Track This: Gene Vincent's "Race With The Devil"

It's been some time since I posted a "Track This," so I figured that discussing one of my favorite rockabilly songs by an underappreciated great, Gene Vincent, who does not get as much coverage as he should, would be an excellent return to form. Most of his career, he attempted to recapture his former rock and roll glory, and never completely turned country like his contemporaries Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Elsewhere on this blog, I discuss his self-titled Kama Sutra album, which should also receive more accolades.

In a perfect world, Gene Vincent's "Race With The Devil" would have been a bigger hit, but it never managed to capture the public attention like his first hit, "Be-Bop-A-Lula." I first heard The Stray Cats cover "Race With The Devil" on their underrated fourth studio album, 1986's Rock Therapy, and needed to track the original down as soon as I could. The countrified rhythms and frantic pace of the song leave the listener little time to catch their breath, as they are quickly pulled into the race between the protagonist and the devil. Gene tells us that his evil life has led him to this. Even though he has to "hide from the devil on judgment day," the devil keeps pulling him back into the race by going faster. In the end, he keeps racing again in a typical Sisyphean struggle with his bad habits. 

Musically, the song follows a typical rockabilly template with his Blue Caps bringing fire to the battle, starting with the country gallop and moving to prominent lead guitar work and tight instrumental interplay. Cliff Gallup's guitar solo certainly paved the way for many rockabilly guitar heroes to come later. The solos in this song break the rhythm to reinforce the high stakes of the race, and Vincent commands his band before each section. Imagine listening to it and watching the frenzied high stakes race that might never end. Jack Neal on bass, Dickie Harrell on drums, and Gene on rhythm guitar keep the rhythm going, and the guitars continually respond to his vocal pleas. While Vincent's other early songs stay true to this spirit, his second single for Capitol Records cannot be beat for sheer energy. 

Track This is a recurring feature of Snobbin' that turns the music appreciation dial up and rips it off of your stereo. It introduces a new track, allows readers to rediscover an underappreciated one, and serves as a forum to discuss a song that falls into the ear candy category and should be listened to unabashedly for years to come.

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