Chevy Van - Sammy Johns (1975) 3/19/23

In 1973, the sexual revolution was well underway in America, and after a period of teeth gnashing and overthinking, US radio stations had started to play some of the more risque' music being released.

Today's "Great Song is a prime example.

"Chevy Van" by Sammy Johns was pretty blatant: Man in van picks up hitchhiking girl. They have sex. He drops her off. They never see each other again.

Scandalous? It depends on your age group. There's a good chance that those of a certain age who are reading this can relate, if not personally, then by association.

It helped that the song was catchy and told the story well.

Sammy Johns was a prolific songwriter who, for the most part, wrote country songs for stars like Waylon Jennings and Conway Twitty.

In this case, he kept the song for himself, and it was the right move.

It started as an album cut, but after holding it back for more than a year by a rightfully skittish record company, (GRC), the song was finally released as a single in 1975 and immediately climbed into the Top 10 in both the US (#5) and Canada (#7).

I guess that sort of thing was happening up north as well.

Sammy became a one-hit wonder, AND he was also credited for the national increase in van sales that followed in 1976! (True story!)

"Chevy Van" by Sammy Johns: a "Great Song of 1975!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ceX3-yW4c