Gene Vincent’s voice and slap back echo go together perfectly. Every rock artist after Gene Vincent has went after that sound.
Cliff Gallup played some great guitar on this recording. He recorded 35 tracks with Vincent including Be-Bop-A-Lula. Gallup was ranked 79th by Rolling Stone magazine’s David Fricke in his list of 100 Greatest Guitarists. He ended up influencing many guitarists including Eric Clapton, Brian Setzer, and Jeff Beck.
This song was released in 1956 and it peaked at #96 in the Hot 100 and #28 in the UK.
He continued to record and tour and remained popular in Britain, where in 1960 he reinjured his leg in the automobile accident in which fellow rockabilly singer Eddie Cochran was killed. Elvis Presley was influenced by Vincent, and bands such as The Beatles played with Vincent in Hamburg in the early sixties.
…but forget who influenced who and enjoy the song.
Race With The Devil
Well I’ve led an evil life, so they say
But I’ll hide from the devil on judgement day, I said
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move hot-rod, move me on down the the line, oh yeah
Well me and the devil, at a stop light
He started rollin’, I was out of sight, I said
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move hot-rod, move me on down the the line, oh yeah
Well, goin’ pretty fast, looked behind
A-hear come the the devil doin’ ninety-nine, I said
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move hot-rod, move me on down the the line, oh yeah
Well thought I was smart, the race was won
A-hear come the devil doin’ a-hundred and one
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move hot-rod, move me on down the the line
Well, goin’ pretty fast, looked behind
A-hear come the the devil doin’ ninety-nine, I said
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move hot-rod, move me on down the the line, oh yeah!
Well I’ve led an evil life, so they say
But I’ll hide from the devil on judgement day, I said
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move, hot-rod, move man
Move hot-rod, move me on down the the line
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 
Nice music and cute lyrics.
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This is the singer from that era that I completely forget about until I hear him and then I first think it’s someone else. He was super gifted, but something about his name or persona never sticks with me.
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I love that echo on his voice to his songs…Whenever I think of him I think of Eddie Cochran…
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probably is under-rated compared to many of his contemporaries back then. This song is new to me but I could almost imagine Elvis covering it.
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Like I said in the post…it as that great echo on his voice…Springsteen used that with Glory Days…he had a great natural voice and a killer band.
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Absolutely. The music stands on its own regardless of who was influenced by it. I love Gene Vincent. Thanks for mentioning Cliff Gallop. He was an amazing guitarist and should be ranked higher on The Rolling Stone list.
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Thanks Pam…he gets lost in the shuffle of 50s artists. His small intro to Be-Bop-A-Lula gives me chills with that voice.
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https://wordpress.com/media/allthingsthriller.com I hope this works Max. In keeping with the 50s era guitar heroes here’s one you may not be familiar with. It’s recorded under the pseudonym Icky Renult. You know the artist, but you may not have heard him as a guitar virtuoso.
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I love it…it swings heavily! Love the guitar in it but I have no clue who it is.
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It’s Ike Turner. Icky Renrut. The recordings are Ho Ho and Prancin. He recorded them in 1954, 2 years before Chuck Berry recorded Roll Over Beethoven. He and Berry competed against each other in Kansas City, I believe so who knows who actually wrote the riff. Turner played completely by ear. He was a fantastic guitarist.
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Thank you Pam…I would have NEVER guessed that! I knew he played guitar but not that good.
He was fantastic and had a great natural rhythm. Thank you I’ll have to remember this one.
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You’re welcome. The most amazing thing is that he had only been playing 2 years when he made these recordings. He was a great keyboardist, he learned to play piano when he was a teenager–again by ear. He mastered the guitar very easily. Too bad he was such an asshole. He was one of the innovators and creators of rock. He was the first to use the whammy bar to get that wild reverb that Hendrix perfected.
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Oh I was going to say…a great musician but a terrible human being. As great as Tina is/was he was the force at first. I didn’t know he was this good on guitar though.
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Damn. I’m trying to send you a Mp3. I’ll figure it out
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https://allthingsthriller.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/icky-renultmp3.mp3 Okay, maybe this will do it.
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I like this – I barely know his stuff, as I’m not well-versed in the 1950s.
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Very talented guy! Great song.
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Great rockabilly tune! Vincent’s singing really is reminiscent of Elvis. And that guitar player, Cliff Gallup, really aced it!
The only Gene Vincent tune I remember off the top of my head is “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” which I love as well!
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Oh that one is classic…I’m liking a lot of his other stuff. That echo on that voice goes together perfectly
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The echo is definitely neat. I should check him out more closely!
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Don’t really know him at all but I can see how he was influential on a lot of folks that came afterwards. And that guitar player is something else!
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Yea man…hard to beat those rockabilly guys…those guitarists were great.
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Do you know when I heard of Gene Vincent? It was through a Stray Cats song (at least I think it was). When they name dropped him, I had to check him out (of course back then it was hard as we didn’t have streaming.
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I always liked the Stray Cats…and still can’t believe they hit that big in the 80s…against all logic….but I’m happy they did and like you they brought attention to 50s acts.
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Nice blog!
Do visit to my blog and follow it if you like.
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That is awesome…two masters…thank you!
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You know how I feel about this stuff. Heard it a thousand times and it still sounds great! Cliff is killer.
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Yes he is…I went on a tangent about Cliff more than Vincent but thats alright in this song.
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Gene was my focus at first then Cliff started taking it.
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Oh…I’ll be around tonight…I watched The Missouri Breaks
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Talking about Strother. Missouri has a bunch of character actors in Jacks gang. Harry Dean, Forrest, Quaid, Ryan. Perfect mix
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Yes it does…I loved alot of the scenes… Also I was surprised to see one of my childhood crushes…Kathleen Lloyd.
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It might have been her first film. She certainly had some heavyweights to work with.
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Yes she did…I first saw her in a B horror movie I talked my mom into taking me to in 77 or 78 called The Car…I was hooked from then and ever more.
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I remember the Car. Ill have to revisit. A good drive in style flick.
I didnt pick up at first but you saw Breaks. Cool.
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