The Driver's song was written for the Radio Ballad 'Song of A Road' which was broadcast by the BBC on 5th November 1959 - it was the second programme in the series and was centred on the building of the M1 motorway, Britain's first.
The idea for the song came from actuality recorded from Jack Hamilton from County Sligo, who drove a gigantic concrete-laying machine which he claimed was "So easy to handle that a leddy (lady) could drive it".
MacColl earlier wrote a song called Champion at Keepen' 'Em Rollin; this was for a radio programme on long-distance lorry drivers.
Jim Carroll