Rod Hart's "C.B. Savage" is one of the most bizarre country novelty hits of all time. On the surface it's an artifact of the mid-'70s CB craze that tells a story about a sheriff who outfoxes some truckers by affecting a lisp and posing as a gay trucker on the CB. The humor is derived from gay stereotypes, double entendres, and a twist ending. But why does the "gay" voice leave the truckers perspiring, breathless, and red-faced, and why do they consider answering its call? It is unlikely that many of the people who made "C.B. Savage" a moderate crossover hit picked up on these ambiguities, but in retrospect it sure seems like the truckers fall under a kind of gay enchantment. Hart's album, Breakeroo!, has a fun assortment of trucking songs and country novelties, several of which feature encores of Hart's "gay" voice. Despite the stereotypes, the humor doesn't seem particularly mean-spirited, but Hart takes pains to point out in the liner notes that he's a "good ole, straight ole country boy." Hart is a fine singer who composed "C.B. Savage" and the serious "Hooked on Honky Tonks," but his unusual novelty hit was his only brush with stardom.
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