A Chronology of C.W. McCall-related Events

Days in the Life

1876: August 1: Colorado becomes the 38th state of the United States of America.
1888: Ouray Opera House opens.
1928: November 15: William D. Fries, Jr. born in Audubon, Audubon County, Iowa.
1949?: Louis F. “Chip” Davis, Jr. is born.
?: Bill Fries marries Rena Jayne (the R.J. of “Black Bear Road”).
1972: Bill Fries creates a series of television advertisements for Old Home Bread. The commercials feature a trucker, C.W. McCall, a driver for Old Home Bread. C.W.’s girlfriend, Mavis, works at the Old Home Filler-Up And Keep-On-A-Truckin' Café. Chip Davis writes the music.
1974: August 3: “ Old Home Filler-Up An’ Keep On A-Truckin’ Café ” peaks at number 54 on the Billboard pop singles chart.
1975: September 19: The album Black Bear Road is released.; December 6: “Convoy” enters the U.S. music charts.
1976: January 10: “Convoy” reaches number 1 on both the Billboard pop singles and country singles charts.; June: C.W. presents President Gerald Ford and Betty “First Mama” Ford with CB radios.; July: C.W. McCall is inducted into the Walkway of Stars at the Country Music Hall of Fame.; 3rd St. R&D Production Services provides sound services for the C.W. McCall tour.; Richard Melville “Moby” Hall buys his first record.
“The first record I ever bought was a 7-inch of (the truck-driving novelty song) ‘Convoy’ by C.W. McCall,” he said. “I listened to it 40 times in a row, picking up the needle, putting it back over and over.”
from The Seattle Times, Thursday, 1977 November 13.; “C.W. McCall’s San Juan Odyssey” opens at the Wright Opera House in Ouray, Colorado. It’s a multi-media slide show about the San Juan mountain range in southwest Colorado. It is narrated by Bill Fries.; December 27: People Magazine declares C.W McCall to be one of the “25 Most Intriguing People of 1976”.
1977: January 1: The Federal Communications Commission adds channels 24 through 40 to the 27 MHz Citizens Band.
1978: C.W. McCall retires from his singing career.
1979: Mannheim Steamroller releases its first Christmas album.
1979: Bill & R.J. move to Ouray, Colorado.
1985 November: Bill is elected mayor of Ouray.
1986 January: Bill is sworn into office as Mayor of Ouray.
1989: Chip Davis calls Bill Fries with an idea: new recordings of old C.W. McCall favorites, on audio CD. The result: The Real McCall: An American Storyteller
1992: January 13: Bill leaves the office of Mayor of Ouray, after two three-year terms.; C.W. does a telephone interview with a country DJ at KAHU AM 940, Waipahu (Honolulu) Hawai‘i. Both C.W., and Storyteller (the DJ) were happy.
1995: September: Merry Lee Kuboske [related to “…a fella by the name a’ Kuboske…”?], the owner of the Ouray Opera House, sells it to Larry and Alice Leeper.
1996: “C.W. McCall“s San Juan Odyssey” closes. [And I never got to see it. :( — Ed.]
1997: October: Ed. Floden surfs the World Wide Web, looking for sites concerning C.W. McCall. He doesn’t find any.
1998: March 15: Ed. Floden opens the World’s First C.W. McCall™ web site, C.W. McCall: An American Legend.
1999: March: American Gramaphone reissues the 1990 album, The Real McCall: An American Storyteller. The world rejoices.; October: American Gramaphone informs us that the 1990 album, The Real McCall: An American Storyteller, will not be reordered when the current stock is depleted. The world mourns. (They have since reprinted the CD several times. Someone keeps buying them!); November 28: The World’s Second C.W. McCall Web Site, Tales of the Four Wheel Cowboy opens for business at the Narrow Gauge Circle.; December 24: The Star asks “ Whatever Happened to C.W. McCall?”.
2003: March 20: Ed. attends a recording session for the upcoming Mannheim Steamroller / C.W. McCall collaboration, American Spirit.; May: American Spirit is released.
2008: May 23: “San Juan Odyssey” reopens at the Main Street Restaurant and Theatre, in Ouray, Colorado.; “San Juan Odyssey” is released on DVD.
2009: January 2: The Iowa Rock ‘N’ Roll Music Association announces that C.W. McCall will be inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘N’ Roll Hame of Fame on September 5.; August 14 through 16: Bill Fries participates in the 28th Annual Great Rocky Mountain Brass Band Festival, in Silverton, Colorado. Bill narrates Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait” at three performances.; September 5: “Billy Dale Fries”, born in Audubon, Iowa, is inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘N’ Roll Hame of Fame.; November 16: Bill Fries was interviewed on the SiriusXM “Freewheelin’“ program with Meredith Ochs and Chris Tsakis. [Download the interview]