When I first got my drivers license way back when, one of my first jobs was delivering the Bluefield Daily Telegraph newspaper to subscribers around my hometown. Ever morning for more than a year I would get up at 4 a.m., pickup the 390 papers that I would stuff into newspaper tubes or folded and toss onto a front porch (some made it some didn’t.).
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During the darkness of those lonely mornings, I would tune in to the tune in to the 50,000 watt – clear channel radio station from such places as Fort Worth, New Orleans, Nashville, and Cincinnati. The Voice of Charlie Douglas from way down yonder in New Orleans, became a constant companion. Over the years as I travel through the night, others like Big John Trimble from WRVA in Richmond, and Dale Sommers who was known to the his all night audience as “The Truckin’ Bozo,” from WWL in Cincinnati, rode along and kept me company. I spent many a night, and early morning driving around this country listening to what was referred to way back then as All Night Trucking Radio.
Today, we lost another one of those treasured voices. Bill Mack, the Midnight Cowboy from the tiny town of Shamrock, Texas died today at the age of 88. For more than 30-years, Bill Mack broadcast his all-night radio show over Forth Worth’s Clear Channel Station, WBAP-820.
When the sun went down and the small local stations ended their broadcast day, the clear channel station and old friends like Charlie, Big John, Bozo and of course Bill would show up and keep me company. With his humor and that unmistakable Texas Twang, Bill Mack was that friendly voice in the night that make the dark highway a little brighter and a little less lonely. Thank you old friend for riding along and keeping me company.
Rest in Peace, Bill Mack – The Midnight Cowboy (1932-2020)
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