William Dale Fries Jr. was a commercial artist who won several Clio Awards for his advertising campaigns. He was also a musician and is best known for his character C. W. McCall, a truck-driving country singer that he originally created for a series of bread commercials. Fries performed as McCall in a series of outlaw albums and songs in the 1970s, in collaboration with co-worker Chip Davis who also founded Mannheim Steamroller.
"Convoy" is a 1975 novelty song performed by C. W. McCall 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 top of the RPM Top Singles Chart on January 24, 1976. "Convoy" also peaked at number two in the UK. The song capitalized on the fad for citizens band (CB) radio. The song was the inspiration for the 1978 Sam Peckinpah film Convoy, for which McCall rerecorded the song to fit the film's storyline.
Wolf Creek Pass is the debut album by country musician C. W. McCall, released in 1975 on MGM Records. It was recorded after the success of a song included in the album, "Old Home Filler-up an' Keep on a-Truckin' Cafe", which was used in a popular television commercial that helped make McCall famous. McCall himself was the pseudonym of Bill Fries and was convened by Fries along with Chip Davis of Mannheim Steamroller fame. The album concentrated predominantly on themes related to trucking, with many of them based on events in Fries' life. The album also contained the eponymous song "Wolf Creek Pass", which helped popularize the actual mountain pass itself. The actual "Old Home Filler-up an' Keep on a-Truckin' Cafe" was located in Pisgah, Iowa.
Wilderness is an album by country musician C. W. McCall, a pseudonym of singer and advertising executive Bill Fries, released on Polydor Records in 1976. As its title suggests, it focuses on subjects connected with nature, the environment and humans' impact on them. "There Won't Be No Country Music ", for example, is a statement on the environment's bleak-looking future and the effects of over-commercialization bordering on propaganda. "Crispy Critters", on the other hand, is the humorous telling of a true tale involving a group of hippies riding into a town and being forced away and threatened by the mayor.
Rubber Duck is an album by country musician C. W. McCall, released on Polydor Records in 1976. It is his fourth album, released the same year as Wilderness, but concentrating on the themes the McCall character was popular for – trucking, as opposed to the various depictions of nature that could be found in Wilderness. Among others, the album contains the song "'Round the World with the Rubber Duck", a sequel to McCall's earlier wildly popular hit "Convoy", with many humorous and absurd elements added. "Audubon" is a quasi-autobiographical song, while "Ratchetjaw" is a take on trucker slang, with a multitude of CB-related terminology included in the lyrics.
Roses for Mama is the fifth album by country musician C. W. McCall, released on Polydor Records in 1977. The album saw McCall singing several songs that were written by others, as opposed to his previous albums, which were written entirely by himself and Chip Davis. In fact, only three songs were written by the McCall and Davis; these are "I Don't Know ", "The Gallopin' Goose" and "Old Glory". "The Battle of New Orleans" is a cover version of Johnny Horton's popular 1959 song.
The Real McCall: An American Storyteller is an album by country musician C. W. McCall, released on American Gramaphone in 1990 and rereleased in 1999. It features revamped digital versions of some of McCall's better known songs, including "Convoy", "Wolf Creek Pass" and "Black Bear Road", rerecorded by the artist for the album. It contains more songs than any other release by the artist, with sixteen tracks in total. It features songs from most of McCall's albums, the exceptions being his later works, C. W. McCall & Co. and Roses for Mama. One new track, "Comin' Back for More", telling the story of the infamous American cannibal Alferd Packer, was recorded for the album and serves as its opener. Songwriting on the album is credited to lyricist Bill Fries and composer Chip Davis, who together have created nearly all original songs by McCall throughout the history of the character.
American Spirit is an album released on American Gramaphone in 2003 as a collaboration between Mannheim Steamroller and country musician C. W. McCall. The album focuses on American patriotic songs, hence the title. McCall contributed to a number of spoken word songs on the album and rerecorded his 1976 hit song "Convoy" for it; this was also the case with another song of his, "Wolf Creek Pass," which can be found on the album. McCall is a persona created by Bill Fries and Manheim Steamroller leader Chip Davis; Fries provides the vocals as McCall. This was the last album to feature C. W. McCall.
C. W. McCall's Greatest Hits, as the title suggests, is a greatest hits compilation of country musician C. W. McCall's work, released in 1983 on Polydor Records, rereleased on September 21, 1993 and containing songs from the first five out of his six albums of original music, including the ever-popular "Convoy" and its sequel, "'Round the World with the Rubber Duck".
The Best of C. W. McCall is a greatest hits album released by country musician C. W. McCall on the PSM label in 1997. As with all "best of" releases from McCall, the album contains the wildly popular song "Convoy", as well as eleven others. The cover is almost identical to that of McCall's second album, Black Bear Road.
The Legendary C. W. McCall is a greatest hits album released on audio cassette only by country musician C. W. McCall in 1991, on the PolyGram label. It does not contain any songs that cannot be found on the most well-known "best of" releases from McCall, The Best of C. W. McCall and C. W. McCall's Greatest Hits. Several errors were made in the track listing; for instance, "Black Bear Road" was listed as "Black Beer Road", while "Crispy Critters" was given the title "Crispy Critter".
Blue Kentucky Girl is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Emmylou Harris, released in 1979. The album features Harris delving into more traditional country than the country-rock sound of her previous releases. Songs include work by Willie Nelson and Gram Parsons. Rodney Crowell's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" featured harmonies by Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt, and came out of the women's ill-fated 1978 recording sessions, where they first attempted to record a "trio" album.
C. W. McCall & Co. is country musician C. W. McCall's sixth and last album of original songs, released on Polydor Records in 1979, before McCall announced his retirement from the music industry. Out of the ten tracks, only one was written as a collaboration between McCall and Chip Davis, Fries's songwriting partner, while one other, "Silver Cloud Breakdown", was composed by Davis several years earlier and was featured in the movie Convoy, though it was not present on its soundtrack.
WWII is a duet album by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
Southern Fried is a studio album by American country singer-songwriter Bill Anderson and his band "The Po' Folks". It was released in 1983 on Southern Tracks Records. It was co-produced by Anderson and Mike Johnson. The album marked Anderson's first release on an independent record label after previously recording for MCA Records for many years. The album produced four singles released between 1982 and 1983, all of which charted on the Billboard country songs survey.
Maria Muldaur is the 1973 debut studio album of musician Maria Muldaur. The album includes "Midnight at the Oasis", her best-known single, which charted at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Three Dollar Bill", which charted at #7 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. The album, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, was certified gold by the RIAA on May 13, 1974.
Farewell Andromeda is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter John Denver, released in June 1973. The LP made Billboard's Top 20, reaching No. 16, with three singles subsequently released: "I'd Rather Be a Cowboy" [#62 POP, #25 AC], "Farewell Andromeda" [#89 POP, No. 20 AC] and "Please, Daddy" [#69 POP, No. 69 C&W].
The Oak Ridge Boys Have Arrived is the third country studio album by The Oak Ridge Boys, released in 1979.
A Legend in My Time is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Ronnie Milsap, released in 1975. Two singles were released from the album, including the Don Gibson penned "(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time," which reached No. 1 on country charts and Al Dexter's "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry", which peaked at #6.
The Way I Feel is a studio album by American country singer-songwriter Bill Anderson. It was released on June 14, 2005, on TWI Records and the Varèse Sarabande label. The project was produced by Anderson himself, along with three additional producers. The album was Anderson's 40th studio recording in his music career and contained ten self-penned tracks. Included among the album's material was the song "Whiskey Lullaby", which was first a hit for Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss.
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