The Legend-News
What We Got Here
Surfin’ with the Rubber Duck
Long-time readers of The Legend-News — and anyone who has attempted to wade through the archives — may remember a feature called “Surfin’ with the Rubber Duck”, wherein I listed other websites of interest to C.W. McCall fans. I discovered that I haven’t written a Surfin’ feature since October of 2002! So I decided that it’s about time to check up on the popularity of C.W. McCall.
(Caution: if you’re performing your own search, I recommend entering the phrase “c.w. mccall ‑lyrics”; if you don’t, you’ll be overwhelmed by the quantity of sites that have “borrowed” the lyrics from my site, C.W. McCall: An American Legend. )
Tales of the Four Wheel Cowboy. Miles Lumbard’s tribute to Bill Fries and things McCall. The Narrow Gauge Circle itself is an informative site on the narrow-gauge railroads in Colorado. Miles is a long-time C.W. McCall fan, and one of the first Crispy Critters.
C.W. McCall on Wikipedia. This is probably the most-read page about C.W. McCall, and the only page that outranks C.W. McCall: An American Legend on Google (one of these days…)
The Pirate Bay torrent for the Original Six albums. No, I don’t endorse this kind of activity — neither did I create this torrent — but I must point out that the uploader of this description copied the first three paragraphs of my item, “ Who Is C.W. McCall? ” (insert horn toot)
You Remember That with the video of C.W.’s performance on the Mike Douglas Show in August 1976. (I choose to ignore the fact that VH1 labeled this as a “One-Hit Wonder”.)
Billy Dale Fries, inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association’s Hall of Fame in September 2009.
Life in the Styx: Song of the Day: “Convoy” by C.W. McCall with a user-made video from somewhere else.
Aquarium Drunkard » C.W. McCall :: Convoy (The Tale of the Rubber Duck). A short review of The Motion Picture CONVOY, with a clip from the movie.
The Chuck Miller Creative Writing Service: C.W. McCall and Convoy. Chuck Miller’s article from the September/October 2003 issue of RoadKing . It won an award!
Selectism.com: Columns | Chris Bray | CW McCall. A short history of Peterbilt trucks and a reminiscence of CB radio and C.W. McCall, and a lot of pictures of Peterbilt trucks.
Paul Williams - C.W. McCall....same guy??? Separated at birth, maybe? A posting from June 2006 at Democratic Underground, by a user who apparently hadn’t yet drunk his morning coffee.
Truckin’ Down The Highway: C.W. McCall’s “Convoy”. A short article on “Convoy” — both the song and the movie — by a writer who couldn’t be bothered to research the term “cab-over”.
CW McCall Black Bean Road lp vinyl record M3G5008 l | eBay. Well, the auction at eBay ended on April 7, but I’ll bet that this album would make a great salsa.
c.w. mccall | free piano sheet music | PianoFiles. “Free” sheet music. But who is that guy in the photograph? I know C.W. McCall, and that isn’t C.W. McCall.
Who played bass on C.W. McCall’s "Convoy"? - TalkBass Forums. I’ll spoil it for you: Eric Hansen played bass on that “horrible song”.
C.W. McCall Misheard Song Lyrics. A couple of mondegreens.
C. W. McCall : Reference (The Full Wiki). An interesting attempt to replicate Wikipedia, but with maps and quizzes. Caution: the “correct” answer to Question 2 is wrong; I have informed those responsible for that grievous error.
blatantly bad 70s songs: convoy (C. W. McCall) « wrekehavoc.com. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. (*missiles locked*)
Fun:C.W. McCall - RationalWiki. This article was obviously written by a true believer. I’m making him a Crispy Critter, even if he did get a bit sarcastic about “jumping the shark”.
C.w. Mccall Tour Dates — C.w. Mccall Concert Dates and Tickets | Songkick. Abandon all hope; he’s a-tourin’ no more.
C.W. McCall’s Convoy - what’s going on in this song? [Archive] - Straight Dope Message Board. I never knew that The Teeming Millions were interested.
“Mexican Convoy” from KHOW Radio (Denver). Disclaimer: The content of this audio file does not represent the opinions of The Legend-News, nor of its associated website C.W. McCall: An American Legend. The opinions contained therein are the property of KHOW and their morning zoo.
Who is the Father of Rap - CW McCall or Charlie Daniels? - Stormfront. Now I can’t get a rap arrangement of “Convoy” out of my head. Disclaimer: The content of the Stormfront.org website does not represent the opinions of The Legend-News, nor of its associated website C.W. McCall: An American Legend. I hate Nazis.
Tom Claffey: Books. Insert product placement here.
The “Convoy” Saga… Part 1 - Chuck Miller - timesunion.com - Albany NY. Remember Chuck Miller, the writer (mentioned earlier in this list)? Here’s the story behind his article in RoadKing Magazine . Be sure to read part 2 , about the award that he received for the article. (By the way: the site owner who “said he knew how to get in touch with C.W. McCall”? One guess at the answer.)
"Convoy," by C.W. McCall, is the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts — History.com This Day in History — 1/10/1976. Darn title spoils the whole article.
Long Haul Trucker « MY COOL JOB. Of course, he mentions our favorite storyteller.
Music Monday: C.W. McCall’s Convoy « Why, Zee? Not much here, but she likes the oldies.
Harry Reid Arrives at Green Energy Summit in an SUV Convoy | All American Blogger. If “Convoy” is in the title.…
Previously, in The Legend-News
There’s a page in the “Legend” section, “ Two-Way ”, which contains Questions asked of Bill Fries, and his Answers to them. These items were originally published in the “Re: McCall” section of The Legend-News.
While reorganizing this site, I”ve discovered a few questions that aren’t on that page. Herewith, The Lost Q&A.
From the 2001 May 7 issue of The Legend-News .
Q. Bill hasn’t recorded as C.W. McCall since the release of the 1990 album The Real McCall: An American Storyteller , but that hasn’t stopped his fans from hoping. From Bill, a.k.a. ’Federation X’:
Dear Mr. Fries,
Hello, my name is Bill, i’m 24 years old and a big fan of your music, have been for years. My father introduced to me to your music at a very young age, and to this day when we see each other we often exchange pleasantries by reciting some of your songs in unison.
Now that I’m all grown up I sing in a Northwest rock/punk/blues band called Federation X. We work really hard touring and I release records of our own and the records of our friends on a small label called Molasses Manifesto. I have always been impressed with the way your music was arranged in regards to the music and lyrical solidarity both. I was wonderin’ if you have worked on any projects as the "C.W. McCall" character lately.
Best regards,
Bill
A. Thanks, Bill. No McCall projects lately, but keep on hoping. I wish you the best in your career. — Bill
… and from Tom Cooper:
Q. Hi Bill. Do you ever have a hankering to do more recordings?
A. Yes, Tom; but then I’d have to go out and promote them. I don’t think so.
From the 2001 May 21 issue of The Legend-News .
In the last edition of The Legend-News , the featured Song A’ Th’ Week was the story of a country band and their tour manager, “a fella by the name of Milton”.
Q. Carey Dodson asks: “Did Milton the man exist as the song states or was he a composition of several tour managers?”
A. Milton was for real, not an amalgamation.
Milton was one of those rare individuals who could deal with many problems at the same time. Very organized, very talented. He was born in Bailey, Colorado and after a long illness — after the McCall Group had disbanded — he died in Bailey, Colorado, back home in the Rockies. We think of him often, and will not forget him.
Thank you for keeping him in our memories.
— Bill
FYI from Ed.: this Milton isn’t the “Milton Bailey” who is listed in the credits of several C.W. McCall and Mannheim Steamroller albums. That Milton is the organist at the First Divine Science Church of Denver .
By the way, Bill had this to say about the weather in Ouray last week: "Not yet ready for prime time summer here yet. 68 tops. 35 low. But it’s coming."
From the 2002 December 16 issue of The Legend-News .
Q. When will Bill Fries record a new song?
Bill is retired. He doesn’t have any plans to record again. And the possibility of seeing a live performance anywhere is almost zero.
Q. So, you’re saying that there’s still a chance?
Let me answer this question by an example.
Get a five-gallon bucket, and fill it with water. Drop a single grain of salt into the water. Stir for one minute. Now try to find one molecule of sodium chloride in that water. Your chances of finding that molecule are roughly equivalent to Bill making a new record.
Q. Okay, so the chance is really small. But it’s still possible.
I’ll agree: it’s not impossible. Let me know when you’ve won the lottery, and we’ll discuss Bill’s fee.
From the 2004 June 6 issue of The Legend-News .
Mary Ann White of Smyrna, Georgia has an idea: a remake of the movie CONVOY , released in 1978 to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the the release of the original movie.
Q. It would be a great time for a "reunion" movie or a "Next Generation" movie — Why? Because trucking has changed so much in 30 years !
The trucking industry now contends with:
- Computerized truck engines such that you have to be a computer geek to repair an engine
- GPS (global positioning systems) so that the home company ("Big Brother") always knows where you are
- Luxury cabs with TV’s and VCR’s, etc.
- Cell phones and instant messaging
- Digital cameras and various other technologies
If only Sam Peckinpah were alive today.
A. I’m definitely not interested . Hell, I may not even be here in 2008. — Bill
I’ve told Bill that he’s a pessimist.
Q. Did you make a cameo appeance in the movie "Convoy"? — Michael Mohrmann, Raleigh, North Carolina
Maybe we can get Bill in Mary Ann’s remake.
Over the Double Nickel
Tooting My Own Horn In last issue’s “Over the Double Nickel”, I wrote about the effect that gasoline prices are having on retail sales. Well, it’s worse than I thought: “ Wal-Mart shoppers running out of money ”.
Oh, No, Don’t Let the Rain Fall Down; My Roof’s Got a Hole In It and I Might Drown
I’ll admit it: I’m not a guy that does much home maintenance. Which is why, eleven and a half years later, in a house that was fifteen years old when I bought it, I am in dire need of the local handymen.
The fascia on one side of the garage needs replacement (heck, it needs to be there, ’cause it’s missing); the lawn is beginning to resemble Monument Valley; and the trees out back? Any closer, and they’d be in the house. (On windy nights, the branches brush against the roof, and the dog doesn’t like that.)
And there’s the slow-flushing toilet in the basement; the missing baseboards in the basement; the hardly-insulated double-glazed windows; the outside hose faucet with a broken freeze plug; a blacktop driveway that’s beginning to resemble the Badlands of South Dakota; and the leaf-clogged rain gutters that make me wonder if the inventor of the rain gutter lived in the middle of Kansas, miles from any tree.
And did I mention the trees that are blocking the line-of-sight from the dish antenna on my roof, which is my wireless Internet connection? Obviously, this is the most important problem. No Internet and no play make Jack something something.
So here I sit on a Sunday evening, listening to the podcast of The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe and wondering what my life would be like if I had stayed in college and gotten that Bachelor of Science in Psychology.
Whatever that life may have been like, it couldn’t possibly be more fun than I’m having now.
— Ed.
“Over the Double Nickel” is an occasional column by Ed. Floden, who refuses to accept your reality. Collect them all!
The Legend-News has been published monthly for the past five months by TechRen Enterprises, and if that ain’t a record!. Copyright 2011 TechRen Enterprises. Send subscription requests, unsubscribe demands, complaints, kudos, suggestions, news and other contributions to Legend-News@cw-mccall.com . Almost everything in The Legend-News has been written by Ed. Floden, except for the stuff that he blames on someone else. “Direct hit. Ketchup all over everything.”
