Talk:Hot Rod Lincoln

Removed
These narratives below were removed from the main article. Some of it is first person and referential or original research. It's great info that needs to be re-written and incorporated. --SchmuckyTheCat 17:20, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

First person stuff removed
The information here is somewhat in error! Hot Rod Race and Hot Rod Lincoln are two different songs by two different artists! Hot Rod Race was done by and is a song about a Ford and a Mercury who race from San Pedro, California. But at the end of the song, they get passed by "...a kid in a Model A...yeah, just a hopped up Model A...". Charlie Ryan's Hot Rod Lincoln is a continuation of this story and begins with "The Ford and the Merc and the Model A, went down in history that's here to stay, well, this is the inside story and I'm here to say, I was the kid that was a-drivin' that Model A....". It is Hot Rod Lincoln that takes place on The Grapevine, not Hot Rod Race. Hot Rod Lincoln hit was a crossover country hit that showed up on the rock and roll stations in 1960. That's when I bought the 45 rpm record which I am looking at as I type. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SchmuckyTheCat (talk • contribs) 04:27, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

More removed
From Bill Wolf: For those deeply interested in the subject, I would suggest Joe Wajgel's website that is broad, deep and finely researched. What follows is a distillation of information gathered there along with my own research and knowledge

George Wilson is the author of the song "Hot Rod Race" and it was recorded by Arkie Shibley in 1950 (Mountain Dew 101 and Gilt Edge 101). It is a story of a young man, along with his wife and brother-in-law, who is cruizing in his souped-up Ford. He gets involved in a grudge race with another "Ford Man" in a Mercury. The race is indecisive--they stay "side-by-side." The ends as both are passed by "a kid in a hopped-up Model A." This song was covered by several others, including Red Foley, Tiny Hill, Bob Williams and Jimmy Dolan--the last being the best known. The Shibley version contains a line that would be considered obnoxiously politically incorrect today: "We were zippin' along like white folks might...." Accoding to Wajgel, Williams changes this to "nice folks" and Dolan's version uses "plain folks." Shibley later recorded at least five other hot rod ballads. "Hot Rod Lincoln" --written by Charlie Ryan (who later also recorded "Hot Rod Race") and W.S. Stevenson, is an "answer song" to "Hot Rod Race." It begins, "You heard the story of the hot rod race, where the Fords and Mercurys were setting the pace...I was the kid in the Model A." It was first recorded by Ryan, recording as Charlie Ryan and The Livingston Brothers, on Gotham 412 in 1955. The 1959 version, on 4 Star, as Charlie Ryan and The Timberline Riders, is probably better known. The version I remember the best--I graduated high school in 1965--was Johnny Bond's 1960 hit on Republic Records. Bond's Lincoln has eight cylinders ("and uses them all") rather than the 12 cylinders pulling Ryan's Model A. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen may be the best known version today; it was released in 1972. Cody's version is essentially true to the original--with minor changes to the original. One of these changes is of interest to knowledgable car buffs: Ryan, upon hitting top speed, has his speedometer cable "twisted...off at the end" while Cody speedometer "said [he] hit top end." This is, perhaps, a difference between analog and digital instrumentation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SchmuckyTheCat (talk • contribs) 17:19, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Broken link?
The link to http://www.hot-rod-lincoln.com isn't working. Is it permanantly dead? --198.89.160.22 21:33, 11 August 2007 (UTC)


 * No, it's alive and well today. --Wschart (talk) 04:21, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

"Picket Fence"
The picture doesn't show any telephone poles! --David R. Ingham (talk) 17:18, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

Grapevine Hill
I don't see any version of Hot Rod Race that mentions the Grapevine Hill, only San Pedro. — Preceding unsigned comment added by David R. Ingham (talk • contribs) 18:08, 21 June 2011 (UTC)


 * That's because "Hot Rod Race" actually took place in San Pedro, but Hot Rod Lincoln was about an event that occured in Idaho, with the location in the lyrics changed so as to fit with Hot Rod Race. time and space in Hot Rod Lincoln is only loosely compliant with reality...i.e., the Grapevine is not very near San Pedro, and it's on the other side of the mountains from LA Firejuggler86 (talk) 23:13, 19 April 2021 (UTC)