Hot Rod Rock

This million-seller was recorded in 1963 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record was produced by Beach Boy Bruce Johnston along with Terry Melcher (son of actress Doris Day), and both Johnston and Melcher sang on the song.  “Hey Little Cobra” was written in honor of the sports car, the Ford/Shelby AC Cobra. Designed by racing driver and entrepreneur Carroll Shelby, the Shelby Cobra combined the clean lines of a British roadster with an American V8 engine. The Rip Chords, from Inglewood, California, originally were the duo of Phil Stewart and Ernie Bringas.

Here are the lyrics to “Hey Little Cobra” by The Rip Chords:

“Hey, Little Cobra, don’t you know
You’re gonna shut ’em down

I took my Cobra down to the track,
Hitched to the back of my Cadillac,

Everyone was there just a waiting for me
There were plenty of Stingrays and XKEs,

Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring little Cobra with all your might

Hey, little Cobra, don’t you know
You are going to shut them down

When the flag went down, you could hear rubber burn,
The Stingray had me going into the turn

I hung a big shift, and I got into high,
When I when I flew by the Stingray, I waved bye bye.

Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring little Cobra with all your might

Hey, little Cobra, don’t you know
You are going to shut ’em down

Around the turn into the straight away
I was blowing off everything that got in my way,

Stingrays and Jags were so far behind
I took my Cobra out of gear and let it coast to the line.

Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring little Cobra with all your might

Hey, little Cobra, don’t you know
You are going to shut ’em down

Shut’em down, shut’em down, shut’em down…”

For car songs in a playlist: “Golden Oldies Car Songs Playlist.”

For More Golden Oldies Music                                

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop music, rock and roll hits, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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