I reckon most IOPI readers are not truck drivers, and therefore might be ignorant to the finer points of truckin’ music, and perhaps truckin’ itself. Therefore, I submit this Red Simpson song for your consideration.
Now, the other Ol’ Red was a friend to Merle Haggard and a fine songwriter, but he just couldn’t get a foothold in the hearts of country music fans. Hailing from Bakersfield CA, Red had been writing songs since he was about yea high, and he’d only gotten so far writin’ what he knew: songs about chicken farming, songs about being enlisted during the Korean War. Sure, he’d had some success , but songwriting don’t put your mug in the magazines. So when some record suits wanted more truckin’ songs, Red stepped on up. Never no mind that Red hadn’t never been a trucker; he was a student of the human condition, and truckin’ is most human.
Red had been writing trucker songs for nearly a decade by the time this song was released in 1973, and “Awful Lot to Learn” reflects many of the themes that recur throughout the Truckin ouvre: the outsider brotherhood of gear grinders, the evenings spent at greasy spoons, the antagonism truckers experience from external agitators. I can’t help but think of the scene in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure when Red sings about knocking over a row of motorcycles, enraging the road’s other great vehicle-specific gang of outlaws. This won’t be the last Pee-Wee echo in this month, neither!
I also love the fuzzed-out guitar effects in the intro, a weird garage rock note that’s used in a lot of truckin’ songs to emulate the sound of those diesel engines running.
Now, Red Simpson caught a case of skin cancer a few years ago, but he wasn’t gonna go 10-7 on account of such a thing, He’s still kicking, playing regular at Trout’s in his hometown of Bakersfield. Like Red Sovine, Red Simpson got a nice WFMU write-up back a spell, so if you want more info on Red S^2, head on over.
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