Red Simpson
Best known for his string of trucking songs, Red Simpson was raised in Bakersfield, California, the youngest of a dozen children. At age 14, he wrote his first song -- about chickens -- and sang it to his family's fowl. During the Korean War, he served aboard a naval hospital ship, the Repose, where he found relief by forming the Repose Ramblers, who played any instruments they could scrounge up. He bought better ones in Japan and began to practice in earnest, and became a professional musician in California after his discharge.
Simpson was working at the Wagon Wheel in Lamont when Fuzzy Owen saw him and arranged for Simpson to work at his Clover Club as a piano player. He then got a job replacing Buck Owens at the Blackboard Club on weekends. Simpson was influenced by Owens, Merle Haggard, and Bill Woods, who asked Red if he would write a song about driving trucks. (By the time Simpson handed him four truck songs, however, Woods had stopped recording.) Simpson began writing songs with Buck Owens in 1962, including the Top Ten hit "Gonna Have Love."
In 1965, Capitol's Ken Nelson was looking for someone to record some songs about trucking. His first choice was Haggard, who wasn't interested, but Simpson readily agreed. His first, Tommy Collins' "Roll, Truck, Roll," became a Top 40 country hit and Simpson recorded an album of the same name. That year he offered up two more trucking songs, both of which made it to the Top 50 or beyond. As a songwriter, he scored his first number one hit with "Sam's Place," recorded by Buck Owens. After that, Simpson decided to become a full-time writer. He returned to performing in 1971 with his Top Five hit "I'm a Truck," which had been written by postman Bob Staunton.
In 1972, he debuted on the Grand Ole Opry and had two more "truck" hits for Capitol. In 1976, Simpson signed to Warner Bros. and released "Truck Driver's Heaven." The following year, he teamed up with Lorraine Walden for a series of duets that included "Truck Driver Man and Wife." In 1979, Simpson appeared for the last time on the charts with "The Flying Saucer Man and the Truck Driver." Haggard recorded his song "Lucky Old Colorado" in 1988; later that year Simpson was diagnosed with skin cancer and underwent surgery, but he fully recovered and continued his writing and performing career. Featuring 14 new songs, The Bard of Bakersfield was Simpson's first album in nearly a quarter century, arriving on the Windsor Music label in 2005. Simpson died in Bakersfield in January 2016 from complications of a heart attack; he was 81 years old.
© Sandra Brennan /TiVo
Discography
8 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Capitol Collectors Series
Country - Released by CMCapNash (N91) on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roll, Truck, Roll
Country - Released by EMI Music Nashville (ERN) on 1 Jan 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Truck Drivin' Fool
Country - Released by Capitol Nashville on 1 Jan 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Truckers' Christmas
Christmas Music - Released by Capitol Nashville on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Man Behind The Badge
Country - Released by Capitol Nashville on 1 Jan 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Red Simpson: Studio 102 Essentials
Country - Released by Suite 102 on 27 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American Portraits: Red Simpson
Country - Released by Dockland Music on 7 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'm a Truck / Roll Truck Roll (Rerecorded Version)
Country - Released by K-Tel on 2 Oct 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo