CONVOY (SONG)

"'Convoy'" is a 1975 novelty song performed by C.W. McCall (pseudonym of Bill Fries) that became a number-one hit in the USA and helped start a worldwide craze for citizens band (CB) radio.

Contents

The song

Sequel

Remakes

External links

The song

The song consists of three different types of interspersed dialog: a simulated CB conversation interspersed with CB slang, the narration of the story and the chorus. It is the story about a fictitious minor trucker rebellion that drives from the west coast to the east coast of the United States without stopping. What they are protesting (other than the then-prevalent 55 miles per hour speed limit) is not stated in the song.
The "conversation" is between two truckers, using their handles "Rubber Duck" and "Pig Pen", but we only hear the Rubber Duck side of the conversation.
Rubber Duck (driving a Kenworth with a load of logs) is at the "front door" (the leader) of three eighteen-wheelers (tractor and semi-trailer) when he realizes that they have a convoy. Following the Rubber Duck is an unnamed trucker in a "cab-over Pete with a reefer on" (a refrigerated trailer, hauled by a Peterbilt truck configured with the cab over the engine), while Pig Pen brings up the rear in a "Jimmy" (GMC truck) hauling hogs.
The convoy begins June 6th on "I-one-oh" (I-10) just outside of "Shakytown" (Los Angeles, California, known by that name due to its frequent earth tremors). By the time they get to "Tulsatown" (Tulsa, Oklahoma), there are eighty-five trucks in the convoy and the "bears" (police) have set up a road block and have a "bear in the air" (police helicopter) monitoring the situation. By the time they get to "Chi-town" (Chicago, Illinois), the convoy has been joined by a "suicide jockey" (truck hauling explosives) and ''"eleven long-haired friends of Jesus in a chartreuse microbus"'', and the police have called out "reinforcements from the 'Illinoise' (Illinois) National Guard". The convoy crashes another road block when crossing a toll bridge into New Jersey, and by this time they have "a thousand screamin' trucks" in all.
Several times during the song, Rubber Duck would complain about the smell of the hogs that Pig Pen was hauling, and he kept asking Pig Pen to "back off" (fall further behind). By the end of the song, Pig Pen has fallen so far back that when Rubber Duck is in New Jersey, Pig Pen has only gotten as far as Omaha.

Sequel

McCall's "'Round the World with the Rubber Duck" is the sequel to "Convoy". In this continuation, the convoy leaves the United States and travels around the world, through England, France, West and East Germany, the USSR, Japan, and Australia.

Remakes

C.W. McCall recorded a new version of the song with different lyrics for the soundtrack of the 1978 film ''Convoy''. C.W. McCall also made two additional re-recordings of the original song, one for his 1990 album '', and the other for the 2003 Mannheim Steamroller album ''American Spirit''.
The song was covered in 2004 by Paul Brandt. The video features Brandt and fellow country singers Jason McCoy and Aaron Lines as well as Calgary Flames defensemen Mike Commodore and Rhett Warrener as truckers and George Canyon, of Nashville Star fame as the highway patrol officer. The video can be seen on CMT in both Canada and the United States.
The song was spoofed by Paul Brandt on his A Gift album. The spoof was called ''Christmas Convoy'' and it peaked at number 36 on the Canadian country charts.
The song made an appearance in The Simpsons, in the episode Radio Bart.
The song was also sung by Earl, Joy and Randy in an episode of My Name is Earl, entitled Made a Lady Think I Was God.

External links

★ C.W. McCall: An American Legend

★ Convoy Lyrics