The Little Old Lady from Pasadena

Infobox Single
Name = The Little Old Lady from Pasadena


Cover size =
Caption =
Artist = Jan and Dean
from Album =
A-side =
B-side =
Released = June 8, 1964
Format = 7"
Recorded =
Genre = Pop
Length = 3:01
Label = Liberty Records
Writer = Don Altfeld, Jan Berry, Roger Christian
Producer = Jan Berry
Certification =
Chart position = * #3 (USA Hot 100)
Last single =
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Misc ="The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" is a song written by Don Altfeld, Jan Berry and Roger Christian, and recorded by 1960s American pop singers, Jan and Dean. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964. Jan and Dean were known for their music of the 1960s surf era with songs like "Dead Man's Curve" and "Surf City".

Premise of the song

"The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" was an imaginary icon of the period based on the local folklore premise that Pasadena, California was a city with one of the largest death rates in the nation. Many elderly couples retired to Pasadena in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s as refugees from the Dust Bowl, refugees of the Great Depression, refugees of post-World War II. After a time the husband died, and the widow was left with the home. But in the garage would be the man’s car, that in most cases, she didn’t drive — an old Buick Roadmaster, or a 50-some-odd Cadillac, a vintage Ford, an old Packard, Studebaker, De Soto, La Salle. Used car salesmen were often spoofed as saying the previous owner was "a little old lady from Pasadena who only drove it to church on Sundays," thus suggesting the car had been only gently used.

From this premise Jan and Dean sang a song dedicated to that little old lady from Pasadena who, in the case of this tune, has a hot "Super Stock Dodge" a 1964 Dodge Polara or Dodge 330 in her garage. These vehicles had low production number "Max Wedge" (Maximum Performance Wedge Engine) lightweight race specials built in 1964 for drag racing. These are highly collectible today. The twist: unlike the usual story, this little old lady not only drives the hot car, but is a street racer who can't be beat.

Notes

*The little old lady on the album cover was portrayed by Kathryn Minner who starred in one of the largest Dodge commercial campaigns of the sixties with her famous tag line: “Put a Dodge in your garage, honey!”
*The song was later revised on an episode of "Animaniacs" where Slappy Squirrel was the little old lady driving around Pasadena in a Dodge Viper.