Little-known movie showcased Overdrive founder’s Hollywood, Nashville forays

Go way back in Overdrive’s 60-year history and you’ll find more than a little dabbling in the bright lights of Hollywood and the country music scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s. It didn’t hurt that the Overdrive office was in the entertainment mecca of the Los Angeles area, but what really drove the connections was Overdrive’s founder and editor, former independent trucker Mike Parkhurst.

Read more in Many of those associated with the magazine’s early years have passed on, including Parkhurst, who died in 2014. One of the key players during about half of Parkhurst’s 25-year ownership of Overdrive was Roger Galloway. Now 77, Galloway is communications director for Mohave County, Arizona.  

“My Overdrive days were from 1970-'86, with the exception of 1979-'81, when I produced national TV specials,” said Galloway. Some of them focused on country music stars, such as “Great Ladies of Country” and “Tribute to Kitty Wells.” They were not tied to Overdrive, though Galloway’s first TV special, “Truckin’ in Nashville,” was produced in 1979 outside a Nashville, Tennessee, truck stop. 

It included performances from many of country music’s leading names. The audience was filled with truckers who had come to Nashville for a convention of the Independent Truckers Association, a trade group Parkhurst had founded. Below is a brief clip showing Parkhurst and his wife, the actress Lori Michaels, applauding as Hank Williams, Jr., concludes one of his father’s biggest hits, “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” at the event.