# RIP Bill Fries, aka 'C.W. McCall' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 3, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197 "2022-04-03T19:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **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:** [April 3, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/1 "2022-04-03T19:18:58Z")
> **[Bill Fries, who had No. 1 hit as C.W. McCall with ‘Convoy,’ dies at 93](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/01/country-music-performer-cw-mccall-dies/)** > > He was an advertising executive whose spoken-word songs about truck driving and CB radio became unlikely hits in the 1970s. It seems I just looked him up a few weeks ago to see if he was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/2 "2022-04-03T19:24:40Z")
I have a couple of his CDs. Great talent, even if not the best singing voice. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/3 "2022-04-03T19:28:51Z")
That’s a 10-4, good buddy. Be sure to keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your … tail. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/4 "2022-04-03T20:44:26Z")
I can’t believe that C W McCall was made up for an ad campaign, yet he went on to have multiple songs & did was successful as his character ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/5 "2022-04-03T20:54:24Z")
When I first heard “Black Bear Road” on the radio I had no way to record it except on audio cassette. I put a mike up to the radio and waited until it came on. Saved the tape for my dad to hear, since he loved driving in the mountains.I did not expect how hard my dad would laugh, he LOVED it, and the joke was partly on me, as I didn’t know that the road in question was real, and that dad had been on it. Even had a picture of my mom standing beside the sign. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/6 "2022-04-03T20:55:35Z")
We played “Convoy” for one of my younger coworkers back in 2016. She had never heard of the song and couldn’t believe someone based a movie off it. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/7 "2022-04-03T21:15:42Z")
Let it forever be remembered that he crashed the gate, doing 98. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/8 "2022-04-03T22:12:01Z")
The first album I ever got was by CW McCall. My dad gave it to me because it was on 8-track, and I had an old 8-track player in my bedroom. I mostly liked Convoy, but Black Bear Road and Oregon Trail were also favorites. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/9 "2022-04-03T22:13:33Z")
Before “Convoy,” he had a tune we played on a Top 40 station I worked for in Kentucky: “The Old Home Filler-up and Keep On-a Truckin’ Cafe.” It’s a great song, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. At the time, we heard he was an ad man and the song was originally a jingle he wrote for a client. I still have the promo 45 rpm record. [Old Home Filler up, Keep on Truckin’ Cafe. -CW McCall- - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4881UGQLOc) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/10 "2022-04-03T22:37:54Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > Let it forever be remembered that he crashed the gate, doing 98. Haha, here’s another 98 for you, the wiki page for the song says it is rated number 98 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time. > **[Convoy (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_(song))** > > "Convoy" is a 1975 novelty song performed by C. W. McCall (a character co-created and voiced by Bill Fries, along with Chip Davis) that became a number-one song on both the country and pop charts in the US and is listed 98th among Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time. Written by McCall and Chip Davis, the song spent six weeks at number one on the country charts and one week at number one on the pop charts. The song went to number one in Canada as well, hitting the The... ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/11 "2022-04-03T22:42:10Z")
Convoy was a fun song! Rest In Peace there, Rubber Duck. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/12 "2022-04-03T22:43:37Z")
we gone bye-bye. Farewell Mr. Fries. Just listened to it again. One of those songs I never get tired of. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/13 "2022-04-04T00:14:38Z")
Another article with background, etc., in New York Times: > **[Bill Fries, Singer Known for 1970s Trucking Ballad ‘Convoy,’ Dies at 93](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/arts/music/cw-mccall-dead.html)** > > Mr. Fries, who performed under the stage name C.W. McCall, was an ad executive before he scored a hit with “Convoy,” a CB radio-inspired ode to renegade truckers. He also did “Crispy Critters”, a cute redneck song poking fun at people who don’t look and act just like him and his friends. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WQ_8tpOvzDE/maxresdefault.jpg "Crispy Critters") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ_8tpOvzDE) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/14 "2022-04-04T00:18:22Z")
“Convoy” was the first 45 I ever bought, and I played it so much that it wound up pretty badly worn. I still have it, in my 45 collection, in storage somewhere in the house. When I grew up, and started working in advertising, I was amused to learn that McCall/Fries was an ad guy. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/15 "2022-04-04T02:19:13Z")
I’ve been a McCall fan since the first time I heard “Convoy” back in 1975. I had all his albums on vinyl and listened to them on my crappy record player until they wore out, and when CDs came out I replaced them all. My parents and I also wore out an 8-track of “truckin’ songs” (a lot of McCall, along with other novelty and country songs about trucking) on our cross-country motorhome trip in 1976. I still have all those CDs, and I still listen to them. Just last week I was playing one of his albums in my car (though on Amazon music now, not a CD). My favorite semi-obscure McCall songs are “Green River,” “There Won’t Be No Country Music,” “Comin’ Back for More,” and “Ghost Town” (which is really quite beautiful, IMO). ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/16 "2022-04-04T05:28:22Z")
RIP Rubber Duckie. You understood the zeitgeist of your times, tapped into it, and made the most of it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/17 "2022-04-04T09:48:26Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > Before “Convoy,” he had a tune we played on a Top 40 station I worked for in Kentucky: “The Old Home Filler-up and Keep On-a Truckin’ Cafe.” That’s where he got his start. He had a radio ad agency and – with somewhat different wording – that was for one of his clients. ---
**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:** [April 4, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/18 "2022-04-04T13:55:59Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > “Green River,” “There Won’t Be No Country Music,”… and “Ghost Town” I liked those too. Was Ghost Town the one that started out ‘The dance hall is silent and empty’? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/19 "2022-04-04T13:58:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I liked those too. Was Ghost Town the one that started out ‘The dance hall is silent and empty’? Yep, that’s the one! Very haunting. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197/20 "2022-04-04T15:29:07Z")
Here’s the video of his first [Old Home Keep On Truckin’ Cafe](https://youtu.be/F9OCgem4a_k) commercials. They were so popular that they made a whole series of them; I think he marries “Mavis” at the end. You couldn’t avoid seeing them on local TV stations in the upper Midwest (where they sold Old Home bread). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-bill-fries-aka-c-w-mccall/962197.md?page=2)