Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen--Hot Rod Lincoln (1972)

     Commander Cody is the brainchild of George Frayne who put the group together in 1967. Hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan, the group moved to San Francisco over the course of a couple of years. This path was similar to the group Asleep at the Wheel, (who moved from West Virginia to San Fran) and who's sound is similar. Whereas however, "the Wheel" has cultivated a more purist approach to western swing, both groups have more than a passing link to the music of Bob Wills and Earnest Tubb.
      After signing with Paramount Records, they released "Hot Rod Lincoln" in 1972. The song's life began in 1955 as an answer song to a 1951 hit called, "Hod Rod Race". The writers, Charlie Ryan and W.S. Stevenson had the song recorded several times, with the most popular version being done by Johnny Bond in 1960. Cody took elements of Bond's altered version along with the original to make their hit, which reached number 9 in early 1972.
     The group had several other hits in the early 70's, mostly with covers of late 1940's/early 1950's songs. Although they stopped charting after 1977, the group now known as The Commander Cody Band, continues to record and tour.  http://www.commandercody.com/thecover.cfm