Chevrolet Sings Of Safe Driving And You (Columbia Special Products, 1965)

 

It becomes a pattern around here that I find a strange or unusual record, clean it up to post and perhaps make fun of, and then end up liking it, or realizing it's not really worthy of snarky comments.  Some of these records end up being useful (or even helpful) to people, or at the very least entertaining, and then I feel bad for skewering them.  The good news is, they've been preserved and shared.  No media should ever end up truly lost and gone forever (well, except for the film TITANIC; that needs to die).

So what we have here is a 12-inch record that contains 8 songs about driving, but the whole thing only adds up to a mere 17 minutes! This may have been purposeful, to keep the whole thing brief, as it's not exactly clear how this record was even distributed.  Schools? Driving instructors? Who knows.

Another interesting point about this record is that it came out in 1965, as "folk-rock" was becoming huge, but--from an adult perspective--what better way to reach 15 or 16 year old kids? We can laugh at McGruff the Crime Dog trying in vain to rap about crack and cocaine (and we really, really should), but the reason things like that are hilarious is that somebody is trying too hard to accomplish something that's dishonest to what they are even capable of, and it utterly fails.  The songs on this album, however, are competently written, played, and sung (one of the voices is Carly Simon, by the way).  

Now, what we can laugh at is the notion of singing about driving, which is a little bit like dancing about heart surgery.  To me, educational songs are most useful when they help you remember lists or facts and figures (Schoolhouse Rock being the most successful  example).  The songwriter here does try to pack in some useful information, but some of it ends up being spoken, which always comes across as a little awkward.  Also, we can look at the concept of this project from a junior high perspective, that of the recipient...where a stodgy, un-hip adult would hand you this LP, or maybe play it for the whole class.  If it was seen as a failed attempt to be cool, it of course would be universally ridiculed.  

So, this post is nearly longer than the actual record, BUT, the short version is:  it's really not that bad, but you may get a laugh out of it.  I should point out that there is a version on YouTube, but it's quite skippy, and I went with my own work here, which sounds much better.  Enjoy!

LINK:  Chevrolet Sings Of Safe Driving And You