Charles Ryan penned hit ‘Hot Rod Lincoln’

Published 11:27 pm Tuesday, February 19, 2008

SPOKANE — Charles Ryan, the Spokane man who co-wrote the hit song “Hot Rod Lincoln,” died Saturday at age 92 after a long battle with heart disease.

Ryan and W.S. Stevenson wrote “Hot Rod Lincoln,” and Ryan first recorded it in 1955. It has been recorded many times since.

Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen made it a hit in 1972, and it has been a mainstay of popular culture for decades. The song passed the 1 million-play mark in the summer of 2000, according to Broadcast Music Inc.

Ryan was born in Graceville, Minn., on Dec. 19, 1915, grew up in Polson, Mont., and moved to Spokane in 1943. He served in the Army in World War II.

He worked as a musician and songwriter, touring with Jim Reeves, Johnny Horton and others. He married Ruth Scheffler of Polson in 1943 and they had three children.

The song was inspired by Ryan’s commutes in his 1941 Lincoln from Spokane to play gigs at a club in Lewiston, Idaho.

A memorial service was set for Friday at Hazen &Jaeger Funeral Home in Spokane.