Musically Declined: Stock Car Racing’s Entertainers of the Year, Born to Drive/A Crazy Racin’ Man


Stock Car Racing and Country Music—two pillars of culture in the Southern United States.  And the two have mingled throughout the years.  So put on your racing shoes, make sure they match your cowboy hat, and settle in for a look back at some of Nascar’s biggest stars turned Nashville wannabes!


The Songs: Born to Drive by Herb McCullough & A Crazy Racin’ Man by Jack Barlow


The Stars: Phil Parsons & Bill Elliott


The Clip: 





The Review: This is as good a time as any to point out that this album came out in 1985—you can tell by the much more polished/pop sound in the instrumentation.  Meanwhile, Phil’s song “Born to Drive” is an OK song ruined by his crummy vocals.  And why didn’t he come out with sequels “Born to Announce Trucks” and “Born to Start and Park”?  On the flip side, Bill Elliott—a guy not particularly well-known for his charisma—is pretty darn good!  I mean sure, he’s mostly talk-singing, its just 90 seconds or so long, and he mentions Elton John for some reason, but its alright.


The Verdict: Bad vocals on a decent song; good vocals on a non-song of a song.