Cooter's Place Page
Updated October 2024
Posted October 2021
W
aylon Jennings was the narrator of the 1975 film Moonrunners which starred James Mitchum and Kiel Martin as two cousins running bootleg liquor for their Uncle Jesse. Warner Bros hit up writer and director Gy Waldron to see if he'd be interested in turning his story into a TV comedy.Fast forward four years and The Dukes of Hazzard quickly became one of the highest-rated shows on CBS, running for seven seasons.
Waldron kept many of the same concepts from his original film, including some of the names (Uncle Jesse!) and the bootleg liquor theme (Bo and Luke Duke are cousins on probation for distilling moonshine). But most importantly, he brought Waylon Jennings with him to narrate the show as well as write and perform the theme song, "Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol' Boys)."
Waylon Jennings:
- Similar to his role in Moonrunners, Jennings played the Balladeer throughout the series.
- He narrated each episode as well as provided playful commentary on the plot before the commercial breaks.
- Jennings also took the theme song (with a few tweaks) and released it as a single.
19 SECOND VIDEO:
October 2021
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#dukesofhazzard #thegenerallee #cootersplace
MUSIC: Good 'Ol Boys Dukes of Hazzard Theme Song by Waylon Jennings
The General Lee:
- It was orange with a Confederate battle flag painted on the roof, the words "GENERAL LEE" over each door, and the number "01" on each door
- Dukes of Hazzard used mostly 1969 Chargers in the beginning; later on, they also modified 1968 Chargers to look like 1969s by pop-riviting 1969-model taillamps, taillamp panels, and the center "I" piece common to the 1969 Charger
- Since it was built as a race car, the doors were welded shut
- An estimated 309 Chargers were used; 17 are still known to exist in various states of repair
- These Chargers performed many record-breaking jumps throughout the show, almost all of them resulting in a completely destroyed car
- No 1970 Chargers were used, as backdating them proved to be too time-consuming
- The Duke boys added a custom air horn to the General Lee that played the first 12 notes of the song "Dixie"
Some facts about the Dukes of Hazzard car the General Lee
(1969 Dodge Charger):
- It may come as a surprise at just how many General Lees were destroyed in the making of the TV series. Upwards of 300 Dukes of Hazzard cars were used through the TV series that ran from 1979 to 1985. It is said that more than one was used for each episode on average.
- During filming prior to the show's debut, the General Lee with its stunt driver (presumed Craig R. Baxley) made a jump that sent it right into the record books. The epic jump was 16 feet high and 82 feet long. The stuntman drove off a makeshift ramp and right over a cop car.
- That record-breaking jump and that specific 1969 Dodge Charger is a featured scene in every episode; making it the only Dodge Charger in The Dukes of Hazzard to be in more than one episode.
- As for the many other stunts in the TV series, hundreds of pounds of either cement or sandbags were packed into the trunk of the Dodge 1969 Charger. Why? Well, it was to stop the General Lee from leaning forward and nose diving.
- The infamous Dukes of Hazzard horn: The dixie horn has a pretty cool story behind it. Two directors of the show heard a car drive by with this horn and they actually chased the car down and bought the horn from the driver for $300.
- In the later seasons of the show, there was a Dodge Charger shortage. So much of a shortage that they had to use orange AMC Ambassadors and some fancy shooting techniques to make them look like the General Lee. As the shortage continued, the producers of the show went out and put notes on the windshields of 1969 Dodge Chargers asking the owners if they could buy them.
- 2005 when The Dukes of Hazzard movie came out. While the movie itself was questionable... to say the least, the Dukes of Hazzard car was still just as awesome as it was in the original American comedy series. During the making of the film, 26 Dodge Chargers were used.
- Those 26 Dodge Chargers were either 1968 or 1970 models that were modified to look like the General Lee from the 80s show. The same license plate number of "CNH 320" was used as well.
Daisy Duke's Jeep: Dixie (CJ-7 Jeep):
- Dixie was the name given to Daisy Duke's white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 "Golden Eagle" which had a golden eagle emblem on the hood and the name "Dixie" on the sides
- Like other vehicles in the show, there was actually more than one Jeep used throughout the series
- Sometimes it would have an automatic transmission, and other times it would be a manual
- The design of the roll cage also varied across the seasons
![Cooter\](/images/cooters-tow-truck.jpg "Cooter\")
Cooter's tow truck
He had a ton of different models!
He had a ton of different models!
- The brown pick up seen in the GA episodes and for a few done in CA, is a 1969 C-10 Chevy
- The first blue and white tow truck seen toward the end of the first season was a 1969 Ford F100
- By the third season, Cooter would have yet another make and model tow truck, this time a yellow 1979 Ford F-350 Custom
- Eventually he would go back to the blue and white truck, only it's a 1970 GMC 1500
- Cooter also had a green 1968 Chevy pickup that was seen in a few episodes
Beauregard "Bo" Duke
(John Schneider):
(John Schneider):
- He's the blonde-haired, younger Duke boy
- He is more of the "shoot first, ask questions later" type than Luke, and is often the one to get the duo into the various scrapes in which they find themselves, although the character did mature slightly as the series progressed
- An ex-stock car driver, Bo is the one who drives the General Lee most of the time, with Luke riding shotgun
- Bo is known for his rebel yell, "Yeeeee-haaa," which he usually yells when the General Lee is airborne during a jump
The Duke boys share the CB handle "Lost Sheep": Uncle Jesse was "Shepherd" and Daisy was "Bo Peep"
1:02:
Dukes of Hazzard Theme Song:
Dukes of Hazzard Intro:
Dukes of Hazzard Theme Song:
Dukes of Hazzard Intro:
The third episode "Mary Kaye's Baby" is the only one in which the General Lee does not appear. Instead, the Dukes drove around in a blue 1975 Plymouth Fury borrowed from Cooter that Luke later destroyed by shooting a flaming arrow at the car, whose trunk had been leaking due to the moonshine stowed in the back.
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action-comedy television series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985.
- The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons.
- It was consistently among the top-rated television series in the late 1970s (at one point, ranking second only to Dallas, which immediately followed the show on CBS's Friday night schedule).
- The show was about two young male cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, who live in rural Georgia and are on probation for moonshine-running.
- Their female cousin Daisy Duke, Uncle Jesse, Mechanic Cooter Davenport, etc. have various escapades as they evade the corrupt law officers Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane.
- The customized 1969 Dodge Charger nicknamed the General Lee, became a symbol of the show.
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2613 McGavock Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
Cooter's Place
The Dukes of Hazzard Chargers performed many record-breaking jumps throughout the show, almost all of them resulting in a completely destroyed car.
The Dukes of Hazzard Chargers performed many record-breaking jumps throughout the show, almost all of them resulting in a completely destroyed car.
