Charles "Charlie" Ryan was an American singer and songwriter, best known for co-writing and first recording the rockabilly

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...

 hit single "Hot Rod Lincoln

Hot Rod Lincoln

"Hot Rod Lincoln" was recorded in 1955, as an answer song to "Hot Rod Race", a 1951 hit for Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys. Hot Rod Race tells the story of a late-model Ford and Mercury who end up racing along the highway, neither driver gaining an advantage, and staying "neck and neck"...

".

Biography

Ryan grew up in Polson, Montana

Polson, Montana

Polson is a city in Lake County, Montana, United States, on the southern shore of Flathead Lake. It is also on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The population was 4,041 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lake County...

 and moved to Spokane in 1943. He served in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. After the war, he worked as a musician and songwriter, touring with artists such as Jim Reeves

Jim Reeves

James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...

 and Johnny Horton

Johnny Horton

John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...

. In 1955, he and W. S. Stevenson wrote "Hot Rod Lincoln", and Ryan recorded the first version of the song (as "Charlie Ryan and the Livingston Brothers"). Ryan released a remake in 1959 as "Charlie Ryan and The Timberline Riders"; the song was later covered by Johnny Bond

Johnny Bond

Cyrus Whitfield Bond , known professionally as Johnny Bond, was a popular American country music entertainer of the 1940s through the 1960s.-Biography:...

 (1960) and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen is an American country rock band founded in 1967. Core members included founder George Frayne, John Tichy, Billy C. Farlow, Bill Kirchen, Andy Stein, Paul "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow, Lance Dickerson, and Bobby Black....

 (1972), among others.

Albums

Year	Album	Label
1961	Hot Rod Lincoln	King
1963	Hot Rod Lincoln Drags Again!	Hilltop

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...	US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
1960	"Hot Rod Lincoln Hot Rod Lincoln "Hot Rod Lincoln" was recorded in 1955, as an answer song to "Hot Rod Race", a 1951 hit for Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys. Hot Rod Race tells the story of a late-model Ford and Mercury who end up racing along the highway, neither driver gaining an advantage, and staying "neck and neck"... "	14	33	Hot Rod Lincoln
	"Side Car Cycle"	—	84

External links

• Obituary, Los Angeles Times
  Los Angeles Times
  The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
  
  , February 22, 2008
• Charlie Ryan official website