“Hot Rod Lincoln” The Story Behind The Song
“Son, you’re gonna drive me to drinkin’ if you don’t stop drivin’ that Hot Rod Lincoln!”
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were a county-rock group who got together while attending U of M in 1967. Commander Cody is the lead singer and piano player, George Frayne IV. “Hot Rod Lincoln” was their biggest hit. The band’s name came about from 1950’s film serials featuring the character Commando Cody (yes, Commando lol) and from a feature version of an earlier serial, King of the Rocket Men, released under the title Lost Planet Airmen. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were known for their marathon live shows.
“Hot Rod Lincoln” was actually (wait for it) A COVER. Originally written by Charlie Ryan, it was first recorded and released by Charlie Ryan and The Livingston Brothers in 1955. Here’s the original song:
“Hot Rod Lincoln” Is The Second Part of a Story
It tells the second half of a story started by the song “Hot Rod Race,” (1951 by Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys). “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.” This song tells of a race between a Lincoln and a Cadillac on the Grapevine grade in California. The race was real, but the actual location was on the Lewiston grade in Idaho.
Charlie Ryan, The Author, Was A Bad-Ass
Was there really a “hot-rod Lincoln?” Yes and no. It was a rebuilt car with the body of a Model “A” coupe set into the frame of a 1941 Lincoln. To boot, it had a “hopped-up” Lincoln engine block. At the time Ryan wrote “Hot Rod Lincoln,” he built a second car. This beauty was a chop-shop melding of a 1930 Model “A” Ford coupe and a wrecked 1948 Lincoln. He took his second Model “A” on tour. Charlie was born in 1915 and served in World War II. #badass @toldya
How Michigan Honors Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
“Hot Rod Lincoln” was voted a Legendary Michigan Song in 2008. Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2009. Eventually, George Fayne (AKA Commander Cody) returned to U of M to teach. Frayne was also a visual artist. He received a bachelor’s in design from the University of Michigan in 1966 and a master’s in Sculpture and Painting from the Rackham School of Graduate Studies of the University of Michigan in 1968. His art was exhibited at numerous shows around the country.
Read the story behind the Grateful Dead’s “Casey Jones,” when you CLICK HERE. SPOILER ALERT: Casey was likely NOT high on cocaine.