Charles Ryan, 92, Had Hit With ‘Hot Rod Lincoln’
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Charles Ryan, who co-wrote the hit song “Hot Rod Lincoln,” has run his last road race.
Ryan died Saturday in his hometown of Spokane, Wash., at age 92. Ryan and W.S. Stevenson wrote “Hot Rod Lincoln” and Ryan first recorded it in 1955. It has been recorded many times since.
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen made it a hit in 1972, and it has been a mainstay of popular culture for decades. The song passed the 1 million-play mark in the summer of 2000, according to Broadcast Music Inc. Ryan was born in Graceville, Minn. In 1915, and served in the Army in World War II. He worked as a musician and songwriter, touring with Jim Reeves, Johnny Horton and others.
The song was inspired by Ryan’s commutes in his 1941 Lincoln from Spokane to play gigs at the Paradise Club in Lewiston, Idaho. The song concluded with the rueful line, “Son, you’re gonna drive me to drinkin’ if you don’t stop drivin’ that Hot Rod Lincoln!”
