About The Song
“Chicken Truck” is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist John Anderson. It was released on August 1, 1981, by Warner Bros. Nashville as the second single from his second studio album, John Anderson 2. The B-side is “I Love You a Thousand Ways.” The track runs 2:43 in length. Production was handled by Norro Wilson.
The single peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The B-side “I Love You a Thousand Ways” also charted, reaching number 54 on the U.S. country chart and number 11 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. The parent album John Anderson 2 was released in April 1981 and included the prior single “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday).”
John Anderson co-wrote the song with Monroe Fields and Ervan James Parker. The track was later issued as the B-side to Anderson’s 1984 single “Eye of a Hurricane.” A cover version was recorded by Aaron Tippin. In 2022, a bluegrass version featuring John Anderson was released by Billy Droze with additional contributions from Ronnie Bowman and Shawn Camp.
Session personnel associated with the album and single include contributions from musicians such as Jerry Reed, Fred Carter Jr., Harold Bradley, Pete Wade, and Tommy Allsup on guitar; Pete Drake on dobro and steel guitar; Bob Moore and Henry Strzelecki on bass; Jerry Carrigan on drums; Hargus “Pig” Robbins and Mike Jordan on piano and organ; Buddy Spicher and Michael Kott on fiddle; and background vocals by Allen Henson, Beckie Foster, Ima Withers, Joy Gardner, and Ronnie Drake. Recording took place at Columbia Studios in Nashville.
Chart documentation confirms the number 8 peak on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Anderson’s overall chart history includes five number-one Hot Country Songs hits and twenty top-ten entries between 1977 and 2006. This single stands as one of his early top-ten successes during the Warner Bros. period.
The combination of the co-writing credits, Wilson’s production, and the Nashville session work contributed to the single’s chart performance. Catalog editions list the single under the Warner Bros. number WBS 49772. Publishing credits associate the song with Al Gallico Music. The track later appeared on Anderson’s greatest-hits collections issued by Warner Bros.
John Anderson’s early 1980s releases built steady momentum. “Chicken Truck” followed “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday)” and preceded “I Just Came Home to Count the Memories.” The recording remains a regularly anthologized track from his second album period.
Discography sources preserve the original 1981 masters. Subsequent reissues and digital releases continue to feature the recording as part of Anderson’s early catalog. The song has been noted in country music references for its narrative structure centered on a highway encounter with a poultry transport vehicle.
Video
Lyric
Well it was mornin’ when I left Alabama
It must have been around in mid-July
I got behind a chicken truck from Georgia
And the feathers was a flyin’ like snow out of the skyI couldn’t get up to speed enough to pass him
And a funny smell was a gettin’ close to me
And somethin’ keeps on messing up my windshield
And the farther I go, the harder it gets to seeChicken truck, chicken truck, behind it I’m stuck
Chicken truck, chicken truck, it’s just my luck
Chicken truck on Highway 65
Well, the hens are a squawkin’ and the roosters are a crowin’
They’re slowin’ me down when I need to get goin’
Chicken truck on Highway 65He slowed down and I finally got around him
On a big long hill just south of Tennessee
He had a box of Colonel Sanders on his dashboard
And he was eatin’ fried chicken and throwin’ his bones on meChicken truck, chicken truck, behind it I’m stuck
Chicken truck, chicken truck, it’s just my luck
Chicken truck on Highway 65
Well, the hens are a squawkin’ and the roosters are a crowin’
He’s slowin’ me down when I need to keep goin’
Chicken truck on Highway 65Chicken truck, chicken truck, behind it I’m stuck