C.W. McCall was an outlaw country singer known for his 1976 hit song “Convoy.”
- Died: April 1, 2022 (Who else died on April 1?)
- Details of death: Died in Colorado of cancer at the age of 93.
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Surprising musical career
Born Billie “Bill” Fries,” McCall didn’t set out to be a hit musician. He was working in the advertising industry in the 1970s when he stumbled upon his recording career. He created an ad campaign for the Metz Baking Company, advertising their Old Home Bread. As part of the campaign, Fries created the character C.W. McCall, a trucker who stopped at the Old Home Filler-up an’ Keep on a-Truckin’ Cafe in Pisgah, Iowa. The ad campaign was wildly popular; Fries won a Clio Award for it, and he and a jingle writer at his ad agency began writing songs to support it. This led to the creation of the 1976 song “Convoy,” sung by Fries as McCall and rocketing to the top of the country and pop music charts. Hitting at the peak of a craze for CB radio, the song was such a hit that it spawned the 1978 movie “Convoy.” Fries recorded other singles as McCall, including “Round the World with the Rubber Duck” and “Roses for Mama.”
Politician
Fries recorded a number of albums as his alter-ego, largely retiring from the music industry in the early 1980s. In later years, he was elected mayor of the small mountain town of Ouray, Colorado. He served from 1986 to 1992.
On writing “Convoy”
“The truckers were forming things called convoys and they were talking to each other on CB radios. They had a wonderful jargon. Chip and I bought ourselves a CB radio and went out to hear them talk. We said ‘why don’t we write a song about a fictitious convoy that stretches clear across the country, breaks all the rules and exceeds the newly imposed speed limit. I said, ‘Chip, it’s got to sound kind of militaristic and rebellious in tone.’ We completed the project and we put it on the album and sent it off to MGM.” —from a 2011 interview for the Bigfoot Diaries
Tributes to C.W. McCall
Full obituary: Omaha World-Herald
