Roll, Truck, Roll cover

Roll, Truck, Roll

Released

Red Simpson was a songwriter who wrote hits for Buck Owens in the early 1960s, and a performer with a clean, low singing voice and a twang he could apply or remove as needed without ever seeming dishonest or showbizzy. Four of the songs on this, his debut album, are co-written with Owens, while the title track is by Tommy Collins. Every one, no matter who wrote it, is about driving a truck, or the sorrows of being a truck driver, and some — “Nitro Express” and “Runaway Truck” — tell stories that will particularly excite your average ten-year-old boy. The music has a twitchy energy, with clean Telecaster lead lines, a sharp Bakersfield backbeat, and the odd splash of piano, particularly on “Big Mack.” With only “Truck Driver’s Blues” passing the three-minute mark, this album flies by in under half an hour.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Will the Circle Be Unbroken cover

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Tiffany Transcriptions, Vol. 2 cover

Tiffany Transcriptions, Vol. 2

Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
Bakersfield Bound cover

Bakersfield Bound

Herb Pedersen, Chris Hillman
The Dynamic Tommy Collins cover

The Dynamic Tommy Collins

Tommy Collins
Hank Williams as Luke the Drifter cover

Hank Williams as Luke the Drifter

Hank Williams
Look What Thoughts Will Do cover

Look What Thoughts Will Do

Lefty Frizzell
Country Music Hall of Fame cover

Country Music Hall of Fame

The Sons of the Pioneers
Willy Jones cover

Willy Jones

Susan Raye
The Essential Gene Autry: 1933-1946 cover

The Essential Gene Autry: 1933-1946

Gene Autry
The Man Behind the Badge cover

The Man Behind the Badge

Red Simpson
Strangers cover

Strangers

Merle Haggard
Live at the Cimarron Ballroom cover

Live at the Cimarron Ballroom

Patsy Cline