AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A TRUCK?

I wasn't even looking for it and if you would have asked I would have said I wasn't in the mood for trucker music. But after a few random clicks I ended up on Red Simpson's "(Hello) I'm a Truck". It hit the spot. The Bakersfield sound of it, his rap in the middle of it, and that it's a truck singing about it's owner. Good stuff too, the shame of being passed by a "Volkswagen bus full of hippies".

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Listen:
Red Simpson - (Hello) I'm a Truck mp3 at Tumblr

BEWARE THE GEAR SWAPPIN' MAMA

There are trucker songs about driving, about drinking, about getting home to a woman, and some about screwin' around while out on the road. And then there are trucker songs by women. Those are usually about waiting for a man to get home or worrying about what hijinks they're getting into while on the road. Maybe some longing for this or that. But there are few songs about women truckers. That's where Kay Adams comes in. Her "Little Pink Mack" was, for lack of a better comparison, something akin to a 1966 version of Riot Grrrl gone trucking. It might not seem like a big deal, but if you want to look at a good ol' boy network, you'd be hard pressed to find a tighter, more male dominated group.

Besides the subject matter, the song is notable for the period perfect guitar. It was recorded in 1966, and Kay Adams was hovering around Bakersfield. Yeah, that means some clean succinct pickin' including the clickity sound of a Bakersfield guitar (presumably a Telecaster), some tasty pedal steel and some rogue fuzz. Yee haw.

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Listen:
Kay Adams - Little Pink Mack mp3 at Rocky 52
Norma Jean - Truck Driving Woman (streaming) at YouTube Two years later, Norma Jean picks up on it. 
Kay Adams and Dick Curless - Devil Like Me (With an Angel Like You) mp3 at Rocky 52

'MON BACK, YOU'RE IN THE MUD.

Because sometimes you need a little blue collar, gotta get home, the road's a drag, check out that chick, old school, political correctness be damned, give me another beer and a couple of the little white pills type of music, here's some songs that are about as real as they get. Good ol' American trucker music. Fire up a Pall Mall. The road will wait.

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Listen:
Dick Curless - Chick Inspector mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Dave Dudley - Two Six Packs Away mp3 at Rocky 52
Dave Dudley - Six Days on the Road mp3 at J.Yuenger
Red Sovine - I'm A Truck mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Eleven more trucker tunes at Beware of the Blog

SUCK ON THIS HIPSTER

I heard Hank Thompson's "Six Pack to Go" today, early. Before I'd even had a second cup of coffee, in a store that was piping in old school country and western music. It was weird hearing it that early. It's always been a going out or going home sort of song. But, man, what a way to start the day. I had to post it, and good ol' dependable Junk Shop Juke Box had it.

It made me want to post Dave Dudley's "Two Six Packs Away" for the umpteenth time. (That's Dudley above.) Yes, it's another six pack song, but it also gave me an excuse to slap some "Six Days on the Road" on you. And how about that  badass photo above? (By Jim McGuire, the full size can be seen here). Check him out. That right there is the real deal. Dudley at age 48, regular guy, bad habit, cool windbreaker, and irony-free PBR patch in tow.

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Listen:
Hank Thompson - Six Pack to Go mp3 (via DivShare) at Junk Shop Juke Box

Once you get to DivShare, click on the green "Download" button, and scratch your head for fifteen seconds while the timer counts down. When the button reappears, you're good to go.

Dave Dudley - Two Six Packs Away mp3 at Rocky 52
Dave Dudley - Six Days on the Road mp3 at J.Yuenger

TRUCK BERRY

Attention hipsters of all ages. Give up. The regular guy above, one Dave Dudley, has commandeered all the PBR in the house, smokes when or where he wants, and has a customized windbreaker. (Or did. He passed away in 2003.). He just has that look, like he just said "I don't give a shit".

He had his first hit, "Six Days on the Road" at age 35. Yeah. 35. You've heard it a zillion times, but it's like the "Johnny B. Goode" of trucker music; good to revisit every so often to relish the pureness of it. If you haven't heard it, watch the video above. For those of you who are already Six Days saturated, there's one down there, recorded in 1980, at age 57; the truth about a life on the road, "Rolaids, Doans Pills, and Preperation H". To add to its weirdness, it's on Sun. And it has wah-wah on it.

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Listen:
Dave Dudley - Two Six Packs Away mp3 at Rocky52
Dave Dudley - I Got Lost mp3 at Beware of the Blog 
Dave Dudley - Rolaids, Doans Pills, and Preparation H mp3 via DivShare at Frances Favorites 45s
Visit:
Dave Dudley at Wikipedia

HAYSEED PAYDIRT

So, what to pick up for that retro roots fiend on your list? You know, the one who thinks they have everything sewn up. They have their cowboy shirts, Levis, pomade, boots, vintage ride and a few Hank Williams and Gene Vincent records. They've spent so much time covering the bases, getting all the required accessories, they've now considered their job finished, and retired to the bathroom mirror. Here's what you do: send them to school. Run down to your local drug store and pick up a couple packs of blank CD-Rs. Then head over to Western & Bop for the motherlode. The amount of genre specific stuff they've got is mindblowing. Really, they have all the bases covered. Hillbilly, rockin' hillbilly, obscure rockabilly, western swing, trucker favorites and more; and much of it obscure.

It will take a little bit of effort. The music they've posted is all in album length RAR files, which, if you're technically inclined, is no big deal. If you don't have experience with RAR files, or don't have a converter, it's easy enough to find one online (for Windows, try WinRAR at C.net). Look, if I can figure it out, you can. The payoff is huge. Here's direct links to their posts with "Rockin' Hillbilly" compilations, but do browse. If you're into anything affiliated with old country & western music, bookmarking should be a reflex. Now tell your greaser to get back to work!

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Rockin' Hillbilly - Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9, Volume 10 at Western & Bop

More country & western, hillbilly, western swing, trucker's favorites, and rockabilly compilations at Western & Bop