Editing C. W. McCall

{{short description|American art director, singer-songwriter and mayor (1928–2022)}}
{{redirect|William Fries|the American football offensive guard|Will Fries}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{infobox musical artist
| name             = C. W. McCall
| image            = Bill Fries.jpg
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| image_size       = 
| landscape        = 
| birth_name       = Billie Dale Fries
| alias            = William Dale Fries Jr.
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1928|11|15}}
| birth_place      = [[Audubon, Iowa]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2022|4|1|1928|11|15}}
| death_place      = [[Ouray, Colorado]], U.S.
| origin           = 
| genre            = {{flatlist|
* [[Country music|Country]]
* [[outlaw country]]
* [[truck-driving country]]
}}
| occupation       = {{flatlist|
* Graphic artist
* set designer
* art director
* singer-songwriter
}}
| instrument       = 
| years_active     = 1945–2022
| label            = {{flatlist|
* [[MGM Records|MGM]]
* [[Polydor Records|Polydor]]
* [[Mercury Records|Mercury]]
* [[American Gramaphone]]
}}
| associated_acts  = 
| website          = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| module           = {{Infobox officeholder
  | embed=yes
  | office = Mayor of [[Ouray, Colorado]]
  | termstart = 1986
  | termend = 1992
  }}
}}

'''William Dale Fries Jr.''' (November 15, 1928 – April 1, 2022) was an American [[commercial artist]] who won several [[Clio Awards]] for his advertising campaigns. He was also a musician remembered for his character '''C. W. McCall''', a [[truck-driving country]] singer that he created for a series of bread commercials while working for an Omaha advertising agency as an art director. Fries performed as McCall in a series of [[outlaw country|outlaw]] albums and songs in the 1970s, in collaboration with co-worker [[Chip Davis]] who also founded [[Mannheim Steamroller]].

McCall's most successful song was "[[Convoy (song)|Convoy]]", a surprise hit in 1975, reaching number one on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart and number two in the [[UK Singles Chart]] in March 1976. After a successful spell of touring, Fries retired to [[Ouray, Colorado]] where he was elected mayor, serving from 1986 to 1992. The "Convoy" song became an anthem for the [[Freedom Convoy]] protests in 2022 and Fries enjoyed this revival before he died of cancer at the age of 93.

==Early life==
McCall was born '''Billie Dale Fries'''<ref name="wapobit">{{Cite news |last=Schudel |first=Matt |date=April 1, 2022 |title=Bill Fries, who had No. 1 hit as C.W. McCall with 'Convoy,' dies at 93 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/01/country-music-performer-cw-mccall-dies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402180833/https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/01/country-music-performer-cw-mccall-dies/ |archive-date=April 2, 2022 |access-date=April 2, 2022 |work=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> on November 15, 1928, in [[Audubon, Iowa]], the son of William Dale "Billie" Fries Sr. and Margaret Fries.<ref name="LarkinCountry">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Country Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-726-6|page=247}}</ref> He later legally changed his name to '''William Dale Fries, Jr.'''<ref name=wapobit/>  One of his sons is now Bill Fries III.{{r|NYT}}

His family was musical; Bill Sr., a farm equipment factory foreman by day, performed with his two brothers in '' The Fries Brothers Band''{{r|T}}  and played the violin while Margaret played the piano and the two played [[ragtime]] together at dances. Bill Sr. frequently hauled prefabricated swine barns to customers, which introduced Bill Jr. to the world of trucking.<ref name=1970scraze/>  Bill Jr. first performed at the age of three in a local talent contest, singing "[[She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain|Coming ' Round the Mountain]]" while his mother played the piano.  He studied music at school, playing the [[clarinet]] and the music of [[John Philip Sousa]] and became the [[Drum major (marching band)|drum major]] for the school's [[marching band]].  As a child, he enjoyed listening to [[country music]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oldies.com/artist-view/CW-McCall.html|title=C.W. McCall|website=Oldies.com|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509012459/https://www.oldies.com/artist-view/CW-McCall.html|url-status=live}}</ref> but he was even more interested in art, having started copying the cartoon characters of [[Walt Disney]] as a child.  He went to the Fine Arts School at the [[University of Iowa]] where he majored in [[commercial art]] and also performed in the university's symphony orchestra, but he had to leave the university after one year as he could not afford to compete, for jobs to pay tuition, with the many demobbed soldiers who were going through college on the [[GI Bill of Rights]].{{r|BD|NG}}  He then returned to Audubon to work as a [[signwriter]].{{r|NYT}}

In 1950, he got a job as a commercial artist with [[KMTV-TV|KMTV]] in [[Omaha, Nebraska]].  He worked for them for ten years, doing graphic work, lettering and [[set design]].  He also supported the local ballet and opera societies, doing work which won an award from the Omaha Artists and Art Directors Club.  This attracted the attention of [[Bozell|Bozell & Jacobs]] which was a local advertising agency and they gave him a job as an [[art director]], doubling his salary.{{r|BD|NG}}

==Advertising==
In 1973, while working for [[Bozell|Bozell & Jacobs]], Fries created a television advertising campaign for Old Home Bread. The bread was trucked across the Midwest from the Metz Baking Company plant in [[Sioux City, Iowa]]. As the big [[semi-trailer truck]]s carrying the [[Old Home Bread]] logo were a familiar sight on the highway, this suggested a trucking theme. 

The advertisements were narrated by a trucker named "C.W. McCall," played by Jim Finlayson.  The name was inspired by ''[[McCall's]]'' magazine, which Fries had on his desk at the time. A [[James Garner]] movie, ''[[Cash McCall]]'', was also an influence. To complete the name, Fries added initials, shown embroidered on the trucker's shirt, and chose "C. W." for [[country and western]].<ref name=AA>{{citation |pages=79–81 |title=The All-American Truck Stop Cookbook |year=2002 |isbn=9781418557829 |publisher=Thomas Nelson}}</ref>

In each commercial, the trucker's mission was to deliver a load of Old Home Bread to the Old Home Café, whose name expanded over time to become the "Old Home Fill 'Er Up An' Keep On a-Truckin' Café".  There, a waitress named Mavis (played by Jean McBride Capps as a Marilyn Monroe bombshell) awaited the bread delivery.  McCall would later joke that Capps "was built like a couple of cub scouts trying to put up a Sears Roebuck pup tent."<ref>"Old Home Saga (with Commercials 1-12)", retrieved from Youtube.com on July 28 2024 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlSC_MYQP8M</ref> 
The character Mavis was named after a real waitress at the White Spot café in Audubon where Fries grew up.<ref name=1970scraze>{{Cite web |last=Ligo |first=Joe |date=May 19, 2021 |title=The 1970s Trucking Craze Can Be Traced Back to a Regional TV Commercial for Bread |url=https://www.thedrive.com/news/40634/the-1970s-trucking-craze-can-be-traced-back-to-a-regional-tv-commercial-for-bread |access-date=December 12, 2023 |website=The Drive |language=en}}</ref>  At the end of the ad campaign of twelve different spots, the C.W. McCall character proposes marriage to Mavis, who accepts.

Each commercial featured a distinctive country spoken-word patter song full of folksy trucker jargon. Fries wrote the [[lyrics]] and recorded the vocals; [[Chip Davis]], who wrote [[jingle]]s at Bozell & Jacobs, composed the musical accompaniment. These pieces strongly foreshadowed, both in style and structure, the musical releases Fries would soon create as his C.W. McCall musician character.

The commercial won a [[Clio Award]].

==Musical Career==
The success of the ad campaign led Fries to embark on a commercial recording career, cloaked in the identity of the McCall character from the Old Home Bread commercials. Fries first charted the song "[[Wolf Creek Pass]]", which reached No. 40 on the U.S. pop top 40 in 1975. Two other songs reached the [[Billboard Hot 100]], "Old Home Filler-Up an' Keep on a-Truckin' Cafe", as well as the environmentally-oriented "There Won't Be No Country Music (There Won't Be No Rock 'n' Roll)".<ref name="LarkinCountry"/>

Fries is best known for the 1976 No. 1 hit song, "[[Convoy (song)|Convoy]]" which was inspired by his own experience of driving in a growing group of vehicles out of Denver.<ref name="LarkinCountry"/><ref name=TS>{{citation |page=244 |title=Crashed the Gate Doing Ninety-Eight |author=Tim Scherrer |date=May 7, 2019 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9780359644629}}</ref>  In its style and composition, the song is a direct echo of Fries's Old Home Bread commercial songs: a first-person trucker spoken monologue, backed by a country arrangement and interspersed with a gentle choral call-and-response.  But the theme is rebellious instead of sentimental: truckers coordinating by [[CB radio]] to rebel against the new [[National Maximum Speed Law|federal speed limit of 55 mph]].  The mix of anti-authority feeling and country authenticity was immensely popular, and helped feed a nationwide craze for CB radios and trucker culture.<ref>Ligo, Joe, "The 1970s Trucking Craze Can Be Traced Back to a Regional TV Commercial for Bread," ''The Drive'', May 19, 2021</ref> The single sold over two million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]] by the [[RIAA]] in December 1975.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book |first=Joseph |last=Murrells |year=1978 |title=The Book of Golden Discs |edition=2nd |publisher=Barrie and Jenkins Ltd |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/361 361] |isbn=0-214-20512-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/361 }}</ref>  Classically-trained Chip Davis, who wrote the music to the song, won Country Music Writer of the Year in 1976 for his work with McCall, despite not liking the genre; the success allowed him to launch his instrumental project [[Mannheim Steamroller]], which became particularly well-known for its [[Christmas music|Christmas records]].<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Michael L. LaBlanc |author2=Gale Research Inc |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20156945 |title=Contemporary musicians : profiles of the people in music |date=1989 |publisher=Gale Research |isbn=0-8103-2211-0 |location=Detroit, Mich. |oclc=20156945}}</ref>

A dozen C.W. McCall songs appeared on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s [[Hot Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]] chart, including the sentimental "[[Roses for Mama (song)|Roses for Mama]]" (1977).<ref name="LarkinCountry"/>  "Classified" and "[['Round the World with the Rubber Duck]]" (a [[pirates in popular culture|pirate]]-flavored sequel to "Convoy") bubbled under the Hot 100.  The majority of McCall's hits were written by the team of Fries and Davis; only "Roses For Mama" and the low-charting "Outlaws And Lone Star Beer" were penned by outside writers.

In 1978, the movie ''[[Convoy (1978 film)|Convoy]]'' was released, based on the C. W. McCall song.<ref name="LarkinCountry"/> The film starred [[Kris Kristofferson]], [[Ali MacGraw]], [[Burt Young]], and [[Ernest Borgnine]] and was directed by [[Sam Peckinpah]].<ref name="LarkinCountry"/> It featured a new version of the song, with lyrics written specifically for the plot of the film.

But by the time of the movie's release, the trucking fad was waning.  In 1979, Fries retired from the music business, although he recorded a few songs in later years.  He voiced more commercials, including ads for Kern's bread featuring the actors he had made popular with Old Home.<ref>Ligo, Joe, "The 1970s Trucking Craze Can Be Traced Back to a Regional TV Commercial for Bread," ''The Drive'', May 19, 2021</ref>

In addition to the "original six" McCall albums released between 1975 and 1979, two rare singles exist. "Kidnap America" was a politically/socially-conscious track released in 1980 during the [[Iran hostage crisis]], while "Pine Tar Wars" referred to [[Pine Tar Game|an event that actually happened]] in a [[New York Yankees]]–[[Kansas City Royals]] baseball game during 1983 (a dispute concerning the application of a large quantity of pine tar to a baseball bat used by [[George Brett (baseball)|George Brett]], one of the Royals' players).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bondy |first=Filip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7krCgAAQBAJ&dq=Pine+Tar+Wars+mccall&pg=PA178 |title=The Pine Tar Game: The Kansas City Royals, the New York Yankees, and Baseball's Most Absurd and Entertaining Controversy |date=July 21, 2015 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4767-7717-7 |language=en |access-date=April 9, 2022 |archive-date=April 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409175505/https://books.google.com/books?id=j7krCgAAQBAJ&dq=Pine+Tar+Wars+mccall&pg=PA178 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The song "Convoy" is featured in ''[[Grand Theft Auto V]]''. In 2014, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked "Convoy" No. 98 on their list of 100 Greatest Country Songs.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/100-greatest-country-songs-of-all-time-20140601/98-c-w-mccall-convoy-1975-0211083 |title=98. C.W. McCall, 'Convoy' (1975) Photo - 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=June 1, 2014 |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714143610/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/100-greatest-country-songs-of-all-time-20140601/98-c-w-mccall-convoy-1975-0211083 |url-status=live }}</ref>


==Politics and later life in Ouray==
[[File:Ouray CO Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library 2006 09 13.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library|Ouray City Hall]], which was created as a replica of the [[Independence Hall]], was restored after a fund-raising campaign led by Bill Fries as mayor]]
Fries and his family vacationed in [[Ouray, Colorado]], during the 1960s.  They then bought a [[summer home]] there after the financial success of "Convoy."  When Fries stopped touring, he retired to Ouray with his family.  In 1986, Fries was elected mayor of the town and served three terms of two years each.  His main achievement as mayor was to restore the historic city hall, which had burned down in 1950.  Another major project was the ''San Juan Odyssey''.  This was an audiovisual exhibition which had originally been a slide show at [[Wright's Opera House]].  C. W. McCall had provided the narration for this in 1979 and it was shown to hundreds of thousands of visitors until the show closed in 1996.  He then revised and digitized the production so that it could be shown in modern formats such as DVD.{{r|BD|RMN|Star}}

On February 9, 2022, while conducting what would be his final interview with ''[[The Drew and Mike Podcast]]'', he gave his blessing for the use of his signature song "Convoy" for the [[Freedom Convoy]] protests in Canada, with Taste of Country noting that he was "energized and enthusiastic" about the revival of interest in the song and its message.<ref name="hospice">{{Cite web |date=February 17, 2022 |title='Convoy' Singer C.W. McCall Is in Hospice |url=https://tasteofcountry.com/c-w-mccall-hospice/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220155548/https://tasteofcountry.com/c-w-mccall-hospice/ |archive-date=February 20, 2022 |access-date=February 20, 2022 |website=Taste of Country}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Fries married Rena Bonnema on February 15, 1952; the two remained married for 70 years.<ref name=hospice/> 
At the time of his death, he had three children, four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.<ref name=wapobit/>  His hobbies included [[model railroading]] and working on his old [[Willys MB|military jeep]].{{r|AA}}

Fries died from complications of cancer on April 1, 2022, at age 93.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brodsky |first1=Greg |date=April 2022 |title=C.W. McCall, Who Had a #1 Novelty Hit, 'Convoy,' During CB Craze, Dies |url=https://bestclassicbands.com/cw-mccall-obituary-convoy-bill-fries/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401224550/https://bestclassicbands.com/cw-mccall-obituary-convoy-bill-fries/ |archive-date=April 1, 2022 |access-date=April 1, 2022 |website=Best Classic Bands}}</ref>

==Discography==
===Studio albums===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album details
! colspan="5"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"| [[Music recording sales certification|Certification]]<br /><small>([[List of best selling music artists|sales threshold]])</small>
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:40px;"| [[Top Country Albums|US Country]]
! style="width:40px;"| [[Billboard 200|US]]
! style="width:40px;"| [[Kent Music Report|AUS]]<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=183}}</ref>
! style="width:40px;"| CAN
! style="width:40px;"| [[RIANZ|NZ]]
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1975
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[Wolf Creek Pass (album)|Wolf Creek Pass]]'''''<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1975/top-country-albums|title=Top Country Albums – Year-End 1975|magazine=Billboard|access-date=June 5, 2021|archive-date=April 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426010045/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1975/top-country-albums|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{small|Released: January 1975}}
* {{small|Label: [[MGM Records]]}}
| 4
| 143
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[Black Bear Road (album)|Black Bear Road]]'''''<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1976/top-country-albums|title=Top Country Albums – Year-End 1976|magazine=Billboard|access-date=July 19, 2021|archive-date=June 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603201434/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1976/top-country-albums|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{small|Released: September 1975}}
* {{small|Label: MGM Records}}
| 1
| 12
| 49
| 16
| 19
| style="text-align:left;"|
* {{small|[[RIAA|US certification]]: Gold}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1976
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[Wilderness (C. W. McCall album)|Wilderness]]'''''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/wilderness-mw0000890221|title=C.W. McCall - Wilderness Album Reviews, Songs & More|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=August 8, 2023}}</ref>
* {{small|Released: 1976}}
* {{small|Label: [[Polydor Records]]}}
| 9
| 143
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[Rubber Duck (album)|Rubber Duck]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/cw-mccall-convoy-dead-obit-1302155/|title=C.W. McCall, 'Convoy' Country Singer, Dead at 93|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 2, 2022|access-date=April 7, 2022|archive-date=April 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405212110/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/cw-mccall-convoy-dead-obit-1302155/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{small|Released: 1976}}
* {{small|Label: Polydor Records}}
| 29
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| 1977
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[Roses for Mama (album)|Roses for Mama]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: 1977}}
* {{small|Label: Polydor Records}}
| 22
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| 1979
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[C. W. McCall & Co.]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: 1979}}
* {{small|Label: Polydor Records}}
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| 1990
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[The Real McCall: An American Storyteller]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: 1990}}
* {{small|Label: [[American Gramaphone]]}}
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| 2003
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[American Spirit (album)|American Spirit]]''''' <small>(with [[Mannheim Steamroller]])</small><ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: May 20, 2003}}
* {{small|Label: American Gramaphone}}
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
|}

===Compilation albums===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album details
!| Peak positions
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:65px;"| US Country
|-
| 1978
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[C. W. McCall's Greatest Hits]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: 1978}}
* {{small|Label: Polydor Records}}
| 45
|-
| 1989
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[Four Wheel Cowboy]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: 1989}}
* {{small|Label: [[PolyGram Records]]}}
| —
|-
| 1991
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[The Legendary C. W. McCall]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: 1991}}
* {{small|Label: PolyGram Records}}
| —
|-
| 1997
| style="text-align:left;"| '''''[[The Best of C. W. McCall]]'''''<ref name="Rolling Stone"/>
* {{small|Released: 1997}}
* {{small|Label: PSM Records}}
| —
|-
| colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
|}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="9"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:40px;"| [[Hot Country Songs|US Country]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=1994|title=Top Country Singles 1944-1993|edition=1st|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-100-4|page=230}}</ref>
! style="width:40px;"| [[Billboard Hot 100|US]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955-2002|edition=1st|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-155-1|page=455}}</ref>
! style="width:40px;"| CAN Country
! style="width:40px;"| CAN
! style="width:40px;"| CAN AC
! style="width:40px;"| [[UK Singles Chart|UK]]<br /><ref name="betts">{{cite book|first=Graham|last=Betts|year=2004|title=Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004|edition=1st|publisher=Collins|location=London|isbn=0-00-717931-6|page=475}}</ref>
! style="width:40px;"| [[Kent Music Report|AUS]]<ref name=aus/>
! style="width:40px;"| [[RIANZ|NZ]]
! style="width:40px;"| [[Austria Top 40|AUT]]
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1974
| style="text-align:left;"| "Old Home Filler-Up an' Keep On-a-Truckin' Cafe"
| 19
| 54
| 12
| 44
| 44
| —
| —
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| ''Wolf Creek Pass''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Wolf Creek Pass"
| 12
| 40
| 46
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1975
| style="text-align:left;"| "Classified" (Shelby County Tribune)
| 13
| 101
| 45
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Black Bear Road"
| 24
| —
| 42
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| ''Black Bear Road''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "[[Convoy (song)|Convoy]]"
| 1
| 1
| 4
| 1
| 13
| 2
| 1
| 1
| 19
|-
| rowspan="4"| 1976
| style="text-align:left;"| "There Won't Be No Country Music<br />(There Won't Be No Rock 'n' Roll)"
| 19
| 73
| 8
| 77
| 37
| —
| 77
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| ''Wilderness''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Crispy Critters"
| 32
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Four Wheel Cowboy"
| 88
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "[['Round the World with the Rubber Duck]]"
| 40
| 101
| 40
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| ''Rubber Duck''
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1977
| style="text-align:left;"| "Audubon"
| 56
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "[[Roses for Mama (song)|Roses for Mama]]"
| 2
| —
| 5
| —
| —
| —
| 74
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;"| ''Roses for Mama''
|-
| 1978
| style="text-align:left;"| "Outlaws and Lone Star Beer"
| 81
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;"| ''C. W. McCall & Co.''
|-
| 1980
| style="text-align:left;"| "Kidnap America"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| style="text-align:left;"| —
|-
| colspan="11" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
|}

==References==
{{reflist |refs=
<ref name=NG>{{citation |url=http://www.narrowgauge.org/4x4/cw_pages/html/mcwho.html |title=Tales of the Four Wheel Cowboy |date=November 17, 2010 |author=Miles Lumbard |access-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-date=February 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218062431/http://www.narrowgauge.org/4x4/cw_pages/html/mcwho.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=BD>{{citation |url=http://thebigfootdiaries.blogspot.com/2011/10/from-iowa-to-ouray-life-and-times-of-cw.html |title=From Iowa to Ouray: The Life of C.W. McCall |date=October 5, 2011 |author=T Church |work=The Bigfoot Diaries |access-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408125335/http://thebigfootdiaries.blogspot.com/2011/10/from-iowa-to-ouray-life-and-times-of-cw.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=Star>{{citation |url=http://www.cw-mccall.com/images/museum/starmag/star19991221(150).jpg |newspaper=The Star |date=December 31, 1999 |author=William Heller |title=10-4 Rubber Duck! |access-date=April 8, 2022 |archive-date=December 25, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061225081224/http://www.cw-mccall.com/images/museum/starmag/star19991221(150).jpg |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=RMN>[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RM&p_theme=rm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4D999410879D3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "'McCall' Leaves Office"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008060813/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RM&p_theme=rm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4D999410879D3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |date=October 8, 2012 }}, ''Rocky Mountain News'', January 14, 1992. Accessed March 25, 2008</ref>
<ref name=T>{{citation |newspaper=[[The Times]] |title=CW McCall obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/cw-mccall-obituary-gd0xw9prf |date=April 7, 2022 |access-date=April 9, 2022 |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407153559/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cw-mccall-obituary-gd0xw9prf |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=NYT>{{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/arts/music/cw-mccall-dead.html |newspaper=New York Times |title=Bill Fries, Singer Known for 1970s Trucking Ballad 'Convoy,' Dies at 93 |date=April 3, 2022 |author=Michael Levenson}}</ref>
}}

==Bibliography==
* Bernhardt, Jack. (1998). "C.W. McCall" in ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p.&nbsp;333.

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0K4jsnQQnM&list=PLhDsrOU0wbwXinpFQoLgZ0EfjhGAV5YbT&index=1 C.W. McCall Old Home Bread ads]
* [http://www.cw-mccall.com/ C.W. McCall: An American Legend]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97PA0bTZM4U San Juan Odyssey]
* [http://www.bozell.com Bozell Jacobs]
* {{IMDb name|0295588}}
* {{discogs artist|C.W. McCall}}
* {{discogs artist|name=Bill Fries}}
* [https://bestclassicbands.com/cw-mccall-obituary-convoy-bill-fries C.W. McCall obituary in Best Classic Bands]

{{C. W. McCall|state=expanded}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCall, C. W.}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Colorado]]
[[Category:21st-century American male singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American country singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Colorado]]
[[Category:MGM Records artists]]
[[Category:Mayors of places in Colorado]]
[[Category:Musicians from Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Ouray, Colorado]]
[[Category:People from Audubon, Iowa]]
[[Category:Polydor Records artists]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Colorado]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Iowa]]
[[Category:University of Iowa alumni]]