Arkie Shibley

Jesse Lee "Arkie" Shibley (born Jesse Lee Shibley, 21 September 1914 in Van Buren, Arkansas – September 1975 in Van Buren, Arkansas) was a country singer who recorded the original version of "Hot Rod Race" in 1950. The record was important because "it introduced automobile racing into popular music and underscored the car's relevance to American culture, particularly youth culture."

Shibley had relocated from Arkansas - hence the nickname "Arkie" - and, around 1948, began hosting a regular country music show on radio station KBRG in Bremerton, Washington.

Although the writing credit for "Hot Rod Race" is given to George Wilson, this may be Shibley's pseudonym. He offered the song to 4 Star Records in Los Angeles, but was turned down, and Shibley decided to release the song on his own Mountain Dew label. The record was credited to "Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys", the line-up being Shibley on rhythm guitar, Leon Kelley on lead guitar, Jackie Hayes on bass and banjo, and Phil Fregon on fiddle.

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Arkie_Shibley