C. W. McCall

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"William Fries" redirects here. For the American football offensive guard, see Will Fries.
C. W. McCall
Birth name William Dale Fries Jr.
Born (1928-11-15)November 15, 1928
Audubon, Iowa, U.S.
Died Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day
Ouray, Colorado, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Years active 1944–2003
Labels MGM, Polydor, Mercury, American Gramaphone
Mayor of Ouray, Colorado
In office
1986–1992

William Dale Fries Jr. (November 15, 1928 – April 1, 2022), best known by his stage name C. W. McCall, was an American singer who wrote truck-themed outlaw country songs. He was also an activist and politician.

Biography

McCall was born on November 15, 1928 in Audubon, Iowa.[1] As a child, C. W. McCall enjoyed listening to country music.[2] He married his wife on February 15, 1952; the two remained married for 70 years until his death.[3]

In 1973, while working as a creative director for Bozell & Jacobs, an Omaha, Nebraska advertising agency, Fries created a Clio Award-winning (1974) television advertising campaign advertising Old Home Bread for the Metz Baking Company. The advertisements featured a truck driver named C. W. McCall,[1] who was played by Dallas, Texas, actor Jim Finlayson. The waitress named Mavis Davis was played by Dallas actress Jean McBride Capps. The commercial's success led to songs such as "Old Home Filler-Up an' Keep on a-Truckin' Café", "Wolf Creek Pass", and "Black Bear Road".[1] Fries wrote the lyrics and sang while Chip Davis, later of Mannheim Steamroller, wrote the music.

McCall is best known for the 1976 No. 1 hit song, "Convoy", which came at the peak of the CB radio fad in the United States.[1] It sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in December 1975.[4] Though McCall is not a one-hit wonder, "Convoy" went on to become his signature song. McCall first charted the song "Wolf Creek Pass", which reached No. 40 on the U.S. pop top 40 in 1975. At least three other songs reached the Billboard Hot 100, including "Old Home Filler-Up an' Keep on a-Truckin' Cafe", "'Round the World with the Rubber Duck" (a pirate-flavored sequel to "Convoy"), as well as the environmentally-oriented "There Won't Be No Country Music (There Won't Be No Rock 'n' Roll)".[1] A dozen McCall songs appeared on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, including the sentimental "Roses for Mama" (1977).[1]

In 1978, the movie Convoy was released, based on the C. W. McCall song.[1] The film starred Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Burt Young, and Ernest Borgnine and was directed by Sam Peckinpah.[1] It featured a new version of the song, written specially for the film.

In addition to the "original six" McCall albums released between 1975 and 1979, two rare singles exist. "Kidnap America" was a politically/socially-conscious track released in 1980 during the Iran hostage crisis, while "Pine Tar Wars" referred to an event that actually happened in a New York Yankees-Kansas City Royals baseball game during 1983 (a dispute concerning the application of a large quantity of pine tar to a baseball bat used by George Brett, one of the Royals' players).

In 1986, Fries was elected mayor of the town of Ouray, Colorado, ultimately serving for six years.[5]

The song "Convoy" is featured in Grand Theft Auto V. In 2014, Rolling Stone ranked "Convoy" No. 98 on their list of 100 Greatest Country Songs.[6]

Fries died on April 1, 2022, at age 93 from complications of cancer.[7] In an interview he conducted on February 9 while in palliative hospice care, he gave his blessing for the use of his signature song "Convoy" for the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada, with Taste of Country noting that he was "energized and enthusiastic" about the revival of interest in the song and its message.[3]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certification
(sales threshold)
US Country US AUS[8] CAN NZ
1975 Wolf Creek Pass 4 143 — — —
Black Bear Road
  • Released: September 1975
  • Label: MGM Records
 1 12 49 16 19
1976 Wilderness 9 143 — — —
Rubber Duck
  • Released: 1976
  • Label: Polydor Records
 29 — — — —
1977 Roses for Mama
  • Released: 1977
  • Label: Polydor Records
 22 — — — —
1979 C. W. McCall & Co.
  • Released: 1979
  • Label: Polydor Records
 — — — — —
1990 The Real McCall: An American Storyteller — — — — —
2003 American Spirit (with Mannheim Steamroller)
  • Released: May 20, 2003
  • Label: American Gramaphone
 — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Year Album details Peak positions
US Country
1978 C. W. McCall's Greatest Hits
  • Released: 1978
  • Label: Polydor Records
 45
1989 Four Wheel Cowboy —
1991 The Legendary C. W. McCall
  • Released: 1991
  • Label: PolyGram Records
 —
1997 The Best of C. W. McCall
  • Released: 1997
  • Label: PSM Records
 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US Country US CAN Country CAN CAN AC UK
[9]		 AUS[8] NZ AUT
1974 "Old Home Filler-Up an' Keep On-a-Truckin' Cafe" 19 54 12 44 44 — — — — Wolf Creek Pass
"Wolf Creek Pass" 12 40 46 — — — — — —
1975 "Classified" 13 101 45 — — — — — —
"Black Bear Road" 24 — 42 — — — — — — Black Bear Road
"Convoy" 1 1 4 1 13 2 1 1 19
1976 "There Won't Be No Country Music
(There Won't Be No Rock 'n' Roll)"		 19 73 8 77 37 — 77 — — Wilderness
"Crispy Critters" 32 — — — — — — — —
"Four Wheel Cowboy" 88 — — — — — — — —
"'Round the World with the Rubber Duck" 40 101 40 — — — — — — Rubber Duck
1977 "Audubon" 56 — — — — — — — —
"Roses for Mama" 2 — 5 — — — 74 — — Roses for Mama
1978 "Outlaws and Lone Star Beer" 81 — — — — — — — — C. W. McCall & Co.
1980 "Kidnap America" — — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

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Bibliography

  • Bernhardt, Jack. (1998). "C.W. McCall" in The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 333.

External links

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  5. ↑ "'McCall' Leaves Office", Rocky Mountain News, January 14, 1992. Accessed March 25, 2008
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