(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
C.W. McCall - "Convoy"
Hit Number 1: January 10, 1976
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
One of the strangest fads in American history was when everyone was obsessed with CB radios. In case anyone doesn't know what that is, CB radios are land mobile radio systems that people can use to communicate with one to several other people within a short distance. People were fascinated by these things, which is strange because, from my research, it looks like CB radios had been around since the 1940s. So, they'd been around for several years by the time 1976 rolled around. But just like fashion and hairstyles, I guess CB radios were just another one of those fads that became popular for no apparent reason. Everyone just collectively thought these things were cool at the same time. And of course, there would be a song that capitalized on this CB radio craze, and that song, also of course, would hit #1. I'm talking about "Convoy," a song to where if it weren't for the CB radio craze going on, I doubt it would even come close to #1.
The artist that brought us "Convoy" appeared to be one interesting dude. That was C.W. McCall, whose real name was William Fries Jr. He'd grown up in a music family and did some singing as a child growing up, but Fries' main job as an adult was being an advertising executive, as well as being a graphic design artist. However, he did some occasional voice-over work during his advertising campaigns, and along the way, C.W. McCall was born. The C.W. McCall name was something Fries made up while working on an advertising campaign, with McCall inspired by McCall's magazine, and the C.W. standing for country and western. This would later become his stage name. Fries never really took up singing again, but he would eventually get a recording contract with MGM for his voice-over work, and after that he began to work on his most famous album Black Bear Road. Even though Fries was a very successful advertising man, he never thought that his voice-over work would get him any kind of fame musically. Sure, he had a music background growing up, but he pretty much gave up singing entirely. As it turns out, he had a different way of becoming a successful music artist, and what's funny is that I truly do think he didn't intend on this ever happening.
One of the biggest controversies in this time was the new speed limit law that set the interstate speed to 55, which today is insane to think about. That along with the obvious play with CB radio in the song is what propelled "Convoy" to the top. "Convoy" is a song about a trucking convoy travelling across the country that starts from Los Angeles and ends in New Jersey as a sort of protest to trucking life. Along with the new speed limit, they're protesting the log sheets used to record their driving hours, cause they often show the drivers were getting the appropriate amount of sleep when in actuality they were driving more than they should have been. Fries calls them "swindle sheets." They are also protesting stopping at weigh stations. Along the way more and more trucks join this convoy, along with what Fries describes as "11 long-haired friends of Jesus," which might point to the Jesus movement of Christianity, and those guys would have been along with any protest going on. It's basically a song about rebelling against the new laws coming up, as well as everything that truckers were expected to do.
Admittedly, Fries has some pretty impressive storytelling skills that makes "Convoy" work. He calls the police "bears," and offers up a lot of trucker talk slang. He even keeps jabbing at another trucker named Pig Pen (truckers often times go by unique code names like that) who's driving a truck full of live hogs, and apparently smells terrible. Fries plays the part of a driver named Rubber Duck, and Rubber Duck is who takes us through this convoy process throughout the song. The chorus is often described as having that commercial jingle singers sound, which now knowing Fries' background in advertising, that makes a lot more sense now. But even then, Fries is who makes the song work with his storytelling skills. He sounds like that wise, old grandad reliving another part of his life, and you can't help but listen to what he has to say. When it's all said and done, I have this strange kind of satisfaction with how the song ends. The truckers crash through the toll gate, going 98 miles per hour into New Jersey which Rubber Duck follows with "Let them truckers roll 10-4." I'm not a trucker, but for those that do drive a truck for a living, I'm sure "Convoy" is a favorite of theirs. It's not a great song, but it tells a cool story. I think that has to count for something.
"Convoy" would actually leave Fries one hell of a legacy, and they made a movie based off of the song's plot just two years later. Fries would eventually get into politics later in his life, and was the mayor of Ouray, Colorado from 1986-1992. From what I'm reading about him, the guy seemed like the perfect dude to kick back and smoke a cigar with. He was married to the same woman for 70 years, and took a lot of joy in working on his military jeep. He lived a very long life, but unfortunately just died last April at the age of 93. Before he died, he granted permission for the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada to use his song, and Taste of Country stated he was "energized and enthusiastic" about his song becoming popular again. He also was able to do something that a lot of us won't be able to do: live long enough to see his great-great grandchild. The guy just flat out lived a life, and "Convoy" was a very big part of that.
GRADE: 6/10
IN POP CULTURE:
Maybe the best known cover version of "Convoy" was when Paul Brandt covered the song. Brandt along with Jason McCoy and Aaron Lines and even two Calgary Flames players are seen playing truckers in the video. Here is the video for that cover:
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