C.W. McCall

[doubleclutchinweasel]

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/country-trucker-titan-c-w-mccall-bill-fries-passes-away/

Ride easy, C.W.

[mowerman]

Oooooooooooo hell I hadn’t heard very interesting artist hard to believe hardnose trucking tunes to Roses for Mama hard for me to listen to that one thanks for letting us know… bob

[h67st]

Back in the 70's when "Convoy" came out I must have run the needle thru more than one copy of it! A real talented guy.

[mowerman]

I just started driving when that song came out first CB radio

[doubleclutchinweasel]

My favorite was "Wolf Creek Pass".

"...and that chromium-plated, fully-illuminated, genuine accessory shift knob came right off in his hand.  I said, 'You wanna screw that thing back on, Earl?'..."

[Hayseed]

4 minutes ago, doubleclutchinweasel said:

My favorite was "Wolf Creek Pass".

Mine Too..

[mowerman]

isnt that the tune where they clean off top layer of chickens under a low bridge,,,,,thats just hilarious i laugh  my ass off every time i hear that line...bob

[67RModel]

For some reason I always thought C.W. McCall was an alias or stage name of Chip Davis. I realize now that Chip Davis composed all his songs. Early in his career, Chip was working for and advertisement agency in Omaha, Nebraska writing jingles. C.W. McCall was a fictitious character for Metz's Bakery in the Omaha area. The ads featuring C.W. got so popular there Chip had the idea to compose songs featuring C.W. McCall for the radio and record label.......the rest they say is history. C.W. McCall's real name is William Dale Fries Jr.

[doubleclutchinweasel]

9 minutes ago, 67RModel said:

For some reason I always thought C.W. McCall was an alias or stage name of Chip Davis. I realize now that Chip Davis composed all his songs. Early in his career, Chip was working for and advertisement agency in Omaha, Nebraska writing jingles. C.W. McCall was a fictitious character for Metz's Bakery in the Omaha area. The ads featuring C.W. got so popular there Chip had the idea to compose songs featuring C.W. McCall for the radio and record label.......the rest they say is history. C.W. McCall's real name is William Dale Fries Jr.

You are all over that, '67!  And I believe his real name was pronounced like "Frees" instead of "Frys".  Great write-up.

[doubleclutchinweasel]

22 minutes ago, mowerman said:

isnt that the tune where they clean off top layer of chickens under a low bridge,,,,,thats just hilarious i laugh  my ass off every time i hear that line...bob

Yip.  That's the one.

Me an' Earl was haulin' chickens
On a flatbed out of Wiggins
And we'd spent all night on the uphill side
Of 37 miles of hell
Called Wolf Creek Pass
Which is up on the Great Divide

We was settin' there suckin' toothpicks
An' drinkin' Nehis and onion soup mix
And I says, "Earl, let's mail a card to mother
And then send them chickens on down to the other side
Yeah, let's give 'em a ride"

Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide
Truckin' on down the other side

Well, Earl put down his bottle
Mashed his foot down on the throttle
And then a couple'a boobs
With a thousand cubes
In a 1948 Peterbilt screamed to life
We woke up the chickens

We roared up offa that shoulder
Sprayin' pine cones, rocks, and boulders
And put four hundred head
Of them Rhode Island Reds
And a couple a' burnt-out roosters on the line
Look out below
'Cause here we go

Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide
Truckin' on down the other side

Well, we commenced a-truckin'
And them hens commenced a-cluckin'
And then Earl took out a match
And scratched his pants
And lit up the unused half of a dollar cigar and took a puff
Says "My, ain't this pretty up here"
I says, "Earl, this hill can spill us
You better slow down or you gonna kill us
Just make one mistake
And it's the pearly gates
For them 85 crates
Of USDA-approved cluckers
You wanna hit second?"

Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide
Truckin' on down the other side

Well, Earl grabbed on the shifter
And he stabbed her into fifth gear
And then the chromium plated
Fully illuminated
Genuine accessory shift knob
Come right off in his hand
I says, "You wanna screw that thing back on, Earl?"
He was tryin' to thread it on there
When the fire fell off a' his cigar
And dropped on down
Sorta rolled around
And then lit in the cuff of Earl's pants
And burned a hole in his sock
Yeah, sorta set him right on fire

I looked on outta the window
And I started countin' phone poles
Goin' by at the rate of four to the seventh power
Well I put two and two together
And added 12 and carried five
And come up with 22 thousand
Telephone poles an hour

I looked at Earl and his eyes was wide
His lip was curled, and his leg was fried
And his hand was froze to the wheel
Like a tongue to a sled in the middle of a blizzard
I says, Earl, "I'm not the type to complain
But the time has come for me to explain
That if you don't apply some brake real soon
They're gonna have to pick us up
With a stick and a spoon"

Well, Earl reared back
And cocked his leg
Stepped down as hard as he could on the brake
And the pedal went clear to the floor
And stayed right there on the floor
And he says it was sorta like steppin' on a plum

Well, from there on down
It just wasn't real pretty
It was hairpin county
And switchback city
One of 'em looked like a can full'a worms
Another one looked like malaria germs
Right in the middle of the whole damn show
Was a real nice tunnel
Now wouldn't you know
Sign says clearance to the 12-foot line
But the chickens was stacked to 13-nine
Well we shot that tunnel at a hundred-and-ten
Like gas through a funnel and eggs through a hen
We took that top row of chickens off
Slicker than scum off a Louisiana swamp

Went down and around and around and down
We run outta ground at the edge of town
Bashed into the side of a feed store
In downtown Pagosa Springs

Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide
Truckin' on down the other side
Wolf Creek Pass, way up on the Great Divide
Truckin' on down the other side

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Davis / Fries

[mowerman]

Lol thanks for that that was the next thing I was going to ask  about the head on the cigar falling off yes that’s the one excellent driving tune…  if I recall he also did a novelty tune about an old pick up truck for sale … bob

Edited April 12, 2022 by mowerman
Misspelled

[mowerman]

37 miles of uphill that’s what it seems like when you got to 237 and 40,000 pounds… bob

[doubleclutchinweasel]

1 hour ago, mowerman said:

Lol thanks for that that was the next thing I was going to ask  about the head on the cigar falling off yes that’s the one excellent driving tune…  if I recall he also did a novelty tune about an old pick up truck for sale … bob

I remember listening to that song when I was young.  And it seemed like, when it was over, you were worn out!  Felt like you went on the ride with him.  Painted a great picture with his words.

They flat wore the "Convoy" song out!  It was crazy how often that was on the air.

Between "CW McCall" and "Cledus Maggard & the Citizen's Band", they sold more CB radios for the manufacturers than all the advertising they ever paid for.  And, of course, there was Red Sovine.

I was watching a rerun of an "Archer" episode ("Midnight Ron") where Archer and Ron ran into a group of cross-dressing truckers.  He referred to one of them as "CW McCallgirl".  Made me laugh..an obvious tip of the hat to The Man.

[doubleclutchinweasel]

Another of my favorites was the Willis Brothers' "Give me Forty Acres".

[mowerman]

Classified lol it sounded like the record was running at 78 instead of 45 

[doubleclutchinweasel]

6 minutes ago, mowerman said:

Classified lol it sounded like the record was running at 78 instead of 45 

That's a long story, Harold!

[Brocky]

5 hours ago, doubleclutchinweasel said:

Another of my favorites was the Willis Brothers' "Give me Forty Acres".

I always said that was my wife's theme song when we were running team together.. When that "R" position on the shift knob was required I would hear "Brocky help!!"  And is is also from Georgia!!

[70mackMB]

9 hours ago, doubleclutchinweasel said:

C.W. McCall was a fictitious character for Metz's Bakery in the Omaha area. 

l saw recently that W. D. Fries wrote a jingle for "(Old) Home Town Bread". Which became the song "The old home fill'er up and keep on trucking cafe"    .....Hippy

[Hayseed]

1 hour ago, 70mackMB said:

l saw recently that W. D. Fries wrote a jingle for "(Old) Home Town Bread". Which became the song "The old home fill'er up and keep on trucking cafe"    .....Hippy

He also did the Voice over for the Ads too.

 

 

[mowerman]

Woooooooooow!!!!’ Those were badass ads ….Coolest commercials I’ve ever seen in my life both rigs were amazing thanks for posting I am still shaking ha ha sure I don’t see anything like that anymore…. Bob

[mowerman]

I wonder if you guys remember the old Hendries ice cream ad it also featured  an R model Mack with a tanker guy also had a dog with him long long time ago …. Bob

Edited April 13, 2022 by mowerman
Misspelled

[70mackMB]

21 hours ago, Hayseed said:

He also did the Voice over for the Ads too.

This is the song l was taking about......     .....Hippy

 

[mowerman]

On 4/12/2022 at 7:29 PM, mowerman said:

I wonder if you guys remember the old Hendries ice cream ad it also featured  an R model Mack with a tanker guy also had a dog with him long long time ago …. Bob

I just tried to find it on google search nothing popped up….. reminded me because the actor that drove the tanker was a guest on gunsmoke I just watched maybe someone else can find it … hendries ice cream ad around 1970-71.possibly a little later. good luck bob