Posted on 10/05/2014 10:09:41 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
In 1973, the Citizens Band radio (aka the CB radio, aka a collection of short-distance radio communications) grew so popular that it attracted millions of people throughout the entire decade — not at all unlike the way social media attracts users today. This weekend, ’70s on 7 pays tribute to the fad by welcoming American country singer C.W. McCall, who is best known for his ’75 chart topper, Convoy, a hit song Rolling Stone recently included in its 100 Greatest Country Songs Of All Time list. On writing Convoy, McCall reminisced: “When we wrote the song, we went out and bought a couple of CB radios. It had all of these wonderful handles. There was Rubber Duck and there was Sidebuster… So we decided we’d have a handle. We went in the studio and I wrote down this imaginary vision of a convoy that went clear across the country.”
On life after Convoy, McCall remarked that, come 1982, he just wasn’t into how time-consuming promotional work can be. He adds jokingly, “I’m getting too old for this business… maybe Willie Nelson can do it, but not me!” McCall ended up retiring to Ouray, Colorado, where he ran for mayor, helping restore city hall. “There’s a lot of history here, and I enjoy it.”
On whether or not he still uses a CB, McCall concedes, “I don’t use a CB anymore. Everything is cell phones now, as you might know.” But Convoy’s hit status follows McCall wherever he goes. “I remember one time when I was in my motor home in the late ’70s, and it was snowing. …I got on the CB and said, ‘Breaker… how’s the weather on top of the pass?’ And they answered me, and somebody says ‘Yeah, hey, who’s this?’ I said, ‘It’s Rubber Duck.’ By the time I got on top of the pass, there were dozens of semis waiting for me. Everybody wanted me to sign their records and all of that stuff. It was amazing.”
In addition to Convoy, McCall has written countless other country songs, most notably Old Home Filler-Up an’ Keep on A-Truckin’ Cafe and Round The World With A Rubber Duck. But Convoy will always be McCall’s most recognized single. The country singer urges that not only did Convoy become a staple to the CB trend back then, but ultimately “it has become the trucker’s anthem.”
A very young Kris, great song writer!
Thanks, should have looked closer. Funny, I never
thought my ex looked at all like Kris.
Kris Kristofferson
I would but they all seem to speak another language: Russian, spanish, etc.
What about Cleadus Maggard’s White Knight & Kentucky Moon Runner? LOL. I liked McCall’s Wolf Creek Pass & Four Wheel Drive better than Convoy
White Knight by Cledus Maggard
Down 75 or 85,
Or I-20 t'other way,
Turn your squelch to the right
And in the night
You'll hear some good buddy say,
"Breaker breaker,
Got a picture taker,
All Smokeys at forty three."
It's that Japanese toy,
The trucker's joy
That everybody calls CB.
Yeah, Citizen's Band, keeps you up to date
On fender benders and Tijuana taxis,
And all them bears out there. Flip flopin.
Now ahead of your children and ahead of your wife
On the list of the ten best things in life,
Your CB's gotta rate right around number four.
'Course beavers and hot biscuits and Merle Haggard
Come one, two, three, you know.
Well I was loaded down, coming outta Lake City;
I was checkin' out seat covers, young and pretty,
When all of a sudden there come a call
Over my CB, ringin' wall to wall,
Said clove her double nickels till you hit the ridge,
'Cause there's a Smokey picture taker t'other side of the bridge.
"Oh mercy, 'ppreciate that, good buddy;
What's your handle there, come on?
You got any county mounties out there prowlin',
come on?" And he said --
"Ten four...back door,
Put the peddle to the metal and...let it roar
Hammer down...to Macon town...
Gonna see my momma...sure.
Well, the bears are gone,
Let's...bring it on...
The Georgia line's...out of sight.
Pulled outta Richmond town last Saturday night,
And my handle is...the White Knight,
How 'bout it?"
"All right, White Knight, hammer down,
You got the mean machine here."
I was a streakin'
My needle was a peakin'
A right around seventy nine.
That old diesel juice
Was a gettin' loose,
And everything was fine. But wall to wall
I got a call
Front door, big bear trapper.
Said, "Break one nine,
Good buddy of mine,
You got a Smokey in a plain white wrapper."
Well I jammed my stick,
I lost twenty quick;
You could hear them gears a tearin'.
I got passed by a beaver,
And a Camaro,
I was cruisin' alone
And going so slow
I could count every button on that frilly blouse she was wearin'.
'Course there weren't but one.
"Hey there, super trooper!
Yeah -- that's the crafty Smokey over there with a CB of his own.
Hey White Knight, let's slide one on the super trooper, come on?"
"Ten four, back door.
Put the peddle to the metal, whatcha...waitin' for?
That old flop
Can't stay in sight,
Gonna leave you here and say no more,
How 'bout it?"
"Whoa, now, buddy, that's fightin' talk,
I'd get up there and blow your doors off!"
> Well I hammered down like I had wings,
Little gravels in my wheels going ping, ping, ping.
'Bout the time I hit ninety-two,
Saw something flashing' in my rear view.
Thought to myself that can't be true,
But there it was, old blue, blue, blue.
Uh oh. Bubble gum machine done hit the jackpot.
Well I could see that bear, laughing big,
Hangin' in tight on the back of my rig.
Right there and then it came to be wall to wall.
Mm-hmm.
So in that cold dark Georgia night,
In the shadows of Smokey bear's blue light,
I 'cided to make me just one more CB call.
"Breaker one nine for the super trooper,
Hey there, Smokey old buddy, tell me if I'm right,
Are you my front door?
Are you the White Knight? Come on?"
And he said --
"Ten four, back door.
You're in a heap of trouble boy...that's for sure.
Gonna read you your rights, and treat you fair.
Pull over there,
With your...rockin' chair.
Want you boys to know each other real well,
'Cause you gonna be sharin' the same jail cell.
You make twelve cotton pickers I've caught tonight,
From the front door of that White Knight.
Hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha!!
How 'bout it?
Hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha!!
Forty miles over the speed limit!
You boys gonna be here a spell.
Hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha!!
Hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha-hhha!!"
That's it, cotton pickers, I've done been grounded;
My tail's in jail, my rig impounded.
Called the boss up in Big A Town
Said you got in there you can get out clown
So when you're comin' through the Georgia night,
Don't ever get no front door called the White Knight.
No sir. Wind up in the pokey with Smokey.
I'm gonna pull that old CB thing out by the wires.
I don't care if it is....
Years ago I had a multi band radio that had Ch 1-23, I believe, as part of it to go along with the AM, FM, etc.
My dad and my sister had H.E.L.P., a G.E. CB radio with an antenna you could put on your car’s roof, etc.
In Stephen King’s The Stand, the members of the Boulder Free Zone and others used CB to communicate. It was written in the late 70s.
My handle was “White Shadow”. I drove a white 78 Ford pick-up back in 1986.
That was 1977’s “C.B. Savage” by Rod Hart.
LOL those were the days!
My husband still has the old tin trash can at his mom’s home of all the trucker codes for CB when it was all the rage. It helped that his grandpa had been a trucker.
I live about 20 miles north of back in the 1970's of what was called by truckers "Malfunction Junction" LOL. I/75/I/40 spilt.
I believe you are thinking of “CB Savage”, although I can’t remember the singer.
Actually, that was by Red Simpson. Dudley did do several other trucking songs, including "Truck Drivin' Son Of A Gun."
IMHO, nothing beats "Six Days on the Road," however.
I used to love flying down the road talking on the CB. What a gas. We had a Jeep CJ5 with one of those 6 ft whip antennas. LOL!
My favorite song of his was “Wolf Creek Pass” makes me laugh every time I hear it....
Wow, I thought for all these years he was talking to “Big Ben” not “Pig Pen”.
Thanks for the info. I used to have a Radio Shack Cassette that had a bunch of good ones on it.
Go to YOUTUBE and see if CW McCall's song Four Wheel Drive is there. If you had a Jeep the songs funny. I'd look for you but I'm on dial up service.
"I had a CJ5 with four wheel drive and Smokey on my tail.. Yea he was.." LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.