Today in History: 12/28

©2005 Bill Ott

What’s in a name? How about Racin’ and Rockin’... the title of this column. We all know the word ‘Racin’ refers to drag race... right? But, let’s take the term ‘Drag Race’ itself. Ever try to figure out exactly when it was first came into being?

I did... and didn’t have much luck.

The first issue of ‘Drag’ News was printed in March of 1955... so right away, I knew it pre-dated that. Now, housed here at Fort Krag is a huge repository of old magazines, hard bound books, blueprints, diagrams, maps, and other assorted documents (legal and otherwise) used as the source for most of this ‘old B.S.’ First among those magazines (chronologically speaking) is a July 1952 issue of Hot Rod. I didn’t have to look any further than Page 6 to find the words ‘Drag Race’. And they appeared in an ad for a record no less! Gotta love that connection!

Image Courtesy Hot Rod Mag. July '52

Going back a little further... Henry Gregor Felsen’s novel "Hot Rod" (1) was first published in July 1950. On page nine, you’ll find the term ‘drag’ referring to a form of auto racing. Time to dig a little further. So next, I checked Bob Post’s expansive work "High Performance.” It starts off with an account of a match between Tom Cobbs and Fran Hernandez held at Goleta, Ca. sometime in 1949 that came to be known as "The day drag racing began" (2). That same account also states, "Other hot rodders... showed up to participate, to ‘drag it out’ with one another" (3).

So it seems possible that any or all of the terms such as ‘drag’ or ‘drag it out’ or ‘cruise the main drag’ or perhaps some other term you might recall from days past can be credited with naming ‘The Drags.’ But precisely when the term was first used... nobody bothered to note.

Not so with "Rockin"...

On this date... Dec. 28, 1947 to be exact, a relatively unknown blues singer named Wynonie Harris walked into an equally unknown recording studio in Cincinnati, Ohio, and recorded a handful of rhythm and blues songs. One of them, "Good Rockin’ Tonight" would become one of the most influential recordings ever made. Released shortly thereafter on Syd Nathan’s ‘King’ label, it instantly became one of 1948's biggest selling ‘Race Records’ (4).

Image Courtesy www.oldies.com

The success of this record led to a rush of more R & B singles using the words ‘Rockin’ or ‘Rock’ somewhere in the lyrics. Sometime in ‘51 or ’52, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed is credited with actually coining the term ‘Rock and Roll’**, but the roots of the term he used... go right back to Mr. Harris’ tune. Matter of fact, in July of 1954, Freed had moved his now famous ‘Moondog Show’ to WINS Radio in New York City. He lost a lawsuit in Dec. 1954 over the use of the name ‘Moondog’ and was forced to change the name of his on-air program. He chose to name it ‘The Rock and Roll Show.’ He even attempted to copyright the term ‘Rock and Roll’ but by then that was impossible. The die had been cast long time ago.

Now, as is usual here... the weird part.

Although I can’t seem to pinpoint the place in time that drag racing got its name, I have been able to find the exact date that Rock and Roll did. And with just a little digging, I found out exactly when drag racing got its official start. But even after an hour or so of intensive scrutiny, I haven’t a clue as to when Rock and Roll actually came to life. Looks like I’ll be closing out yet another year on a clueless note.

But to quote Mr. Post once again... "seeking to denominate ‘firsts’ is not a terribly profitable exercise" (5). Same goes for the treadmill out on the front porch.

More old B.S. later.
Badco

Forward advise, rebuttals, and death threats to...
badco@elp.rr.com

(1) HOT ROD by Henry Gregor Felsen (pg 9), E.P. Dutton & Co. July 1950.

This is the first book I can recall reading cover to cover. I still have it.

(2) HIGH PERFORMANCE by Robert C. Post (pg. 3), Johns Hopkins University Press 1994

(3) HIGH PERFORMANCE by Robert C. Post (pg. 2), Johns Hopkins University Press 1994

(4) wwwbillboard.com/history In 1948, a retail chart was introduced with the name "Best Selling Retail Race Records"... and in late June 1949 changed the rankings to "Best Selling Rhythm & Blues Records.”

(5) HIGH PERFORMANCE by Robert C. Post (pg. 4), John Hopkins University Press 1994

** Found this quote somewhere on the Web... but damn... I can’t remember where.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

THANKS BUD