Just heard that C. W. McCall has passed at the age of 93. Most people know him for his songs Wolf Creek Pass and Convoy, but few know that he took his earnings and fulfilled a dream by moving to the tiny town of Ouray here in Southwestern Colorado and opening a photography business. He and his son ran a scenic slide show for tourists every summer called the San Juan Odyssey with music by the London Philharmonic,and he would sing a couple of songs at every performance. It was outstanding. In the 1980s he served 6 years as mayor of Ouray. I met him many times, he was always a very nice man. He will be missed around here. The Rubber Duck is out there somewhere.
We'll see 'im on the flip-flop.
Keep the hammer down, CW.
Wow. Wolf creek pass will miss him.
I never did go to one of those shows. They're still playing in Ouray, aren't they?
I was heading for Ophir Pass 20 years ago when I passed this sign. Well, I had to didn't I?
That's no CJ-5, ya hipster! Hahaha
In reply to Teh E36 M3 :
Excuse me, the Black Bear Road was about a rented U-Drive-'Em Army Jeep car with a bad parking brake. The CJ5 was in the car chase through the Nishnabotna River.
I learned CW when I was in high school in Canada, and quickly discovered after moving out here that many of his songs are strongly placed in Southwest Colorado. The Silverton, Wolf Creek Pass, Black Bear Road, the Conoco station in Classified...it's all here.
Damn, I really enjoy his music. 93 was a good run, it sounds like he lived his life well.
10-4 Rubber Ducky. Keep the hammer down and watch for those smokey bears.
ddavidv
UltimaDork
4/3/22 8:07 a.m.
Real name: Bill Fries. An advertising guy who wrote a jingle (for bread, I believe) that he adapted to a song about truckers and CB radios.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
My buddies and I had the classified ad memorized. Properly lubricated, I can still put it down.
"take immed-e-ate delivery...."
In reply to Teh E36 M3 :
Well, I know what we'll have to do if we ever meet in person.
The sign he refers to on Black Bear Pass - "You don't have to be crazy to drive this road, but it helps" - was real, but disappeared shortly after the song came out. For the railfans on this board, his song Galloping Goose is also based on a series of real narrow gauge rail busses that operated between Ridgway and Durango - they still exist in various museums and all still are in operational condition.
Grew up on his songs/stories! Honestly, I didn't know he was still kickin' ... 93 is dammed sure a good run. Roll on.
I was thinking of Wolf Creek Pass on the trip I'm on right now... We're 65 miles from *a* Wolf Creek Pass in California today, and I think we passed one on our way out of Oregon. I imagine they got named before McCall's song happened, but there are an awful lot of them...
I got a copy of K-Tel's "24 Great Truck Driving Songs" for my seventh birthday, which had Wolf Creek Pass, Convoy, and the long-named cafe song on it. He certainly had a role in my childhood fascination with trucks.
On some of the steeper pitches it's all I can do not to subject my wife to the long-memorized words... "Earl, I'm not the type to complain, but the time has come for me to explain that if you don't apply some brake real soon, they're gonna have to pick us up with a stick and a spoon..."
This is indeed sad news :(.
This winter I had made and applied this decal to my own u-drive-em army jeepcar and sent one to my cousin because we are both huge CW McCall nerds.
I've decided to name my newest boat "Nishnabotna" because I hauled it home from Hamburg, IA on the banks of the Nishnabotna River which features heavily in the song "4 Wheel Drive" (...yard wide and a foot deep).
I will mail a card to mother and send them chickens on down the other side in his memory.
Teh E36 M3 said:
Keith Tanner said:
In reply to Teh E36 M3 :
Well, I know what we'll have to do if we ever meet in person.
I'd have a puppers
I'm surprised we're not having a Puppers right now.
