The Best Of C.w. Mccall

(c.w. mccall, bill fries, chip davis)

[spoken]
Way out in the canyons of the west, there's a wild river. the spanish named it san buenaventura; but we knew it as the green.

It was daylight on the river but we couldn't see the sun
And we couldn't hear our voices through the roar
But we felt the boilin' current and our blood was runnin' cold
As we headed down the canyon of lodore
And the gods were runnin' with us
On the day we ran the rapids of the green

[chorus]
And we died a thousand times in that forty miles of hell
The longest day of life we'd ever seen
But we lived to tell the story and we know the story well
The day we ran the rapids of the green

We were thirty-two in number when we gathered on the shore
And we headed off into the great unknown
But we summoned up our courage an' we formed a mighty team
And we ran that ragin' river all alone
Yeah, the gods were runnin' with us
On the day we ran the rapids of the green

[echoing shouts.]


And we hear a thousand echoes on the mighty canyon walls
As we shouted from the waters far below
And we saw the ancient warnings and we heard the ghostly cries
Of the men who ran the river long ago
And we prayed that they were with us
On the day we ran the rapids of the green

[echoing shouts.]


Now the memories are swirlin' in the eddies of our minds
But the waters of the green are flowin' clear
And the canyon of lodore will be a long remembered tale
To be told around the campfires through the years
Yeah, the gods were runnin' with us
On the day we ran the rapids of the green

[chorus]
And we died a thousand times in that forty miles of hell
The longest day of life we'd ever seen
But we lived to tell the story and we know the story well
The day we ran the rapids of the green

[echoing shouts. fade out.]

(chip davis, bill fries)

On a cold november mornin'
Back in nineteen-thirty-seven
With an early snow a-fallin'
On the three-foot tracks at ames
Came a mighty strange contraption
Known to trainmen as a motor
But to folks in colorado
She was known by another name

Up the canyons south of sawpit
Past the red cathedral spires
'cross the yellow mountain switchbacks
And the rapids far below
On the high and lofty trestles
Near the fabled mines of ophir
In the silver san juan mountains
Came a goose a-plowin' snow

[chorus]
With a pierce-arrow engine,
Runnin' hot and on the loose
Came the rio grande southern
The gallopin' goose
With a pierce-arrow engine
Runnin' hot and on the loose
Came number five, the gallopin' goose

'twas a four-door auto-mobile
On a dozen wheels of iron
Sixteen feet of rockin' boxcar
Spot-welded to her tail
Loaded down with mercantile
Ten bags a' high-grade ore
Two mothers nursin' babies
Seven miners an' the mail

Up the side a' sunshine mountain
By internal gas combustion
Eight pierce-arrow pistons pullin'
Fifteen thousand pounds a' lead
At the snowshed on the summit
The conductor said his prayers
He declared a busted driveshaft
On the pass at lizard head

[chorus]
With a pierce-arrow engine
Runnin' hot and on the loose
Came the rio grande southern
The gallopin' goose
With a pierce-arrow engine
Runnin' hot and on the loose
Came number five, the gallopin' goose

[musical interlude here.]

Down the three-percent to rico
In the valley of dolores
They still talk about the southern
An' her flock of flyin' geese
From the roundhouse at ridgway
To the depot at durango
All the tracks are gone for scrap iron
And the ganders rest in peace

Up the canyons south of sawpit
Past the red cathedral spires
'cross the yellow mountain switchbacks
And the rapids far below
On the high and lofty trestles
Near the fabled mines of ophir
In the silver san juan mountains
There's a legend in the snow

[chorus]
With a pierce-arrow engine
Runnin' hot and on the loose
Came the rio grande southern
The gallopin' goose
With a pierce-arrow engine
Runnin' hot and on the loose
Came number five, the gallopin' goose

(c.w. mccall, bill fries, chip davis)

Well, it's a long, lonesome road
Through the lifetime of a trucker
But me and my good ol' friend here
We gonna make it

It's a long-haulin' road
And the load of life is heavy
But me an' this good ol' truck
We gonna take it

Through the wind an' rain an' thunder
'til the stormy skies are blue
An' the sunrise lights the highway
Headin' home

Well, it's a long lonesome road
Through the lifetime of a trucker
But me and this here ol' truck
We gonna make it

Well, it's a long lonesome road
And the miles of life are many
But me an' these eighteen wheels
We gonna take it

It's a long way to go
And the road ahead is troubled
But this ol' rig and me
We gonna make it

Through the wind an' rain an' thunder
'til the stormy skies are blue
An' the sunrise lights the highway
Headin' home

It's long lonesome road
Through the lifetime of a trucker
But this ol' truck and me
We gonna make it

Yeah, me and this good ol' friend
We gonna make it

Well, i was born in a town called audubon
Southwest iowa, right where it oughta been
Twenty-three houses, fourteen saloons,
And a feed mill in nineteen-thirty.
Had a neon sign, said "squealer feeds"
And the bus came through when they felt the need
And they stopped at a place there in town called the old home cafe

Now my daddy was a music lovin' man
He stood six-foot-seven, had big ol' hands
He'd lost two fingers in a chainsaw but he could still play the violin
And mom played piana, just the keys in the middle
And dad played a storm on his three-fingered fiddle
'cause that's all there was to do back there folks, except ta go downtown and watch haircuts

So i was raised on dust bowl tunes, you see
Had a six-tube radio an' no tv
It was so dog-goned hot i had to wet the bed in the summer just to keep cool.
Yeah, many's a night i'd lay awake
A-waitin' for a distant station break
Just a-settin' and a-wettin' an' a-lettin' that radio fry.

Well, i listened to nashville and tulsa and dallas
And oklahoma city gave my ear a callus
And i'll never forget them announcers at three a.m.
They'd come on an' say "friends, there's many a soul who needs us
"so send them letters an' cards ta jesus
"that's j-e-s-u-s friends, in care a' del rio, texas."

But the place i remember, on the edge a' town
Was the place where you really got the hard-core sound
Yeah, a place where the truckers used ta stop on their way to dees moins
There was signs all over them windowsills
Like "if the devil don't get ya, then roosevelt will"
And "the bank don't sell no beer, and we don't cash no checks."

Now them truckers never talked about nothin' but haulin'
And the four-letter words was really appallin'
They thought them home-town gals was nothin' but toys for their amusement.
Rode chevys and macks and big ol' stacks
They's always complainin' 'bout their livers an' backs
But they was fast-livin', strung-out, truck-drivin' son of a guns

Now the gal waitin' tables was really classy
Had a rebuilt motor on a fairly new chassis
And she knew how to handle them truckers; name was mavis davis
Yeah, she'd pour 'em a coffee, then she'd bat her eyes
Then she'd listen to 'em tell 'er some big fat lies
Then she'd ask 'em how the wife and kids was, back there in joplin?

Now mavis had all of her ducks in a row
Weighed ninety-eight pounds; put on quite a show
Remind ya of a couple a' cub scouts tryin' ta set up a sears, roebuck pup tent
There's no proposition that she couldn't handle
Next ta her, nothin' could hold a candle
Not a hell of a lot upstairs, but from there on down, disneyland!

Now the truckers, on the other hand, was really crass
They remind ya of fingernails a-scratchin' on glass
A-stompin' on in, leavin' tracks all over the montgomery ward linoleum
Yeah, they'd pound them counters and kick them stools
They's always pickin' fights with the local fools
But one look at mavis, and they'd turn into a bunch a' tomcats

Well, i'll never forget them days gone by
I's just a kid, 'bout four foot high
But i never forgot that lesson an' pickin' and singin', the country way
Yeah, them walkin', talkin' truck stop blues
Came back ta life in seventy-two
As "the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe"

Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

(c.w. mccall, bill fries, chip davis)

Me an' rj an' the kids was on a camp-out in the mountains, and we had us one'a them u-drive-'em army jeep cars which we rented from a fella by the name of kubozke for thirty bucks a day, buy you
Along the way, take a rabbit's foot and leave a pint of blood for a dee-posit.

And he 'splained it all to us how we was supposed to get to telluride, which is fifty miles away by way of the regular highway, however, there was a shortcut but unless we had drove the black be
Ad before, we'd better be off to stay, stay in bed and sleep late. (pay no attention to the gitar there.)

Well, we took up off'n the highway and we come upon a sign says "black bear road. you don't have to be crazy to drive this road, but it helps." i says, "rj, this must the shortcut
Kubozke was talkin' about." she didn't pay no mind, 'cause she was makin' peanut butter sandwiches for the kids in the back seat throwin' rocks and drinkin' kool-aid and playin' count-the-
Se-plates. but they wasn't havin' too much fun a-countin' license plate or cars, 'cause there weren't no other cars.

We went about a mile-and-a-half in about four hours, busted off the right front fender, tore a hole in the oil pan on a rock as big as a hall closet. went over a bump and spilt the kool-aid and
Ene stuck his bolo knife right through the convertible top and the dog threw up all over the back seat. peanut butter don't agree with him, you see.

So we had to stop and take off the top and air everything out and clean it up. the dog run off and rj says she felt her asthma comin' on. i was sittin' there wonderin' what to do when the en-tir
Nic san joo-wan u-drive-'em army jeep car sank in the mud. at thirteen thousand feet above sea level.

Well, we shoveled it out and ate our lunch, the dog made a yellow hole in the snow and roy gene got out his instamatic and took a snapshot of it. mary elizabeth drawed a picture of the road; it
D like a whole bunch a' zs and ws all strung together. and rj took one look at it and said that the only way that jeep car is goin' down that road is over her dead body. then a rock slipped out
Under the wheel and the u-drive-'em army jeep car went right over the edge of the cliff. yahoo-oo-oo-oo!

"doggone-it, roy gene! how many times do i have to 'splain it to you? when i tell you to put a rock under the wheel, i mean rock! now look at that, what you have there is no bigger'n a grap
T."

(bill fries, chip davis)

Well, interstate 80, we was cuttin' the fog
Just me an' old sloan (old sloan's my dog)
We had an eighteen-wheeler with ten on the floor and stereo layin' a strip
Now we spied a sign, says "eat gas now"
We decided to whip in and pick up some chow
At the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

[chorus]
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' (a-lookin' for mavis)
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

Now we've been every place between here and south sioux
And we've seen us a truck-stop waitress or two
But this gal's built like a burlap bag full of bobcats:
She's got it to-gether

Well, she filled my tank; i said "thank you, honey."
Her name was mavis, i gave her the money
Old sloan just set there, watchin' and waggin' and wishin'.
I says, "you wait in the truck, boy."

Then i went inside. she says, "what'll it be?"
I says "a cup of your best and a number three."
She come back with an order to go and a quart of hot c and a bone for sloan.
I said, "much obliged"; old sloan gave a bark
I left her a buck and he left his heart
At the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

[chorus]
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

Well, saturday night we was truckin' along
Yeah, me and old sloan was a-gettin' it on
I said, "sloan, i've been thinkin' on a-gettin' up my courage, and tonight's the night"
Well, i popped the clutch, gave the tranny a spin
Took the beebeetown ramp and slid on in
To the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

[chorus]
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' (it never closes)
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

Well, i got me a stool, took a load off my shoes,
Made mavis an offer that she couldn't refuse
I says, "how'd ya like to go for a ride with me and old sloan? i just had my truck warshed."
She allowed as how it sounded like a whole lot of fun
But we was gonna have ta wait until the dishes was done
And was it all right with me if she brought along her mother as a chaperone?
I said, "why not?"

Well, we geared that tranny into super-low
And the four of us went to see a picture show
Yeah, i took 'em to the drive-in the-a-ter over by pisgah, to see true grit
Saw the late, late show; old sloan hit the sack
And then along about two o'clock i hauled 'em all back
To the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe

[chorus]
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe (eight stools and a promise)
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin'
Oh, the old home filler-up an' keep on a-truckin' cafe (they got a real nice place there)