''Black Bear Road'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

musician

C. W. McCall William Dale Fries Jr. (November 15, 1928 – April 1, 2022) was an American advertising executive and spoken word artist who won several Clio Awards for his advertising campaigns. He is best known for his character C. W. McCall, a truck-drivi ...

, released on

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

in 1975 (see

1975 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1975. __TOC__ Specific locations * 1975 in British music * 1975 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1975 in country music * 1975 in heavy metal music *1975 in jazz Event ...

). It is largely considered the album which gave him the most significant boost of his career, almost entirely due to the hit

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

, "

Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

", that hit the number one spot on both

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's Country charts and its Pop charts. The song itself was largely responsible for starting a nationwide

citizens' band radio Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...

craze. The song "Black Bear Road" in turn popularized the now-infamous road itself, along with its "You don't HAVE to be crazy to drive this road - but it helps" sign.

Track listing

All songs on the original LP release are credited as being written by "C.W. McCall - Bill Fries -

Chip Davis Louis F. "Chip" Davis Jr. (born September 5, 1947 in Hamler, Ohio) is the founder and leader of the music group Mannheim Steamroller. Davis composed the music for several C. W. McCall albums, including the hit 1975 song "Convoy (song), Convoy". H ...

". Bill Fries is the real name of C.W. McCall. # "Black Bear Road" (Bill Fries,

) – 2:00 # "The Silverton" (Fries, Davis) – 2:50 # "Lewis and Clark" (Fries, Davis) - 2:23 # "Oregon Trail" (Fries, Davis) - 2:54 # "Ghost Town" (Fries, Davis) – 3:42 # "

" (Fries, Davis) – 3:48 # "Long Lonesome Road" (Fries, Davis) – 2:10 # "Green River" (Fries, Davis) – 3:10 # "Write Me a Song" (Fries, Davis) - 2:20 # "Mountains on My Mind" (Fries, Davis) - 3:56

Personnel

* C. W. McCall - Vocals, Design * Sarah Westphalen, Carol Rogers (The Puffys), Dick Solowicz, Milt Bailey, Dick Ronelle, Tom Sinclair - Background Vocals * Ron Cooley - Guitar * Bobbie Thomas - Guitar, 5-String Banjo, 4-String Banjo, Pedal Steel Guitar * Ron Steele - Guitar, 4-String Banjo * Steve Hanson - Mandolin, 5-String Banjo * Jackson Berkey - Keyboards, Timpani, Percussion * Eric Hansen, Jimmy Johnson, Brian Sampson - Bass * Chip Davis - Drums, Producer, Arranger * Bill Berg, Don Simmons - Drums * Gene Badgett - Trumpet * Dave Kappy - French Horn * Bill Buntain - Bass Trombone * Jim Schanilec - Tuba * Hugh Brown, Dorothy Brown, Merton Shatzkin, Martin Pearson, Alex Sokol, Joe Landes, Beth McCollum, Miriam Duffelmeyer - Strings

Additional personnel

* Don Sears - Producer, Engineer, Design, Photography * John Boyd - Engineer * Sheri Leverich - Art Director * Dudycha, Schirck & Assoc., Inc. - Art/Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

NarrowGauge.org album information for ''Black Bear Road''
C. W. McCall albums 1975 albums MGM Records albums {{1970s-country-album-stub