Truckin' ~ Convoy

[xoxoxoBruce]

These are the lyrics of the ’new version’, reflecting the events of the motion picture Convoy.
Yes, the soundtrack album does credit the song to "Louis F. Davis, William Fries, C.W. McCall".



Arizona, noon, on the seventh of June
When they highballed over the pass
Bulldog Mack with a can on back
And a Jaguar haulin’ ass
He’s ten on the floor, stroke an’ bore
Seatcover’s startin’ ta gain
Now beaver, you a-truckin’ with the Rubber Duck
An’ I’m about ta pull the plug on your drain

...................... [Chorus]
...................... ’Cause we got a little ol’ convoy
...................... Rockin’ through the night
...................... Yeah, we got a little ol’ convoy,
...................... Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
...................... Come on and join our convoy
...................... Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way
...................... We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy
...................... ’Cross the U-S-A
...................... Convoy!

New Mexico, on I-four-oh
Like a Texas lizard on glass
One thousand pedals was mashin’ the metal
Them bears was a-walkin’ the grass
We trucked all day and we trucked all night
Big Benny improvin’ our style
We could tell by the smell
We was headin’ for Hell
And the Devil was Dirty Lyle

...................... [Chorus]

..... [This next verse appears only in the movie itself; it’s not in the song on the soundtrack album.]

Texas dawn and the charge was on to the pits of Alvarez town
We had nine of our best comin’ outta the west
And the ultimate hammer was down
Yeah, speed-trap city and we showed no pity
’Cause the whole damn place was a pile
We could tell by the smell it was trucker’s hell
And the devil was Dirty Lyle

Now Lyle was a creep
He was tacky and cheap
But he had him a badge an’ a gun
He hated the Duck and he hated his truck
And he loved to bust truckers for fun
So he followed the line
And he bided his time
And he watched for his chance to strike
Then he picked on a trucker
Yeah, a wiry ol’ sucker
Yeah, the trucker they call Spider Mike
But the great Rubber Duck
Sorta run outta luck
When he crossed that final bridge
There’s choppers and rigs full’a guns an’ pigs
They’s wall-to-wall on the ridge
He showed no fear as he grabbed his gear
An’ he stuck it in grandaddy low
Them guns went boom
An’ his ass went zoom
An’ the Mack took a terminal blow

Well, that big black Mack stopped dead in her tracks
When the trailer blew high in the air
There was pieces of truck and some pieces of Duck
And junk and debris everywhere
Then the rig took a drink an’ commenced to sink
And there was no Duck no more
But that evil smile from Dirty ol’ Lyle
Shone south from the north Texas shore

...................... [Chorus]

Convoy! Ah, 10-4,
Convoy! Pig Pen, what’s your twenty? Omaha? Well,
Convoy! they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there fer shure. Well, listen, good buddy,
Convoy! keep the bugs off’n your glass and the bears off’n your ass. We’ll
Convoy! catch you on the flip-flop. This here’s the Rubber Duck on the side. Southbound an’ down.
Convoy! We gone. ’Bye,’bye.


CW McCall

[xoxoxoBruce]

I knew Knox made cars and trucks in Springfield, MA, in the early20th century, after all that’s home.
I was looking at some Knox firetrucks when I found these.



What? Three wheeled firetruck? I thought, that can’t be very heavy duty. Boy was I wrong.



OK, Land-Tug for moving freight trailers around factories and depots, slow and strong.
They also made a Road Tractor, but that can’t be very fast either.
Then I found pictures of them doing things I didn’t think even 1910 trucks could do.




By 1915 the four wheeled tractor spelled the end of days for the three wheeled model.
Probably to go faster with more stability on the road.



Some clippings from the era.







So there you have it, now you know who invented the Semi.

[John Sellers]

The new version's good. I still prefer the original, tho.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The new version better matches the video but I don't know about the movie.

[Griff]

Great find Bruce! I love the design of the thing. I bet you could really wheedle through tight streets with that.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yeah, Land-Tug is the perfect description, and an elegant solution. It's an engineers wet dream and a designers nightmare. But the on/over, the road pictures blew me away, made me think of farm tractors hauling machinery over the road at 25 mph.
I was surprised at finding the origins of tractor trailer and semi, one of the guilty pleasures of these multi-hour wanderings down rabbit holes that make people cluck and pat me on the head.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The Russians wanted to mechanize and when they sought advice they heard... ♫ Go ask Allis, I think she'll go...

[John Sellers]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

The new version better matches the video but I don't know about the movie.

The tune is pretty much the same, but the lyrics are a bit different.

Here are the original 1975 lyrics, also by CW:

Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin' logs
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs
We is headin' for bear on I-one-oh
'Bout a mile outta Shaky Town
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"And I'm about to put the hammer down."

'Cause we got a little ol' convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a little ol' convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!

By the time we got into Tulsa Town,
We had eighty-five trucks in all.
But they's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf,
And them bears was wall-to-wall.
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper;
They even had a bear in the air!
I says, "Callin' all trucks, this here's the Duck.
"We about to go a-huntin' bear."

'Cause we got a great big convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a great big convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!

Well, we rolled up Interstate 44
Like a rocket sled on rails.
We tore up all of our swindle sheets,
And left 'em settin' on the scales.
By the time we hit that Chi-town,
Them bears was a-gettin' smart:
They'd brought up some reinforcements
From the Illinois National Guard.
There's armored cars, and tanks, and jeeps,
And rigs of ev'ry size.
Yeah, them chicken coops was full'a bears
And choppers filled the skies.
Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
An' eleven long-haired Friends a' Jesus
In a chartreuse micra-bus.

Well, we laid a strip for the Jersey shore
Prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge was lined with bears
But I didn't have a dog-goned dime.
I says, "Pig Pen, this here's the Rubber Duck.
"We just ain't a-gonna pay no toll."
So we crashed the gate doing ninety-eight
I says "Let them truckers roll, 10-4."

'Cause we got a mighty convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a mighty convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy! Convoy! Convoy! Convoy!

Read more: C.W. McCall - Convoy Lyrics | MetroLyrics

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes, he wasn't happy with the matchup of the lyrics with the film, that's what inspired this project.

[xoxoxoBruce]

A different kind of truckin' in a different kind of truck...