Yeah, COMPREHENSIVE, indeed! Now what is left for the rest of us??

Actually, I have been meaning to lay down a few things about one of my favorites, Old Home Filler-Up An' Keep On A-Truckin' Cafe. This is the song which quite by accident started the whole C. W. McCall thing. In 1972, ad writer Bill Fries created a series of television advertisements for Iowa's Old Home Bread Company. The commercials featured a trucker, C.W. McCall, a driver for Old Home. His girlfriend, Mavis, worked at the Old Home Filler-Up And Keep-On-A-Truckin' Cafe. Chip Davis, who went on to be the founder of Mannheim Steamroller wrote the music.

Since my parents used to live not too far from the Illinois/Iowa line, I got to see quite a few of the commercials which had a continuous story line, and were quite entertaining. They were so popular that people would actually call up the stations that carried them and REQUEST them! It was not until 1974 that Old Home, etc. became a minor hit for Fries, recording as C. W. McCall. Convoy came along as a single in 1976.

The Old Home Cafe is still there in Pisgah, Iowa, so far as I know. Sadly, I don't think there ever was a real Mavis, no more than there ever was a real C. W.

More about Fries/Davis/CW/Mavis/Sloane/Old Home, etc. on this page, including a picture of the lovely Mavis. I used to know the name of the actress who played her, but it is gone now. Maybe it is on the site somewhere.

Old Home Filler-Up An' Keep On A-Truckin' Cafe

Bill Fries, Chip Davis, 1972
From the album Wolf Creek Pass, 1975

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-tre 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)