Hot Rod Lincoln
{{Short description|Song performed by Charlie Ryan}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Hot Rod Lincoln
| cover = Charley Ryan and the Livingston Bros. - Hot Rod Lincoln cover.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Label of the original 1955 single
| type = single
| artist = Charlie Ryan and the Livingston Bros.
| album =
| B-side = Hank Williams Goodbye
| released = 1955
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Rock and roll, rockabilly
| length = 2:57
| label = Souvenir (SOUV-101)
| writer = Charlie Ryan
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Hot Rod Lincoln
| cover = Hot_Rod_Lincoln_-_Commander_Cody_and_His_Lost_Planet_Airmen.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| type = single
| artist = Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
| album = Lost in the Ozone
| B-side = My Home in My Hand
| released = March 1972
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Rockabilly, rock and roll
| length = 2:40
| label = Paramount
| writer = Charlie Ryan
| producer =
| prev_title = Lost in the Ozone
| prev_year = 1971
| next_title = Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
| next_year = 1972
}}
"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 "Grapevine Hill" which soon becomes a hot rod race that ends with serious consequences.
Song details
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 is thrown into jail, where the narrator calls his father to bail him out, and describes the exasperation of his father: "He said, 'Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin' / If you don't quit (or "Stop") 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/souv101|title=Charley Ryan And The Livingston Bros. - Hot Rod Lincoln|access-date=29 April 2021|website=45cat.com}} A second version was released in 1959 through Four Star Records, credited to Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders.{{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/1733x45|title=Charlie Ryan And The Timberline Riders - Hot Rod Lincoln|access-date=29 April 2021|website=45cat.com}} 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|date=March 2015}} 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.{{Cite news|last=Johnson|first=David|date=June 27, 2003|title=That hot rod Lincoln|language=en|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune|url=https://lmtribune.com/a_and_e/that-hot-rod-lincoln/article_30ca8687-372b-5e16-954d-27c9b2252071.html|access-date=2020-12-11}} 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 to Tejon Pass, near the town of Gorman, California) to fit it within the narrative of "Hot Rod Race".{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
Johnny Bond version
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|date=March 2015}}, among other changes. It reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1960.{{cite book |last1=Whitburn |first1=Joel |title=Top pop singles, 1955-2002 |date=2003 |publisher=Record research, Inc |isbn=0-89820-155-1 |page=69}} Bond released a sequel in the same year called "X-15", set in 1997, about an air race in an X-15 plane.{{Cite web|url=http://www.rocky-52.net/chanteursb/bond_j.htm|title=Johnny Bond|website=Rocky-52.net|access-date=29 April 2021}}
Commander Cody version
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,{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.7717&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.7717.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.7717|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1972-06-03 |access-date=2021-04-12}} and was ranked No. 69 on the U.S. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972.{{Cite web |url=http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1972.htm |title=Top 100 Hits of 1972/Top 100 Songs of 1972 |access-date=2016-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427223218/http://musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1972.htm |archive-date=2017-04-27 |url-status=dead }} The song peaked at number 45 in Australia.{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=18}} This version maintained most of the lyrical changes from Johnny Bond's version but changed them further while maintaining the original story.
Chart history
=Weekly charts=
;Charlie Ryan
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (1960)
!Peak |
|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - {{ISBN|0-89820-089-X}}
| style="text-align:center;"|33 |
| U.S. Billboard Country
| style="text-align:center;"|14 |
;Johnny Bond
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (1960)
!Peak |
|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|26 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19600910.html|title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 10, 1960|website=Cashboxmagazine.com|access-date=29 April 2021}}
|align="center"|25 |
;Commander Cody
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1972)
!Peak |
|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)
| style="text-align:center;"|45 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles
| style="text-align:center;"|7 |
| New Zealand (Listener){{Cite web|url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search+listener&qsongid=3714#n_view_location|title=flavour of new zealand - search listener|website=Flavourofnz.co.nz|access-date=29 April 2021}}
| style="text-align:center;"|15 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|9 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |author-link= Joel Whitburn |year= 1993 |title= Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 |publisher= Record Research |page=56}}
| style="text-align:center;"|28 |
| U.S. Billboard Country
| style="text-align:center;"|51 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web|url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19720527.html|title=Cash Box Top 100 5/27/72|website=Cashboxmagazine.com|access-date=29 April 2021}}
|align="center"|7 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable" |
| Chart (1972)
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank |
|---|
| Canada
| style="text-align:center;"|34 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1972.htm|title=Top 100 Hits of 1972/Top 100 Songs of 1972|website=Musicoutfitters.com|access-date=29 April 2021}}
| style="text-align:center;"|69 |
{{col-end}}
Other versions
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:
- Asleep at the Wheel, on Western Standard Time (1988); this version reached no. 65 on Billboard
' s Hot Country Songs{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944–2012|publisher=Record Research, Inc|page=28|year=2013|isbn=978-0-89820-203-8}} - All, on Allroy's Revenge (1989){{cite web |last=Ankeny |first=Jason |title=Allroy's Revenge |website=Allmusic |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/allroys-revenge-mw0000200345 |access-date=2015-03-10}}
- Jim Varney, on The Beverly Hillbillies soundtrack (1993){{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-beverly-hillbillies-mw0000102656|title=The Beverly Hillbillies - Original Soundtrack {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=2016-07-12}}
- Roger Miller, on A Man Like Me: The Early Years of Roger Miller (2006){{Cite web|url=http://www.bear-family.com/miller-roger-a-man-like-me-the-early-years.html|title=Bear Family Records}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.rockabillyhall.com/HotRodLncln1.html Rockabilly Hall of Fame] — Documents the history of the song through dozens of covers, including lyrics.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121116095630/http://www.hot-rod-lincoln.com/ www.hot-rod-lincoln.com] — The official site of Charlie Ryan
- {{YouTube|868DSi85odQ|Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Hot Rod Lincoln}}
{{Asleep at the Wheel}}
{{Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Asleep at the Wheel songs
Category:Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen songs
Category:Lincoln Motor Company