The adman who became the bard of long-haul truckers

Bill Fries 1928–2022

Bill Fries turned an ad campaign for a Midwestern breadmaker into a multiplatinum country music career, highlighted by the 1975 trucker anthem “Convoy.” A few years earlier, Fries, an Omaha-based advertising executive, was asked to writeTV commercials for Old Home bread. He came up with alter ego

C.W. McCall, the fictional driver of an 18-wheeler.The resulting commercials, sung in his deep twang, became wildly popular, landing Fries a record deal. Under the McCall moniker, he released “Convoy,” a spoken-word novelty song filled with CB radio lingo.The No. 1 hit inspired a 1978 film by Sam Peckinpah. “Mercy sakes alive,” Fries sang, “looks like we got us a convoy.”

Fries was born in Audubon, Iowa, son of a homemaker mother and a father who worked at a farm-equipment plant, said The NewYork Times. He left the University of Iowa after a year to launch a sign-painting business back home, which led to an ad job in nearby Omaha. He was creative director by the time he and jingle composer Chip Davis hatched the story of McCall and his lover, a “gum-snapping waitress” named Mavis, at the Old Home Filler-Up an’ Keep On a-Truckin’ Cafe.

“Convoy” told the story of a caravan of big-rig drivers, said Rolling Stone.The song popularized CB slang like “smokies” for cops, “10-4” for “affirmative,” and “puttin’ the hammer down” for speeding. It was also a protest song, rallying truckers against the 55 mph speed limit and high gas prices. For Fries, who went on to release nine albums and serve as mayor of Ouray, Colo., “Convoy” remained a source of pride. “It’s one of those things that can only happen in America,” he said.