After yesterday’s post about the generic motor car, today, we turn our attention to songs that specifically reference the manufacturer of the car by name.
“Brand New Cadillac” (also recorded as “Cadillac”) is a 1959 song by Vince Taylor, and was originally released as a B-side. While not successful in the UK, it got a huge surge in popularity in continental Europe, especially the Nordic countries, with acts such as The Renegades and Hep Stars bringing it to number one in Finland and Sweden respectively. Another Swedish act, the Shamrocks brought the song to number one in France.
From a Buick 6” is a song by Bob Dylan from his album Highway 61 Revisited, which was also released as a single on the B-side of “Positively 4th Street”. It was recorded in July, 1965. The song is a raucous blues song played recklessly by a band that included Al Kooper on organ and Mike Bloomfield on guitar. The guitar part is patterned after older blues riffs by Robert Johnson and Charlie Patton. The song is partially based on Sleepy John Estes 1930 song “Milk Cow Blues”, even taking a few lyrics from the older song.
“Mustang Sally” is a R&B song written and first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It was released on the Blue Rock label (4014) in May 1965 with “Sir Mack Rice” as the artist. The song uses an AAB layout with a 24-bar structure. It gained greater popularity when Wilson Pickett covered it the following year on a single, a version that was also released on the 1966 album, The Wicked Pickett. Also in 1966, John Lee Hooker recorded an entirely different song with a similar title — “Mustang Sally & GTO.
“Mercedes Benz” is an a cappella song written by the American singer Janis Joplin with Bob Neuwirth, and the poet Michael McClure. The song was originally recorded by Joplin and is considered to be a rejection of consumerism. The song was recorded in one take during a recording session in October 1970. These were the last tracks Joplin ever recorded as she died three days later. The song appeared on the album Pearl, released in 1971. The song title, as listed on that album, contains no hyphen although the actual automobile brand name is hyphenated as Mercedes-Benz. In 2003, Joplin’s recording was remixed, adding a beat and a background melody. The remixed version was included on collections of Joplin’s greatest hits.
“Grey Cortina” is Tom Robinson’s sax-filled ode to the vehicle fantasies about a fast, reliable ride with racing trim, fur-lined seats and Bruce Springsteen on the stereo. In Tom’s eyes, there’s no one more stylish than the guy driving a grey Cortina. Pleasingly, he considers style alongside substance, referencing a lack of parking tickets and how the car “never seems to show its age”.
“From A Vauxhall Velox” is a 1985 song in which Billy Bragg shines a spotlight on the less glamorous side of driving. Set to twanging guitar, the first line goes: “She said, ‘Do these seats fold down?’, and I said, ‘If you pull that handle.'” In the second verse, the Essex bard admits he and the object of his affections pass like ships in the night, like “cars in a contraflow system”. He’s actually singing about traffic. Of course, this being Billy, the everyday is wrapped in something far deeper, in this case ruminations on those who want love and want it now.
“Camaro” is an ode to the Chevrolet muscle car features on Kings of Leon’s 2007 album Because Of The Times and finds singer Caleb Followill pulling up alongside someone who “looks so cool in her new Camaro”. Once he’s finished admiring its paintjob, he makes eyes “through sharp sunglasses” before quickly removing his “great” shades to “make her look me in the eye”. While it sounds like he’d be safer focussing on the road, this song revs and purrs in similar fashion to a Camaro itself, which is probably the whole point.
“’92 Subaru” is a recording from the guys who recorded a song in praise of a friend’s attractive mother (2003’s Stacy’s Mom), comes this faintly silly tale of souping up a boxy Subaru. Every inch the pop-punk geek, Fountains of Wayne singer Chris Collingwood buys it from “a couple o’ ladies way upstate” and removes a Greenpeace sticker before setting about a total refurb. Faux-leather seats go in, as does a lime green plasma television. Cousin Gary’s even fixing the transmission. Collingwood sounds so pleased with his new wheels by the end that you almost believe it’s a true story. Perhaps it is?
