Car song

Car song
Stylistic origins	1900s: Popular music, dance, ragtime, march 1950s: Blues, doo-wop, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, soul, traditional pop 1960s: Rock, surf
Cultural origins	Earliest forms emerged in the 1900s, United States Fully developed in early 1950s, United States Peak popularity achieved as "hot rod rock", in early 1960s, California, United States

1900s: Popular music, dance, ragtime, march

A car song is a song in a style with lyrics or musical themes pertaining to car travel. Though the earliest forms appeared in the 1900s, car songs emerged in full during the 1950s as part of rock and roll and car culture, but achieved their peak popularity in the West Coast of the United States during the 1960s with the emergence of hot rod rock as an outgrowth of the surf music scene. Though this popularity declined by the late 1960s, cars remain a frequently used subject matter in pop music into the 21st century.

In the turn of the twentieth century, the recent invention of the automobile began to appear within popular music. Many of the earliest pieces had no lyrics, instead attempting to musically emulate the sounds of the automobile, such as "The Motor Car" (1903) and "The Auto Race" (1904). Dance, ragtime, and march compositions began emerging that, though wordless, were musically inspired by the automobile. Eventually, some of these songs took on words, such as Henry Krull's "Automobile Races". In 1905, Gus Edwards premiered the song "In My Merry Oldsmobile", a tune which Kenneth T. Jackson calls "the best-known car song ever written about the automobile."

The car song began to emerge in full in the burgeoning rock and roll scene in the early 1950s. Jackie Brenston had a hit with "Rocket 88", attributed to Ike Turner, praising the Oldsmobile Rocket 88.Chuck Berry had a song entitled "Jaguar and Thunderbird". As the song was released in 1960, the Jaguar in question would most likely be the XK line while the Thunderbird could be any model made prior to the "Bullet Bird" of the early sixties. Although the Johnny Mercer song "Skylark" was actually released in 1942, it became the inspiration for the Buick Skylark that debuted in 1953. Many 1950s songs could serve as soundtracks to play in one's car when approaching a drive-in restaurant or meeting someone. "Walk Don't Run" by The Ventures, "Rumble" by Link Wray, or "Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny could all serve a slow entrance, "Let's Go for a Ride" by The Collegians, "You Can't Catch Me" by Chuck Berry, or "Rebel-'Rouser" by Duane Eddy worked for a more speedy approach, and "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry worked for all situations. Many groups emerged that took their names from car brands: The Impalas, The El Dorados, The Belaires, The Cadillacs, The Fleetwoods, The Starfires, The Continentals, The Bonnevilles, The Rivieras, Little Anthony and the Imperials, among numerous others.

...
Wikipedia