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Dave Dudley (born David Darwin Pedruska; May 3, 1928 – December 22, 2003) was an American
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
singer best known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s and his somewhat-slurred
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
. His
signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...
was "
Six Days on the Road "Six Days on the Road" is an American song written by Earl Green and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio songwriter Carl Montgomery, made famous by country music singer Dave Dudley. The song was initially recorded by Paul Davis (not the same as the bett ...
", and he is also remembered for "Vietnam Blues", "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun", and "Me and Ol' C.B.". His other recordings include a
duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...
with Tom T. Hall, "Day Drinking", and his own top-10 hit, "Fireball Rolled a Seven", supposedly based on the career and death of Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.


Biography


Early life and rise to fame

Born in
Spencer, Wisconsin Spencer is a village in Marathon County, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,818 at the 2020 census. The village, which lies between two marshes (Spencer Marsh to the northwest an ...
, United States, Dudley's grandparents came from
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
in East Prussia, Germany. At the age of 11, he was given a guitar by his grandfather and learned to play the chords. He had a short career as a semiprofessional baseball player. After he suffered an arm injury, he was no longer able to play baseball. He then decided to pursue a career in country music. He was one of the earliest artists to record for the National Recording Corporation, with "Where's There's a Will" (1959). Dudley was injured once again in 1960, this time in a car accident, setting back his career in music. He first appeared on the country charts in 1961 with "Maybe I Do", released by Vee Records. He later moved to Golden Wing Records.


Height of his career

In 1963, "Six Days on the Road" became a hit for Dudley. The song was written by Earl Green and Peanutt Montgomery. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a
gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
. In the original version of the song as recorded by Dudley, the lyrics include the words "...I'm taking little white pills and my eyes are open wide..." a reference to the stimulants some truckers used to keep driving (and make their delivery times) when they needed sleep. Some remakes of the song replace these words with a reference to looking at the white lines on the road. In 1963, Dudley moved on to
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
. By the end of 1963, he released his first single from the label, "Last Day in the Mines". Dudley scored more big hits in the 1960s, including "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun", "Trucker's Prayer", and "Anything Leaving Town Today". "Six Days on the Road" was subsequently recorded by several other artists, including George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Steve Earle,
The Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1968, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is known for its connection to band f ...
, and Sawyer Brown. Dudley continued to have success into the 1970s, while continuing to record for Mercury Records. He had some country top 10s in the 1970s, including "Comin' Down" and "Fly Away Again". By the late 1970s, his success on the charts was beginning to fade, although Dudley amassed 33 top-40 Country hits. In 1978, Dudley's name became known to the audience in Germany after the German country band Truck Stop had a single top-10 hit in Germany, titled "''Ich möcht’ so gern Dave Dudley hör’n''" ("I would like to listen to Dave Dudley so much to Hank Snow and Charley Pride">Hank_Snow.html" ;"title=" to Hank Snow"> to Hank Snow and Charley Pride]".


Late career and death

In the 1980s, Dudley continued to record sporadically, and remained popular in concert. During this time, he was elected to the Nashville Teamsters Truck Drivers Union, receiving a solid gold membership card from the union. During this time, he also found out that he had a big fan base in Europe, and he decided to try to appeal more to this market. Dudley purchased Staples Lake Resort in the mid 1970s, and ran a successful business/resort there until the mid- to late 1980s with wife, Marie. During his ownership, he also sponsored multiple country music festivals on the property. In total, Dudley recorded more than 70 albums, but he did not manage to reclaim his past success, and neither his single "Where's That Truck?", recorded with disc jockey Charlie Douglas, nor the track "Dave Dudley, American Trucker", recorded in 2002 in the wake of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, helped revive his career. Few of his hits have made it onto CDs and albums, creating a market for his vintage vinyl recordings. Dudley died on December 22, 2003, aged 75, after suffering a heart attack in his car in a parking lot in Danbury, Wisconsin.


Discography


Albums


Singles

*APeaked at No. 13 on Easy Listening (now
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...
).


References


Other sources

* ''Country Music: The Rough Guide''; Wolff, Kurt; Penguin Publishing


External links


Dudley profiled in WFMU's Diesel Sniffing Series

CMT.com: "Six Days on the Road" Singer Dave Dudley dead at 75
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Dave 1928 births 2003 deaths People from Spencer, Wisconsin American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Country musicians from Wisconsin National Recording Corporation artists Jubilee Records artists Starday Records artists Mercury Records artists 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American male singers American people of German descent Singer-songwriters from Wisconsin Bellaphon Records artists