# CW McCall **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236 "2010-01-16T20:47:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/1 "2010-01-16T20:47:40Z")
Last night I left Seattle later than usual, due to an early dinner engagement. I turned on [KEXP](http://www.kexp.org), expecting to hear 'college rock, and had forgotten that they change their format at different times. What I got was Shake the Shack: [quote] Rockabilly, boogie rhythm and blues, and country western are only the beginning of this musical adventure My musical tastes are eclectic, but this sort of music only occasionally grabs my interest. I think one problem is I’d like to play blues, but my guitar skills are rudimentary and I need an extremely patient person to teach me. It makes me ache a little that I never seem to find the time to practice. Anyway, they played CW McCall’s _Four Wheel Drive_. It’s not R&B, but ‘trucker-country’. (You never know what they’re going to play.) This got me thinking about McCall’s other songs. I liked _Convoy_ (the song) when I was a kid, and I eventually bought one of McCall’s records. It had _Convoy_ and _Four Wheel Drive_ on it, as well as _Wolf Creek Pass_ and _Old Home Filler-up an’ Keep on a-Truckin’ Café_. I think these were his most popular songs. There were a couple of others I liked; _The Silverton_, about a steam train in the Rockies, and _Ghost Town_, which was an imagination of how a ghost town was when it was alive. Even at the time, his songs were a ‘guilty pleasure’. Definitely un-hip. (I used to care about being hip) I was more into Devo and Blondie and Peter Gabriel and Nena and other New Wave and Punk bands. McCall sings his songs with an earnestness that reminds me of salt-of-the-earth types who believe in God, Guns, and America, and like nothing better than to be out in the wilderness hoping to bring home a nice buck; the kind of people who find certain things deeply profound. (You know that I’m a leftie, but I don’t mean anything by that.) When I hear his songs I can’t help but think ‘Yes, yes. Nature is good. I like it too. It’s nice that you find your lifestyle fulfilling.’ The lyrics are pure redneck comedy. I used to have a Willys Jeep, and I enjoyed bouncing around the desert in it; so I can relate a little to _Black Bear Road_. Though I lived in L.A. County, it was in an area where there were a few ‘characters’. I met a few who might try to evade the cops as in _Four Wheel Drive_ or pick up on the waitress at a truck stop as in _Old Home Filler-up an’ Keep on a-Truckin’ Café_. I’ve always liked ghost towns, and I’ve imagined towns’ heydays as in _Ghost Town_. CW McCall’s songs are pure conbread (or pure biscuits & gravy or chicken-fried steak) that, for some, define the stereotype of tucker-country music. But dammit, they’re fun. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/2 "2010-01-16T20:53:10Z")
I picked up Convoy from iTunes. > [@](#): > > Well we shot the line, an’ we went for broke > With a thousand screamin’ trucks > And eleven long-haired friends of Jesus > In a chartreusse microbus “Hey Sod Buster, listen You wanna put that microbus in behind the suicide jockey? Yeah, he’s haulin dynamite He needs all the help he can git.” Maybe I’ll check out some of his other stuff, too. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/3 "2010-01-16T21:11:35Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Maybe I’ll check out some of his other stuff, too. [Black Bear Road](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhQF5ih-tWc) [Wolf Creek Pass](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC_onLPc-0E) [Ghost Town](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtVMbqkznY) [The Silverton](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a_19VDqQgo) (video with train sounds) [The Silverton](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFb15ua-VHY) (slideshow, with just the song) [Old Home Filler-up an’ Keep on a-Truckin’ Café](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4EUrTTPnKQ) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/4 "2010-01-16T23:16:55Z")
C.W. McCall is the fictive character, created by William Dale Fries, Jr. Fries was an advertising executive who created C.W McCall for a bread advertisement. A Clio winner, the character was expanded and recorded several albums. It is interesting to note that while Fries wrote the lyrics to many of the songs, the music was provided by Chip Davis, better known as being a large part of the group “Mannheim Steamroller”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/5 "2010-01-16T23:25:33Z")
Don’t forget [Classified](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWClsaKmo5Y) and [Crispy Critters](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrmUkq0jXYA). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/6 "2010-01-16T23:47:57Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > C.W. McCall is the fictive character, created by William Dale Fries, Jr. Yes. But I thought most people wouldn’t know who I was talking about if I titled the thread ‘Bill Fries’. 😉 He was also the mayor of Ouray, CO in the '80s. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/7 "2010-01-17T04:32:28Z")
C W McCAll was created as the main character in a series of bread commercials in the midwest featuring the relationship of bread truck driver CW and a truck stop waitress named Mavis. Bill Fries was looking for a particular voice and when he demonstrated the voice to the band, they suggested that he do the voice over himself. The band doing the music for the commercial? Mannheim Steamroller. [the old home filler up and keep on trucking cafe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyOdodH9LN8&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/8 "2010-01-17T04:41:31Z")
Upon re-reading the thread, my friend ouryl had the answer before I did. I should get an extra point for the youtube link to the commercial where CW first meets Mavis… ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/9 "2010-01-17T11:21:47Z")
Let’s not forget his ode to the Colorado Cannibal, Al PAcker: [“Comin’ Back For More”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3OXqRciinw) ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/10 "2010-01-17T15:10:47Z")
We were vacationing in Ouray, Colorado one time and we decided to rent a jeep to drive some of the back trails. On the rental agreement, there was a clause forbidding the renter from driving on Black Bear Road. It made me wonder if the road was really that bad or if the CW McCall song made people want to try to drive it - or both. By the way - riding the back trails in that country, Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, is awesome. I highly recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/11 "2010-01-17T17:45:40Z")
I used to love that song when I was really young. The Local afternoon movie host in Cleveland (superhost!) had this cheesy video for that song that they woudl air periodically. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddqpPlFrcY4) Only marginally related, but obligatory link to [Battlestar Convoy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXMMQrH3Png) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cw-mccall/525236/12 "2010-01-19T18:05:54Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > We were vacationing in Ouray, Colorado one time and we decided to rent a jeep to drive some of the back trails. On the rental agreement, there was a clause forbidding the renter from driving on Black Bear Road. > > It made me wonder if the road was really that bad or if the CW McCall song made people want to try to drive it - or both. > > By the way - riding the back trails in that country, Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, is awesome. I highly recommend it. I used to take people on jeep trips in the high country of Colorado in the San Juans (the mountain range in which Ouray, Telluride and Silverton reside) and Black Bear is that bad. Our company lost more than a couple of jeeps over Black Bear.