ARKIE SHIBLEY
Arkie Shibley (born Jesse Lee Shibley; 21 September 1914 in Van Buren, Arkansas – September 1975 in Van Buren, Arkansas) was a country singer who recorded the original version of “Hot Rod Race” in 1950. The record was important because “it introduced automobile racing into popular music and underscored the car’s relevance to American culture, particularly youth culture”. Shibley had relocated from Arkansas – hence the nickname “Arkie” – and, around 1948, began hosting a regular country music show on radio station KBRG in Bremerton, Washington. Although the writing credit for “Hot Rod Race” is given to George Wilson, this may be Shibley’s pseudonym. (More from Wikipedia)
The opening verse in “Hot Rod Lincoln” makes it sound as though there was even more to the story: “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.” And actually there was – “Hot Rod Lincoln” is an answer to a song dating from the year of my birth: “Hot Rod Race”, a Western swing hit song from 1951 by Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys.
(December 2014)
