Convoy

Starting as a 1975 pop-culture song amid America's fascination with truckers and CB radios, C.W. McCall's song Convoy was turned into a feature length film by EMI Films in 1977 under the direction of the legendary Sam Peckinpah. What started as light movie based off of a thin script turned into an out-of-control production that became legendary for its disfunction and cost overruns. The cast of Convoy were strong enough to deliver solid performances despite the weak script and the magnificent talents of both Peckinpah and Harry Stradling Jr. were able to capture iconic imagery of 1970's trucking amid the breathtaking New Mexico landscape. Although EMI eventually removed Sam Peckinpah from the project, the film retained his name and became the highest grossing film of his career. Despite being panned by most critics, the film managed to turn quite a decent profit.

In the 45 years since it was released, the film has maintained a high degree of popularity, particularly among the trucking community worldwide. This book tells the complete story of Convoy, from the historical events that led to the 1970's fascination with trucking and the song all the way through to the legacy the film has created. Using thousands of pages of historical records and over six-thousand behind-the-scenes photos to reconstruct the history, the book details the process of turning the song into the movie and documents the activities on set day-by-day. With the goal of being the most comprehensive collection of facts about the film, this book is not only the most authoritative work on the film to date, it also provides a glimpse into the madness and genius of Sam Peckinpah so late in his career. This book is a must-have for any fan of Convoy, American trucking or Sam Peckinpah.