This morning’s selection is another cookie-cutter California car song, “Hey, Little Cobra,” by The Rip Chords. 

The Rip Chords consisted of founding members Ernie Bringas and Phil Stewart, with future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston and boy producer Terry Melcher added to the duo. It’s been said that all the voice parts dubbed on “Hey, Little Cobra” are Melcher’s, along with the easily recognizable lead vocal.

Melcher, who was only 21 when he produced this song, went on to produce the Byrds and the Beach Boys on many of their biggest hits. However, to this day he remains better known as the son of movie star Doris Day, and as the former occupant of the house on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon where Sharon Tate and four others were murdered by the Manson family. Melcher died in 2004 after a long battle with melanoma.

Backing musicians for the session responsible for “Hey, Little Cobra” included Glen Campbell on guitar, Leon Russell on piano, Earl Palmer on drums, and other studio musicians who, collectively, would come to be known as the LA Wrecking Crew. However, on this track there’s not a lot going on except a drum kit and layers of vocal schmaltz. The video clip below features a still-image montage that’s worth a look.

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