The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 842

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Number 842 - C W McCall

Number 842

C W McCall

"Convoy"

(1975)
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Genre:Country

This is about as American as you can get, apple pie and CB radio.

Yeah, breaker one nine, This here's the Rubber Duck, You got a copy on me Pig Pen, c'mon

"Essentially a character created by advertising executive William Fries, C.W. McCall was the instrumental figure behind the truck-driving craze that swept America in the mid-'70s. Fries was born November 15, 1928, in Audubon, IA, and while he displayed musical promise as a child, he was more interested in graphic design. While attending the University of Iowa, Fries studied music and played in the school's concert band, but his major was in fine arts, and after graduation he began handling the art chores at an Omaha, NE, television station. After five years there, he was hosting his own program, on which he drew caricatures of celebrities."

Uh, yeah, Ten-Four Pig Pen, fer sure, fer sure, By golly it's clean clear to Flag Town, c'mon, Yeah, its a big Ten-Four there Pig PenYeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddyMercy sakes alive, looks like we've got us a................ convoy

"In 1975, McCall released the album Black Bear Road; the single "Convoy" hit number one on both the pop and country charts, and a national craze was born. The song proved so successful that it influenced the famed filmmaker Sam Peckinpah to direct the 1978 film Convoy, starring Kris Kristofferson. By the time of the film's release, however, McCall's career was largely over. He released two more LPs, 1975's Wolf Creek Pass and 1977's Roses for Mama, which did spawn a major hit in its title track. But shortly after the latter album's release, McCall turned his back on the music industry to focus on the burgeoning environmental movement and moved to the small town of Ouray, CO, of which he was elected mayor in 1982. An attempt at a comeback in 1990 proved unsuccessful."