The Real Mccall: An American Storyteller

(bill fries, chip davis)

From the album wolf creek pass

When the skies are gray, and the wind is cold, i remember. how the snow was silver, and the leaves were gold when i left her. it was early mornin', on a rocky mountain september. and she was gon
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Well now it's five a.m. an' i'm a hunnert an' ten miles from denver
An' the snow is silver an' the leaves are gold an' i miss her
'cause it's another mornin' on a another mountain september
An' i'm alone

Yeah, we climbed the mountain together, an' we stood on top a' the world. but now i gotta remember it all... alone.

When the fire is warm, an' the sun is cool, in november. when my heart is young, and my mind is old, i remember. an early mornin', on a rocky mountain september. and she's gone.

Well now it's fall again an' i'm a thousand miles from nowhere
An' i can can hear her voice an' i see her smile an' i miss her
An' it's another mornin' on another mountain september
An' i'm alone

Yeah, we climbed the mountain together, an' we stood on top a' the world. but now i gotta try to remember it all... alone.

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

She was born in the brief mountain springtime
Blue in the late mountain snow
And she grew in the sunlight of summer
But she knew when the aspen turned gold
That she had grown old


[chorus]
Columbine, columbine
Blue in the rockies
Will i miss you, while you were away?
Will i see you next summer, wild on the mountain?
Will you be there, when i pass your way?

She was there in the brief mountain springtime
Blue in the late mountain snow
And we lived in the sunlight of summer
But i knew when the aspen turned gold
That i had grown old

[chorus]
Columbine, columbine
Blue in the rockies
Will you miss me, when i've gone away?
Will i see you next summer, wild on the mountain?
Will you be there, when i pass your way?

Columbine, columbine
Blue in the rockies
Will you miss me, when i've gone away?

(c.w. mccall, b. fries, c. davis)

[on the cb]
Ah, breaker one-nine, this here's the rubber duck. you gotta copy on me, pig pen, c'mon? ah, yeah, 10-4, pig pen, fer shure, fer shure. by golly, it's clean clear to flag town, c'mon. yeah, that
Big 10-4 there, pig pen, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy...

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."

[chorus]
'cause we got a little convoy
Rockin' through the night.
Yeah, we got a little 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!


[on the cb]
Ah, breaker, pig pen, this here's the duck. and, you wanna back off them hogs? yeah, 10-4, 'bout five mile or so. ten, roger. them hogs is gettin' in-tense up here.

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."

[chorus]
'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!


[on the cb]
Ah, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that, pig pen? negatory, pig pen; you're still too close. yeah, them hogs is startin' to close up my sinuses. mercy sakes, you better back off another ten.

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 illinoise 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.


[on the cb]
Ah, rubber duck to sodbuster, come over. yeah, 10-4, sodbuster? lissen, you wanna put that micra-bus right behind that suicide jockey? yeah, he's haulin' dynamite, and he needs all the help he c
T.

Well, we laid a strip for the jersey shore
And 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."

[chorus]
'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! ah, 10-4, pig pen, what's your twenty?
Convoy! omaha? well, they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there fer shure. well, mercy
Convoy! sakes, good buddy, we gonna back on outta here, so keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your...
Convoy! tail. we'll catch you on the flip-flop. this here's the rubber duck on the side.
Convoy! we gone. 'bye,'bye.

(bill fries, chip davis)

[a ghostly chorus]
Night rider

Well, a-truckin' on the night line, quarter past five
Tryin' to get my rig an' me to 'frisco alive
Fog lights up tight, a-givin' me the creeps
Just a winnemucca trucka with a load a' black sheep

[a ghostly chorus]
Night rider

I got a belly full a' jelly and head full a' pain
Bennies spinnin' spider webs, a-messin' my brain
Tryin' ta get myself together with a shot a' black c
What i really oughta get me is an hour a' zs

[chorus, but not ghostly]
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights, 'til you've gone blind

Well, alabammy mammy got a spell on my life
Kansas city kitty cut my heart out tonight
I lost a c-note in reno off a' keno and craps
And now smokey's on the overpass a-settin' his traps
White lines lasers burnin' holes in my eyes
Feel like i'm hypnotized, think i'm gonna die
Interstate 80, gonna get me no sleep
Just a-winkin' and a-blinkin' with a stinkin' load a' sheep

[chorus]
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights, 'til you've gone blind

[a ghostly chorus]
Night rider

[ghostly, but it's not the chorus]
Ba ba black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sah, yes sah, three bags full
One for my master, and one for my dame
And one for jimmy bowen who lives in l.a.


[chorus]
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind (yeah)
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind

[psychotic cackling here. he's losin' it.]

Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind

[fade out]
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind
Night rider, night rider, losin' your mind
Look at those lights 'til you think you've gone blind

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

From the album wilderness

Come along and sing
A song you knew before
Come along and sing
Once more

Come along and live
A life you knew before
Come along and live
Once more

[c.w. and backup singers]
Wake with me and feel the misty blue dawn
Come hear the wild bird sing her mornin' song
See the sun that only wilderness sees
Then walk with me and let your heart run free

Come on along and chase the wind once more
Come on along and try one more time
Come on along and find the trail once more
Come on along and live again

[c.w. and backup singers]
Come with me and see the ridge run wild
Come hear the canyon call her wanderin' child
Breathe the air that only wilderness breathes
Then walk with me and let your heart run free

[musical interlude. slow banjo pickin' and violins.]

Come on along and climb the mountain once more
Come on along and try one more time
Come on along and cross the river with me
Come on along and live again

[c.w. and backup singers]
Come with me and hear the night bird cry
And see the starlight fill the wonderous sky
Feel the joy that only wilderness feels
Come on along along and we'll be free

Fly with me and find the end of time
Run with me and feel the wilderness high
Come on along and live forever with me
Come on along along and we'll be free

When rivers ran blue up on the mountain
And rivers ran green out on the plain
When the river ran red in glenwood canyon
It was only a matter of time

Then rivers ran gold up on the mountain
And rivers ran wild out on the plain
And the river ran free through glenwood canyon
And it was only a matter of time

And the miners came and they took the gold and the people staked a claim
And the builders came and they made a dam and the people came to play
And the 'dozers came and they built a road and the people found a way
Through glenwood canyon

Now rivers run grey up on the mountain
And rivers brown out on the plain
And the river runs red through glenwood canyon
But it's only a matter of time

She was born one mornin' on a san juan summer
Back in eighteen and eighty and one
She was a beautiful daughter of the d and r g
And she weighed about a thousand ton

Well, it's a-forty-five mile through the animas canyon
So they set her on the narra gauge
She drank a whole lot a' water
And she ate a lot of coal
And they called her the silverton (silverton train)

[chorus]
Here comes the silverton, up from durango
Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal
Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon
See the smoke and hear the whistle blow

Well, now listen to the whistle in the rock wood cut
On the high line to silverton town
And you're gonna get a shiver
When you check out the river
Which is four hundred feet straight down

Take on some water at the needleton tank
And then a-struggle up a two-five grade
And by the time you get your hide
Past the snowshed slide
You've had a ride on the silverton (silverton train)

[chorus]
Here comes the silverton, up from durango
Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal
Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon
See the smoke and hear the whistle blow

[musical interlude here. nice violins, and the kettle drums boom well.]

[chorus]
Here comes the silverton, up from durango
Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal
Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon
See the smoke and hear the whistle blow

[if the next line seems a bit familiar, you're correct. chug-chug, toot-toot, off we go.]

Now, down by the station, early in the mornin'
There's a whole lot a' people in line
And they all got a ticket
On the train to yesterday
And it's a-gonna leave on time

Well, it's a forty-five mile up the animas canyon
So they run her on the narra gauge
She takes a whole lot a' water
And she needs a lot of coal
And they call her the silverton (silverton train)

[chorus]
Here comes the silverton, up from durango
Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal
Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon
See the smoke and hear the whistle blow


[fade out]
Here comes the silverton, up from durango
Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal
Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon
See the smoke and hear the whistle blow

Here comes the silverton, up from durango
Here comes the silverton, a-shovelin' coal
Here comes the silverton, up from the canyon
See the smoke and hear the whistle blow

(bill fries, chip davis)

Me an' earl was haulin' chickens on a flatbed out of wiggins, and we'd spent all night on the uphill side of thirty-seven miles of hell called wolf creek pass. which is up on the great divide?


We was settin' there suckin' toothpicks, drinkin' nehi and onion soup mix, and i said, "earl, let's mail a card to mother then send them chickens on down the other side. yeah, let's give 'e
Ide."

[chorus]
Wolf creek pass, way up on the great divide
Truckin' on down the other side

Well, earl put down his bottle, mashed his foot down on the throttle, and then a couple'a boobs with a thousand cubes in a nineteen-forty-eight peterbilt screamed to life. we woke up the chicken
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Well, we roared up offa that shoulder sprayin' pine cones, rocks, and boulders, and put four hundred head of them rhode island reds and a couple a' burnt-out roosters on the line. look out below
Use here we go!

Well, we commenced to truckin' and them hens commenced to cluckin' and then earl took out a match and scratched his pants and lit up the unused half of a dollar cigar and took a puff. says "
Ain't this purdy up here."

I says, "earl, this hill can spill us. you better slow down or you gonna kill us. just make one mistake and it's the pearly gates for them eight-five crates a' usda-approved cluckers. you w
Hit second?"

[chorus]
Wolf creek pass, way up on the great divide
Truckin' on down the other side

Well, earl grabbed on the shifter and he stabbed her into fifth gear and then the chromium-plated, fully-illuminated genuine accessory shift knob come right off in his hand. i says, "you wa
Crew that thing back on, earl?"

He was tryin' to thread it on there when the fire fell off a' his cigar and dropped on down, sorta rolled around, and then lit in the cuff of earl's pants and burned a hole in his sock. yeah, so
Et him right on fire.

I looked on outta the window and i started countin' phone poles, goin' by at the rate of four to the seventh power. well i put two and two together, and added twelve and carried five; come up wi
Enty-two thousand telephone poles an hour.

I looked at earl and his eyes was wide, his lip was curled, and his leg was fried. and his hand was froze to the wheel like a tongue to a sled in the middle of a blizzard. i says, "earl, i'
The type to complain; but the time has come for me to explain that if you don't apply some brake real soon, they're gonna have to pick us up with a stick and a spoon."

Well, earl rared back, and cocked his leg, stepped as down as hard as he could on the brake, and the pedal went clear to the floor and stayed there, right there on the floor. he said it was sort
E steppin' on a plum.

Well, from there on down it just wasn't real purdy: it was hairpin county and switchback city. one of 'em looked like a can full'a worms; another one looked like malaria germs. right in the midd
The whole damn show was a real nice tunnel, now wouldn't you know?

Sign says clearance to the twelve-foot line, but the chickens was stacked to thirteen-nine. well we shot that tunnel at a hundred-and-ten, like gas through a funnel and eggs through a hen, and w
K that top row of chickens off slicker than scum off a lousiana swamp. went down and around and around and down 'til we run outta ground at the edge of town. bashed into the side of the feed sto
In downtown pagosa springs.

[chorus]
Wolf creek pass, way up on the great divide
Truckin' on down the other side
Wolf creek pass, way up on the great divide
Truckin' on down the other side