5 or 6 of the 10 tracks on the LP. Sue has an excellent voice.

? & The Mysterians were out of Michigan and had a massive hit in the summer of 1966 with 96 Tears. That autumn they followed up 96 Tears with I Need Somebody and in early winter 1967 they issued their recording of Can't Get Enough Of You Baby. It was only a minor hit, but of the 4 releases between January 1966 and January 1967 it was the biggest hit. Rudy Martinez was the lead singer and his vocal performance was nothing special, but what made the "sound" of ? & The Mysterians was the Vox organ playing of 14 year old Frank Rodriguez and that set their recording apart from the others and inspired the hit cover versions by Britain's The Colour Field in 1985 and Smash Mouth in 1999.

 

? & The Mysterians

In 1967 legendary session drummer Sandy Nelson closed out his LP The Beat Goes On with Can't Get Enough Of You Baby, but I don't have it. It's never been re-issued but original pressings can be easily found on ebay.

About 18 years later UK band The Colour Field found inspiration in the ? & The Mysterians recording and had a hit with it themselves.

 

The Colour Field

...and in 1999 Smash Mouth did the same. Not sure if they took their inspiration from The Colour Field recording or ? & The Mysterians.

 

Willow Weep For Me

Willow Weep For Me has been recorded hundreds of times since 1932. Being the age I am, the first recording I ever heard also happens to be the "biggest hit" version (in terms of chart success based on sales and radio play) and that was by the British folk-pop duo Chad & Jeremy in 1964. Since then it's continued to be a favorite of jazz musicians and singers alike, but this post will focus on the years leading up to Chad & Jeremy's hit, 32 years during which the song was recorded in many different styles. 

Willow Weep For Me was written by Ann Ronell around 1932. Ann was a college student in Cambridge, Massachusetts when she had the opportunity to interview the great composer George Gershwin. Gershwin hired her as a rehearsal pianist which got her foot in the door of the entertainment business where she became both a lyricist and composer. Around the same she wrote Willow Weep For Me she also wrote Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? for Disney. For a period she was involved romantically with Gershwin and there has been speculation that Willow was actually composed by Gershwin and the copyright given to Ann as a gift. This is based on the similarities of the structure of the song compared to other Gershwin works but as some have also pointed out, those similarities have more in common with what Willow evolved into and not so much with it as first presented in the early 1930's.

Willow really "took off" and became a jazz standard in the 1950's and there are so many recordings from then I can't even mention them all here. I've selected 21 recordings to highlight the evolution of the song during those years and to also showcase the different styles it enjoyed along the way.

The first recording of the song was done in October 1932 by Ted Fio Rito & His Orchestra featuring Muzzy Marcellino on vocals. Muzzy became much better well known as a whistler in later years. Remember Lassie on TV in the 50's? Remember how the show opened each week? That was Muzzy doing the whistling. How about the 1968 hit by Hugo Montenegro with the theme from the film The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly? That was Muzzy whistling. Muzzy recorded a whistling version of Willow Weep For Me in the late 50's, some 25 years after he first sang it. This first recording begins with about a minute instrumental opening and as you can hear, is a very snappy number!

 

A few weeks later the song was recorded again, on Nov. 17, 1932, by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra with Irene Taylor doing the vocals. This time it features an instrumental opening lasting 1:45 that is full of interesting time changes and that is followed by the original opening lyrics that seem to have been discarded by every other recording since 1933.

 

The song quickly found its way across the Atlantic to England where on Jan. 24, 1933 it was recorded by (Bert) Ambrose & His Orchestra with Sam Browne on vocals. It also has a 1:45 opening and sounds like it was sourced from the first recording done by Ted Fio Rito with Muzzy Marcellino.

 

Also in 1933 the song was recorded in New York by Austrian singer Greta Keller. She discarded the long instrumental opening but did use the opening lyrics, to the best of my knowledge the last time they were recorded. This sounds like it was inspired by the Paul Whiteman/Irene Taylor recording as at certain points the orchestra changes time for like 1 bar and then reverts back to the slower tempo. It's also heard in the brief but very jazz-like violin solo and perhaps this is the first time we hear the future of the song.

 

At this point the song seems to disappear for awhile. I'm sure it was recorded, but the old shellac 78's quickly wore out and were extremely fragile and unless the song was recorded for a major label that had good storage of its masters it could easily be lost to time. As far as I can tell, the song doesn't reappear until 1941 when it was recorded by Cab Calloway & His Orchestra as a jazz instrumental featuring the sax of Hilton Jefferson....making it one of two of the most significant recordings of the song ever done. From that point forward the song was a jazz standard popular with soloists of not only the sax, but players of the piano, violin, trumpet, guitar, organ, clarinet....you name it. 

 

In January 1945 it was recorded by another jazz group, Cozy Cole & His All Stars. Up to now the music has been done by good size orchestras. With this recording we hear it being trimmed down to smaller combos. In addition to Cozy on drums some of the other musicians include Tiny Grimes on guitar, Coleman Hawkins on sax and Slam Stewart on bass using a seldom heard (in jazz) bow.

 

Next up is the other of the two most significant recordings of Willow Weep For Me. It was recorded July 25, 1946 by Stan Kenton & His Orchestra featuring June Christy on vocals. What can I say? It has an extremely innovative arrangement and June's vocals moves the song in an entirely new direction. From this point on there was no holding the song back. Anyone could take it anywhere they wanted to go with it and they did.

 

On March 18, 1949 the great unsung arranger/composer Mary Lou Williams sat down at the piano and recorded this great interpretation of the melody along with just a bass player for rhythm.

 

A couple weeks later, on April 2, another pianist, one of the greatest jazz pianists ever, Art Tatum recorded this solo improvised take on the melody. I believe this is a live recording of a performance in Los Angeles.

 

On July 15, 1950, Mabel Scott recorded the song in the R&B style of the post-war decade showcasing its blues possibilities.

 

September 3, 1954 - Billie Holiday takes it blues full circle.

 

By then Willow Weep For Me was getting recorded a lot by both vocalists and jazz performers. In 1955, saxophonist Cannonball Adderley relocated from Florida to New York City where he quickly found session work. Savoy Records brought together some musicians on June 28 for a LP project titled Bohemia After Dark. Willow was recorded that day featuring Cannonball on alto sax and Horace Silver on piano.

 

On November 12 of that same year, Dinah Washington recorded her version in an uptempo blues style.

 

On May 19, 1958 Frank Sinatra, with a great Nelson Riddle arrangement, took the song in yet another new direction with a very slow tempo.

 

Ray Charles is probably best remembered sitting at the piano singing out his many hits, but in the 50's he also included in his act a very tight jazz combo that also recorded for Atlantic and included some fine musicians such as sax players David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. On Nov. 5, 1958 they recorded their version of Willow featuring Newman on sax and Ray on piano. The photo below is from the Newport Jazz Festival earlier that year. Newman in the back and Ray in the front. Yes, many people forget that Ray was a very good sax player too.

 

On March 25, 1959 Ella Fitzgerald recorded her Willow with a great arrangement that included its own spurts of time changes.

 

A few years earlier she had recorded the song with Louis Armstrong. Next to Ella in the photo is the great pianist Oscar Peterson who also recorded the song in 1957.

On June 15, 1960 The Coasters recorded the song giving it a very pop feel for that period. It's really just their lead tenor, Carl Gardner. I think that's Carl in the center of the photo.

 

In 1961 The Barons gave it a rock 'n' roll vocal group workout. There were a lot of "Barons" in those days but I think these guys were from Detroit.

 

In 1962, Julie London did a nice job with it in a lounge style.

 

 In 1963 Sam Cooke gave it a contemporary pop go.

And in 1964 Chad & Jeremy had a decent pop hit with the song in the US, done in a very breezy pop style produced by Shel Talmy who was behind a lot of hits in those days working on both sides of the Atlantic. Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde had scored a hit in England and the US with Yesterday's Gone prior to Willow. They never did that well again in their native England, but in the US they followed Willow up with A Summer Song and Before And After and also make appearances on USA sitcoms The Patty Duke Show, My Three Sons, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Batman and even appeared in the western Laredo. Jeremy Clyde went on to dabble in acting up to this day, most recently appearing in episodes of Downton Abbey, The Old Guys, The Green Green Grass and My Family. He also had regular roles in the excellent 90's British sitcom Is It Legal? and the very good 80's comedy Blott On The Landscape with David Suchet of Poirot fame.

 

After Chad & Jeremy the song continued being a popular item. I could have easily posted another 21 versions of the song, but enough is enough. Wes Montgomery and his unique guitar sound did a nice job with it in 1967, Linda Ronstadt included it in her repertoire for a time. Earlier this year is was recorded by Dutch jazz sax player Susanne Alt. There are hundreds of recordings going as far back as 80 years ago this month.