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A Saturday Ditty

My dad drives truck, and I was weaned on country music. During the heady ’70’s, C.W. McCall became a favorite of Dad’s, and by extension, mine.

<Cliff Clavin> A little known fact is that “C.W. McCall” is really the name of the group, a la Jethro Tull. The “persona” is Bill Fries (pronounced “freeze”), and the backup band led by Chip Davis is Mannheim Steamroller.</Cliff Clavin>

McCall is probably best known for the song “Convoy,” which, while entertaining and evocative of the era, was not, in my opinion, representative of his entire body of work.

Humor was a staple of McCall’s tunes, and even as a kid, I got a kick out of them.

From “Black Bear Road,” about renting a jeep to drive through the San Juan Mountains near Telluride:

Went about a mile an’ a half, in about four hours, busted off the right front fender, an’ tore a hole in the oil pan on a rock as big as a hall closet, went over a bump an’ spilt the Kool-Aid, an’ Roy Gene stuck his bolo knife right through the convertible top, an’ the dog threw up all over the back seat (peanut butter don’t agree with him, see) .

And, just when things couldn’t get worse…

R.J. took one look at that picture, and said the only way she’s goin’ down that Jeep car road ‘as over her dead body, an’ then a rock slipped out from under the wheel, and the U-Drive-’Em Army Jeep Car, well it went right over, right over the edge of a cliff .

I also liked the deadpan style of “Wolf Creek Pass,” wherein our narrator and his compatriot, Earl, navigate a steep mountain pass in a ‘48 Peterbilt. Things naturally take a turn for the worse as they go down the mountain.

I looked at Earl an’ his eyes was wide
His lip was curled and his leg was fried
And his hands was froze to the wheel
Like a tongue to a sled in the middle of a blizzard
And I said, “Earl I’m not the type to complain
But the time has come for me to explain
That if you don’t apply some brake real soon
They’re gonna have to pick us up with a stick an’ a spoon.”

Well Earl rared back
Cocked his leg
Stepped down as hard as he could on the brake
And the pedal went clear to the floor
And stayed - right there on the floor
Says it’s sorta like steppin’ on a plum
Well from there on down it just wasn’t real pretty
It was hairpin county and switchback city
One of ‘em looked like a can full of worms
Another one looked like malaria germs
Right in the middle of the whole damn show
Was a real nice tunnel, now wouldn’t you know.

That one ended up in the side of a feed store. In downtown Pagosa Springs.

One of my all-time favorites, though, has to be “Classified,” which tells the story about a guy who finds a ‘57 Chevy truck in the classified ads, and buys it.

In keeping with the themes above, I’m pretty sure you know how this one ends. Here’s how the owner describes the truck:

Her shaft is bent and the rear end leaks
You can fix ‘er quick with an oily rag
Use a nail to start her, I lost the key
Don’t pay no mind to that whirin’ sound
She’ll use a little oil…

He adds, “…but outside of that, she’s cherry!”

Give it a listen! File removed for bandwidth consideration.