William Fries, who had an undying love for country music, enjoyed a successful career in advertising in Omaha, Nebraska. In fact, as an ad man, he worked on a campaign for the Metz Bread Company
involving a truck driver named C.W. McCall. Fries created C.W. McCall, developing the character and
doing the voice over.
McCall had a country hit in the U.S. with "The Old Home Filler Up and Keep On A-Truckin' Caf‚." He then climbed the pop chart with a ditty about brake failure on "Wolf Creek Pass."
During an oil shortage, President Richard Nixon imposed a 55 miles per hour speed limit, bringing about a sudden demand for CB radios that enabled drivers to warn each other of speed traps.
And so, McCall narrated the story of "Convoy" in CB jargon. The song
reached number one on both the U.S. and country pop charts. "Convoy" soared
to number two in the
U.K.
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