Car Songs… Part 4

This is part 4 of this series and I thought it was about time to do another installment. I found some more rare songs this time except for Mr. Berry. 

Kinks – Cadillac

I think all of these I do must have Cadillac in at least one song. This one was on their debut album and it was written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1960. The Kinks debut album Kinks was released in 1964. 

 Gene Vincent – Pink Thunderbird

This song was written by Tex Davis and Paul Peek. It was released by Gene Vincent in 1957. Gene Vincent’s voice and slap back echo go together perfectly. Every rock artist after Gene Vincent has gone after that sound including Springsteen.

Cliff Gallup played some great guitar on this recording. He recorded 35 tracks with Vincent including Be-Bop-A-Lula. 

Chuck Berry – Maybellene

Chuck Berry was THE first guitar hero in Rock and Roll. He was also rock’s first poet. This song evolved out of “Ida Red,” a hillbilly song by Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys from the early ’50s. Berry heard that song on the Country radio station KMOX in St. Louis but didn’t know who recorded it.

Not only is the music great with the steady beat… but those lyrics. The motor cooled down the heat went down, And that’s when I heard that highway sound, the Cadillac a-sittin’ like a ton of lead, a hundred and ten half a mile ahead, the Cadillac lookin’ like it’s sittin’ still, and I caught Mabellene at the top of the hill

You can see what is happening in the song in your head with no problem… no MTV story video needed. He was one of the best descriptive lyricist rock and roll has ever had.

 

The Three Milkshakes – Jaguar

They were a rockabilly band from the 1980s led by singer Mark Kermode, who is now well-known as a British film critic. The group specialized in vintage rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly music, covering songs in a classic ’50s style. They were part of the vibrant rockabilly revival scene in the UK during that time.

Bob Dylan – From A Buick 6

This song is from Bob Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited released in 1965. This song was the B side to the single Positively 4th Street. It’s a cool bluesy song that has those Dylan lyrics going everywhere. It resembles Sleepy John Estes’ Milk Cow Blues.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

50 thoughts on “Car Songs… Part 4”

  2. Cool list.. have you picked Hagars “Trans Am” (highway wonderland)? Dave and Randy may know the Teenage Head song “Drivin Wild” which is another car tune…
    My 2 cents haha

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    1. I never knew that one by Hagar…I almost had Neil Young’s Trans Am…
      I’ll keep those in mind Deke! I’m sure I’ll have another.

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    1. These are fun to do…well I should have kept it where all had to have that in the title…but I messed up…but when I hear that song…a Coup De Ville is what I think of.

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      2. It is really good. I found out about him while reading about Duane Allman…they were really tight and he was the last person to ever play with him.

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  10. These are all great car songs. Except for “Maybellene” and “From a Buick 6”, they are all new to me. The Kinks cover of “Cadillac” slightly dials down the Bo Diddley beat compared to the original but I still dig it. That Gene Vincent song nicely swings!

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      1. Yep, ‘No Money Down’ shows again Chucks love of cars- and their frustrations ‘No particular place to go, So we parked way out on the Kokomo / The night was young and the moon was gold, / So we both decided to take a stroll / Can you imagine the way I felt, / I couldn’t unfasten her safety belt.’ Perfection. Who needs chapters when you have Chuck’s verse?

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      2. And Bruce took up where Chuck left off with cars…a symbol of freedom is what I get out of it.
        That verse you have…yea…it doesn’t get any better obbverse.

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      4. Oh man a Citation…I remember those.
        I would LOVE to have that truck! I still have a 84 Chevy Durango we use to take out the trash…I’m keeping it.

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      6. I totally get it…I’m an IT Director so I’m on a computer all damn day….I’m either lucky or unlucky. Thanks for the conversation!

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