C. W. McCall

C. W. McCall (born 15 November 1928 Audubon, Iowa; actually William Dale Fries, Jr.) is an American country music singer. He is best known for his number - one hit Convoy of 1976, which was based on the eponymous film Convoy of 1978.

Life

As a child, Fries showed musical talent, but was more interested in drawing. He studied art and music at the University of Iowa. After graduation, he worked as a draftsman at a TV station in Omaha, Nebraska. In the early 1960s he moved to, also based in Omaha advertising agency Bozell & Jacobs. There he created in 1973 as Creative Director, a television advertising campaign for the baked goods manufacturer Metz Baking Company of Sioux City. The advertising films revolved around a truck driver the fictional Old Home Bread Company named CW McCall, his dog Sloan and the truckers restaurant, which he often visited, The Old Home Café. Fries created the character based on his own youth in Iowa. The commercials were so successful that the newspaper Des Moines Register auflistete their program times in television, and in 1974 with the promotional price Clio Award cinema or awarded as the best television campaign. The song Old Home Filler -Up used in one of the commercials on ' Keep on a- Truckin' Cafe ( lyrics and vocals by Fries as CW McCall, Music by Chip Davis, and later with the group Mannheim Steamroller ), reached number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100. 1974 appeared a first album of CW McCall, Wolf Creek Pass, with more songs, and made ​​it to # 4 on the country charts. The title song Wolf Creek Pass in 1975 reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 The next album, Black Bear Road from 1975, made ​​it to No. 1 on the country charts.

Convoy of 1976, a single from this album is McCall's best-known song. Published at the height of the CB radio wave in the USA, the title, the story of a truck driver Uprising, number 1 reached both the country charts and the Billboard Hot 100 (10 January 1976). 1978, based on this song Convoy of Sam Peckinpah film with Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Burt Young and Ernest Borgnine came out. For the film McCall wrote a new version of his hit.

McCall released four more albums; the music often wrote Davis, later other. With the album Wilderness, he turned to environmental issues. Notable successes in the pop charts, he did not reach; the Single Roses For Mama from the eponymous album from 1977 reached number two on the country charts. After that, Fries / McCall moved for some years by the music scene back. He pulled into the small town of Ouray, Colorado, where he was elected from 1986 to 1992 for three terms as mayor.

1990 CD The Real McCall appeared with digital McCall newly recorded old songs and a new song. In 2003 he participated in the album American Spirit with the group Mannheim Steamroller, which contains new recordings of Convoy and Wolf Creek Pass. Together with his wife Rena Jay Fries now lives in Ouray, Colorado.

Discography

Studio albums

  • Wolf Creek Pass (1974 )
  • Black Bear Road ( 1975)
  • Wilderness ( 1976)
  • Rubber Duck ( 1976)
  • Roses for Mama ( 1977)
  • C. W. McCall and Co. (1979)
  • The Real McCall: An American Storyteller (1990 )
  • American Spirit ( by Mannheim Steamroller ) (2003 )

Greatest hits compilations

  • C. W. McCall 's Greatest Hits (1983, 1993 republished )
  • Four Wheel Cowboy ( 1989)
  • The Legendary C. W. McCall (1991)
  • The Best of C. W. McCall (1997)
November 15 Convoy (1978 film) Sioux City, Iowa Ouray (Colorado) Integrated Authority File
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