Some Hot Rod Songs of the 1950s -- Arkie Shibley and the Mountain Dew Boys, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen

When we think of hot rod songs, we think of the 1960s and the venerable explosion of songs that occurred then, by groups like the Beach boys, Ronny and the Daytonas, the Rip Cords, etc. Yet, hot rod was the subject of songs that were written and performed by the early 1950s. The seminal lyrics of many versions that followed was that written by George Wilson and performed by Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys in 1950.

Arkie Shelby -- Hot Rod Race, '50Hot Rod Race #2, '51Hot Rod Race #3, '51Hot Rod Race #4, '51Hot Rod Race #5, '51

ARKIE SHIBLEY! Van Buren, Arkansas cattle farmer Arkie Shibley never sought fame, nor recognition and he sure didn't become wealthy but when he moved to Bremerton, Wa. in 1936 his (and our) world changed forever. Arkie self taught on guitar, helped build a State Park by day (Illahee), and played some of the most smokingest "swing country" by night. He gave us "Hot Rod Race" which others hijacked and morphed into "Hot Rod Lincoln" (should be our national athem of RockABilly), he hooked up with Leon Kelly, Phil Fregon and Jackie Hayes and an underage kid ("Docie" Dean Manuel a heck of a piano thumper) and the mix became RockABilly history as we know it. From 1948 on nobody ever put out as much songs in the RockABilly genre until others caught on around 1955. It was in Bremerton Arkie and the handsome Leon Kelly put together the standup bass, fiddle, banjo, steel guitar and piano in a way no one had quite heard before. It got them rave reviews, a top 5 hit, ripped off, no lasting fame, never much money, but, as Kelly's friend Bill Plummer once said, "We didn't much care to be famous, we were just happy to have a place to play."


“Hot Rod Race” proved to be the precursor of many future songs, including “Hot Rod Lincoln,” the best-known version of which was performed by Johnny Bond in 1960 and Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen in 1972. Initially, the song told the story of a family trip from San Pedro in a Ford that turned into a race with a Mercury. Surprisingly, at the end both the Ford and the Mercury are blown off the road by “a kid, in a hopped up Model A.” Later, the Ford and Mercury were replaced by a Cadillac and a Lincoln, but the continuity in common among the long chain of version is obvious.21