Biography
Advertising executive William Fries originated the persona of C.W. McCall, whose recordings helped ignite the nationwide fascination with truck driving that gripped the United States in the mid-1970s. Born on November 15, 1928, in Audubon, Iowa, Fries showed early musical aptitude yet gravitated more strongly toward graphic design. While enrolled at the University of Iowa he pursued music studies and performed with the university concert band, though his degree focused on fine arts; upon completing his studies he took an art position at a television station in Omaha, Nebraska. Five years later he began hosting his own local program, where he sketched caricatures of visiting celebrities.
In the early 1960s Fries joined an Omaha advertising agency as art director and developed the C.W. McCall character to promote a regional bakery. Portrayed as a driver for the fictional Old Home Bread company who frequented The Old Home Filler-Up-an'-Keep-On-a-Truckin' Cafe, the figure proved enormously popular with audiences, and the accompanying radio campaign earned Fries the industry’s Clio Award. In 1974 he recorded a single under the McCall name—a spoken monologue backed by country instrumentation that took its title from the cafe itself—and the track reached the Top 20. Its successor, “Wolf Creek Pass,” achieved still greater success.
McCall’s 1975 album Black Bear Road yielded the single “Convoy,” which ascended to number one on both the pop and country charts and sparked a widespread cultural phenomenon. The recording’s impact prompted filmmaker Sam Peckinpah to helm the 1978 motion picture Convoy, which featured Kris Kristofferson in the lead role. By the time that film appeared, however, McCall’s recording career had largely concluded. He released two further albums—Wolf Creek Pass in 1975 and Roses for Mama in 1977, the latter producing a major hit with its title track—yet soon withdrew from the music business to concentrate on environmental causes. He relocated to the small community of Ouray, Colorado, where voters elected him mayor in 1982. A attempted return to recording in 1990 did not succeed. C.W. McCall died on April 1, 2022, from lung cancer at the age of 93.
In the early 1960s Fries joined an Omaha advertising agency as art director and developed the C.W. McCall character to promote a regional bakery. Portrayed as a driver for the fictional Old Home Bread company who frequented The Old Home Filler-Up-an'-Keep-On-a-Truckin' Cafe, the figure proved enormously popular with audiences, and the accompanying radio campaign earned Fries the industry’s Clio Award. In 1974 he recorded a single under the McCall name—a spoken monologue backed by country instrumentation that took its title from the cafe itself—and the track reached the Top 20. Its successor, “Wolf Creek Pass,” achieved still greater success.
McCall’s 1975 album Black Bear Road yielded the single “Convoy,” which ascended to number one on both the pop and country charts and sparked a widespread cultural phenomenon. The recording’s impact prompted filmmaker Sam Peckinpah to helm the 1978 motion picture Convoy, which featured Kris Kristofferson in the lead role. By the time that film appeared, however, McCall’s recording career had largely concluded. He released two further albums—Wolf Creek Pass in 1975 and Roses for Mama in 1977, the latter producing a major hit with its title track—yet soon withdrew from the music business to concentrate on environmental causes. He relocated to the small community of Ouray, Colorado, where voters elected him mayor in 1982. A attempted return to recording in 1990 did not succeed. C.W. McCall died on April 1, 2022, from lung cancer at the age of 93.
Albums