page_title: Car song
section_title: Hot rod rock
hierarchical_section_title: Car song / Hot rod rock
caption_attribution_description: English: The Beach Boys on The Ed Sullivan Show performing 'I Get Around'.Español: The Beach Boys en The Ed Sullivan Show interpretando 'I Get Around'.
context_page_description: A car song is a song in a style with lyrics or musical themes pertaining to car travel. Though the earliest forms appeared in the 1900s, car songs emerged in full during the 1950s as part of rock and roll and car culture, but achieved their peak popularity in the West Coast of the United States during the 1960s with the emergence of hot rod rock as an outgrowth of the surf music scene. Though this popularity declined by the late 1960s, cars remain a frequently used subject matter in pop music into the 21st century.
context_section_description: The muscle car craze, as well as the surge of interest in sports car racing, brought several cars referencing performance cars. The Beach Boys, already a highly successful rock band, tapped into the California cruising and drag racing culture, spearheading a short-lived rock music craze commonly referred to as "hot rod rock". Author Geoffrey Himes wrote "The music was only subtly different [from surf music]". According to The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary by Jeff Breitenstein: 
  While cars and, to a lesser degree, hot rods have been a relatively common and enduring theme in American popular music, the term hot rod music is most often associated with the unique 'California sound' music of the early to mid-1960s ... and was defined by its rich vocal harmonies, amplified (generally Fender brand) electric guitars, and youth-oriented lyrics (most often celebrating hot rods and, more broadly, surfing and 'girls'.
  From 1961 to 1965, some fifteen hundred car songs were recorded. Alongside The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Ronny and the Daytonas, and The Fantastic Baggys all rose to the forefront of the scene. As in the 1950s, many groups adopted the names of car brands, but this time with a greater emphasis on hot rods, such as The Duece Coupes, The Duals, The GTOs, The Dragsters, The Roadsters, The T-Bones, and The Roadrunners.
  Some of the most popular car songs to emerge in this era include:
  "Stick Shift" (1961) by The Duals
  "409" (1962) by The Beach Boys
  "Little Deuce Coupe" (1963) by The Beach Boys
  "Shut Down" (1963) by The Beach Boys
  "Drag City" (1963) by Jan and Dean
  "Fun, Fun, Fun" (1964) by The Beach Boys
  "I Get Around" (1964) by The Beach Boys
  "Don't Worry Baby" (1964) by The Beach Boys
  "Little Honda" (1964) by The Beach Boys, covered by The Hondells (also in 1964)
  "Custom Machine" (1963) by The Beach Boys, popularized by Bruce and Terry (1964)
  "Dead Man's Curve" (1964) by Jan and Dean
  "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" (1964) by Jan and Dean
  "The Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review and Timing Association" (1964) by Jan and Dean
  "G.T.O." (1964) by Ronny and the Daytonas
  "Bucket 'T'" (1964) by Ronny and the Daytonas
  "Three Window Coupe" (1964) by The Rip Chords
caption: The Beach Boys performing in 1964
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