From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
CARS AND MUSIC: The advent of the motorcar and the personal freedom it brought about coincided with the glory days of Tin-Pan Alley, so it was hardly surprising that songwriters - particularly in America - became obsessed with writing about the motorcar in their musc.
Its believed that some 750 songs were published in the first 20 years of motoring with the car as their central theme, and while today's pop music has turned to other themes, a handful of these early songs have lingered on. Of course, when car manufacturers realised the popularity of motoring songs they turned to commissioning them to be written as publicity pieces. Thus such songs as Hurray for Henry That Builds The Famous Ford, My Merry Oldsmobile, Ray and his Little Chevrolet and other equally forgettable titles.
There were all sorts of motoring themes incorporated into these songs, from the passing of the horse, Whoa Dobbin (yes, honestly!), to 'road' songs such as Down the Dixie Highway. Breakdowns were a constant theme and one that has survived is Bobby North's He'd have to get Under, Get out and Get Under , which still crops up regularly as a comic number in revues.
Romance accounted for a very large number of these songs as the romantic possibilities of the car inspired many songwriters. Down the road of life we'll fly, auto-mo-bubbling you and I was just one apparently serious example while Ray and His Little Chevrolet told a tale about Ray who was unable to attract members of the opposite sex, until that is, yes, you've guessed it, Ray bought a Chevrolet, which proved to be the answer to all his problems.
Current or prospective Chevrolet owners should be aware that this is an advertising claim which is unlikely to be substantiated!
Even here in Ireland we were not immune from the motor song. The great Percy French enjoyed considerable success with his song Jim Wheelehan's Automobile which was popular at the time of the Irish Gordon Bennett Race in 1903 and made reference to Selwyn F Edge, winner of the 1902 Race and leader of the British team in the Irish race. French also wrote a long humorous poem called Hiawatha's Automobile in which he displayed some acute insights into the pluses and minuses of car ownership.
Not surprisingly, given their enormous popularity and role in putting America on wheels, Ford cars crop up in songs more than any other marque. At least 100 songs mention Ford's 'Lizzie' in their title, and the Model T heads all car music charts for popularity. The Little Ford Rambled Right Along and The Love Song of the Packard and the Ford are just two examples from a huge variety of improbable titles to illustrate this point, while On the Old Back Seat of the Henry Ford could be taken as a social comment on the times.
Today's motoring does not seem to inspire the same rush to words and music, but then somehow Theme for a Honda Civic'or I lost my Heart to a Ford Fiesta doesn't seem to have quite the same appeal as these songs had in the teenage years of the motor car during the 1910s and '20s.