Convoy (song)

"Convoy"
Single by C. W. McCall
from the album Black Bear Road
B-side"Long Lonesome Road"
ReleasedNovember 1975
Recorded1975
Genre
Length3:49
LabelMGM
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Don Sears
  • Chip Davis
C. W. McCall singles chronology
"Black Bear Road"
(1975) 		"Convoy"
(1975) 		"There Won't Be No Country Music (There Won't Be No Rock 'n' Roll)"
(1976)

"Convoy" is a 1975 novelty song performed by C. W. McCall (a character co-created and voiced by Bill Fries, along with Chip Davis) that became a number-one song on both the country and pop charts in the US and is listed 98th among Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.[1] Written by McCall and Chip Davis, the song spent six weeks at number one on the country charts[2] and one week at number one on the pop charts. The song went to number one in Canada as well, hitting the top of the RPM Top Singles Chart on January 24, 1976.[3] "Convoy" also peaked at number two in the UK. The song capitalized on the fad for citizens band (CB) radio. The song was the inspiration for the 1978 Sam Peckinpah film Convoy, for which McCall rerecorded the song to fit the film's storyline.[4]

The song received newfound popularity with its use during the 2022 Freedom Convoy.[5][6][7] In a call with WRIF's Drew & Mike Show shortly before he died, Fries expressed enthusiasm over the Freedom Convoy's use of his song "only because his biggest hit [was] getting a second life."[8][9]

  1. ^ "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 1, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 220.
  3. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  4. ^ "Country Singer C.W. McCall of 'Convoy' Fame Dies at 93". Yahoo Sports. April 4, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Barnett, Betsy (March 2, 2022). "We Got Us a Convoy: The Colorado Freedom Convoy Heads East on I70 on Thursday". Kiowa County Independent. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (April 4, 2022). "Forever No. 1: C.W. McCall's 'Convoy'". Billboard. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  7. ^ "Country music star C.W. McCall dies at 93". MSN. April 12, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  8. ^ Dukes, Billy (February 17, 2022). "'Convoy' Singer C.W. McCall Is in Hospice". Taste of Country. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "Drew And Mike – February 9, 2022 – The Drew and Mike Show". February 10, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2023.