Farewell to Charlie Ryan

92 year old local song writer and hot rodder Charlie Ryan passed away. In case you don't recognize the name he wrote and origanlly recorded arguably the best car song ever, Hot Rod Lincoln, most of you are probably most familiar with the Johny Bond and Commander Cody version.

Charlie was a cool guy, member of music halls of fame in Arizona and Minnessota, Dukes auto club, toured with Johny Horton and Jim Reeves to name a few.

His smile, white stetson and Hot Rod lincoln will be missed at the local car shows.

Gone but not forgotten

Son your gona drive me to drinkin. If don't stop drivin that hot rod Linclon. I remember when that song came out. I thought it was great and sang along with the radio. A hot rod song that will long be remembered. RIP

Sad to hear that. Many of the pioneers are leaving us.

Yep, sad for sure. Hot Rod Heaven must be getting pretty full by now, lots of famous rodders passing away. Maybe Heaven if filled with rustfree '32 Fords for $ 25 each ! Sign me up.

Here is a little story I found about Charlie, it was written about 10 years ago.


Hot Rod Lincoln - The Car & The Song

The creator of Hot Rod Lincoln is Charlie Ryan. He fashioned both the car and the song.

Charlie Ryan is a musician, songwriter and a car guy. In the late 1940s, he purchased a used 1941 Lincoln Zephyr four-door sedan. After a couple of years, he decided to make a hot rod out of it. He removed the Zephyr body, cut two feet off the frame to shorten the wheelbase and dropped a 1930 Ford Model A coupe body on it. At first, the car was painted black with red wheels. Charlie installed a '48 V-12 engine in it along with the 3 speed + overdrive '48 transmission. The car has a lot of Lincoln touches on it, including cut-down Zephyr bumpers, a Lincoln emblem on the radiator, an the Lincoln greyhound radiator ornament. The interior has a narrowed '41 Zephyr dashboard. At first, the car was painted black with red wheels. Later, in 1960, the car was repainted red. It was repainted again in 1986 in Datsun Z-car red. Charlie says, "The paint's the only Japanese thing on it."

While he was working on the car, Charlie was thinking about the song. By the early 1950s, he had the lyrics worked out and began performing it. Charlie Ryan recorded 'Hot Rod Lincoln' in 1955; it was released as a single by Souvenir Records in 1957. It became a major hit in many regions of the United States. While traveling to perform, Charlie and his wife Ruthie often took the Hot Rod Lincoln on tour. By 1960, it needed another engine. Charlie installed a 1939 Lincoln V-12. It's still powering the car today.

Other car songs were written before Charlie's, everything from 'My Merry Oldsmobile' (1903) to Jackie Brentson's 'Rocket 88' (1951 - and, with Ike Turner on keyboard, it's considered by many to be the very first rock n' roll song). But 'Hot Rod Lincoln' was the first car song to become a major hit and make the Billboard top ten list.

'Hot Rod Lincoln' has been performed by many artists - Johnny Bond had a regional hit with the song in 1959; Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen covered it in 1972. In the 80s, Asleep At The Wheel did a very nice version. In 1995, Jim Varney (Ernest) recorded a cover which was used in 'The Beverly Hillbillies' movie.

Today, at 83 years old, Charlie Ryan is semi-retired - but he still occasionally performs the song. At the Lincoln & Continental Owners Club's 1994 National Meet in Silverdale Washington, Charlie brought the car and gave a live performance of 'Hot Rod Lincoln' - to the cheers of a room filled with over 300 Lincoln enthusiasts. Charlie and Ruthie (married 62 years) have been awarded lifetime memberships in our Club.

They spend their summers at their Spokane, Washington home - their winters are spent relaxing in Arizona. And, after all these years, they still have the car.

We hope that Charlie will never "quit drivin' that - Hot ... Rod ... Lincoln!"

Don

I never knew the car started out as a zephyer.....Thanks don..

wounder where the Lincoln is gona go ?

Hot rod Lincoln!

In high school I drove a white '57 Lincoln Premier 2 door hardtop, white & red leather interior, 390 motor! Lots of my friends drove '57 Chevys. They could take me from a stand still but we also use to race 100 stomp & they never stood a chance!!! ; - >
Needless to say... Hot Rod Lincoln was my theme song!!!

BoB

That song has such vivid lyrics, you know the guy knew what he was writing about.

Bonehead said:

That song has such vivid lyrics, you know the guy knew what he was writing about.

Click to expand...

He sure did.



My pappy said, "Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot Rod Lincoln"

Have you heard this story of the Hot Rod Race
When Fords and Lincolns was settin' the pace?
That story is true, I'm here to say
I was drivin' that Model A

It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up
That Model A Vitimix makes it look like a pup
It's got eight cylinders, uses them all
It's got overdrive, just won't stall

With a four-barrel carb and a dual exhaust
And four-eleven gears you can really get lost
It's got safety tubes, but I ain't scared
The brakes are good, tires fair

Pulled out of San Pedro late one night
The moon and the stars was shinin' bright
We was drivin' up Grapevine Hill
Passing cars like they was standing still

All of a sudden in a wink of an eye
A Cadillac sedan passed us by
I said, "Boys, that's a mark for me!"
By then the tail light was all you could see

Now the fellas was ribbin' me for bein' behind
So I thought I'd make the Lincoln unwind
Took my foot off the gas and man alive
I shoved it on down into overdrive

Wound it up to a hundred and ten
My speedometer said that I hit top end
My foot was glued like lead to the floor
That's all there is and there ain't no more

Now, the boys all thought I'd lost my sense
And telephone poles looked like a picket fence
They said, "Slow down! I see spots!"
The lines on the road just look like dots

Took a corner; sideswiped a truck
Crossed my fingers just for luck
My fenders was clickin' the guardrail posts
The guy beside me was white as a ghost

Smoke was comin' from out of the back
When I started to gain on that Cadillac.
Knew I could catch him, I thought I could pass
Don't you know by then we'd be low on gas?

We had flames comin' from out of the side
Feel the tension, Man! What a ride!
I said, "Look out, boys, I've got a license to fly!"
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by

Now all of a sudden she started to knockin'
And down in the dips she started to rockin'
I looked in my mirror; a red light was blinkin'
The cops was after my Hot Rod Lincoln!

They arrested me and they put me in jail
And called my pappy to throw my bail
And he said, "Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot ... Rod ... Lincoln!"