Rhythm of the Road

 Red Simpson: The Forgotten Bakersfield Sound 

With the success of “Roll Truck Roll,” Simpson next released “Diesel Smoke and Dangerous Curves.” As opposed to its predecessor, the song isn’t focused on a longing to be home but rather the perils of driving on little sleep and steep grades that have worn his truck’s brakes thin. Fortunately, at the bottom of the grade there’s a waitress with a hot pot of coffee. Simpson made sure to include the reference to the truck stop in the song as they were the locations where the public and truckers tended to interact. 

Throughout his career, Simpson continued focusing on trucking songs. His seven albums for Capitol Records include the likes of “Truck Driver Heaven,” an outtake on the old Tex Ritter song, “I Dream of a Hillbilly Heaven.” He sung the trucker anthem “Nitro Express,” a song that told of the dangers of the occupation. He even wrote of truck drivers from the perspective of law enforcement, with songs like “The Man Behind the Badge,” “I’m Turning in My Star,” and “Sidewalk Patrol.” But trucking songs remained his staple, and in 1971 he released his most popular – “I’m a Truck” – his only recording to reach the top five on the charts. Listeners and critics of Red Simpson had always known him to be a comedian. They commented on his “pixie-like” quality with red hair, freckles, and blue eyes who played the bass, guitar, fiddle, and piano. While he had a rugged, Navy-built exterior with bulging biceps, at heart people knew Simpson as a tender soul always looking for a laugh. That’s what came with “I’m a Truck.” 

“I’m a Truck” looked at the trucker’s life from a new perspective. Rather than lyrics of a driver bearing his soul, the song took the truck’s view on being the hard-working partner of the duo who put its own life on the line and made up for its operator’s mistakes. As the song begins, “You’ve heard songs about truck drivers, many times their stories told…,” the lyrics make clear that the listener is hearing a different type of trucking song, and it draws immediate attention. “You’ve heard their tales of daring, and I think that’s just fine, but if you can spare a minute, I’d like to tell you mine….,” and so the truck drones on, and audiences ate it up. The song led to Simpson’s first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and a Cashbox Award for “Most Promising Male” artist. Likewise, Record World named Simpson it’s “Most Promising Album Artist.” He even earned an Academy of Country Music nomination for “Most Promising Male Vocalist.” Non-musical institutions appreciated Simpson’s work as well. The California Highway Patrol recognized his attention to its efforts and named him honorary member after his recording of “Highway Patrol.” The Idaho Highway Patrol adopted it as its official song. 

Throughout the early 1980s, Red Simpson continued touring the country and singing his trucking songs, even after Trucker Country began to decline. All the while, he kept writing songs, and over the years many artists turned to Simpson for hits including Johnny Paycheck, Wanda Jackson, The Byrds, Gram Parsons, Dave Dudley, Roseanne Cash, Steve Wariner, and Alan Jackson. Of course, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard relied on Simpson for much of their material, and the two recorded about 40 of his songs. Largely for that reason, famed musical artist Bob Dylan labeled Red Simpson “The forgotten member of the Bakersfield Sound.” 

In the mid-80s, Simpson truncated his touring schedule and became a regular at Trout’s nightclub in Oakdale, California. He had a brief resurgence to his career in the 1990s when alternative country artist Junior Brown asked Simpson to join him in recording duets of “Nitro Express” and “Semi-Crazy.” Brown, who sung a few trucking songs in his own right, never struck it big on radio, but he did record other Simpson songs including “The Highway Patrol.” 

As a surprise to his many of his fans, Red Simpson commented late in his lifetime that he’d never driven a truck. One sure couldn’t tell it by listening to his music. Of music, he said, “It does beat picking cotton.” 

Red Simpson died in 2016 following a heart attack. He is buried in Bakersfield National Cemetery. His epitaph reads, “Hello, I’m a Truck. Rest Well, Red.”