Joseph Glenn "Dick" Damron (March 22, 1934 – March 29, 2025) was a Canadian country music singer and songwriter. Damron experimented with many musical styles in the country genre, including

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

, and

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...

, as well as

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

. Over a recording career spanning 60 years he recorded more than 25 albums, received numerous country music awards, and was inducted into the International Country Music Hall Of Fame, in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

Early career

Dick Damron was born in

Bentley, Alberta Bentley is a town in central Alberta, Canada within Lacombe County. It is located on Highway 12, approximately northwest of Red Deer. History The first settlers came from the U.S. in 1888-1890 and either walked or drove oxen from Lacombe, ...

on March 22, 1934. Damron started his career performing in both rock and country bands, including the Musical Round-Up Gang (on CKRD radio, Red Deer) and the Nightriders. His recording career began in 1959 with his original 45 "Havin' a Party" / "Rockin' Baby". Then, in 1960 he recorded two LPs for his own label, Holiday. In 1961, he issued his first Nashville studio album on Quality Records, then had a Canadian #1 hit with "Hitchhiking" in 1963. He continued recording and touring throughout the 1960s, building up a growing fan base. Damron had a breakthrough hit in 1970 with "Countryfied" for Apex records. He found further success throughout the 1970s with singles such as "Rise 'n' Shine", "The Long Green Line", "Mother, Love and Country", and "Susan Flowers". In 1978 Damron signed his first major label contract and began recording for

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

. By this point he had become an established performer in the

style and a well known songwriter. His most popular singles for RCA included "Silver and Shine", "Whisky Jack", "Honky Tonk Angels and Good Ol' Boys", and "Good Ol' Time Country Rock 'n' Roll". Throughout the years Damron has performed at many notable shows and venues, including the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

in Nashville (1972). He also toured Europe many times throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including a performance at the Wembley International Country Music Festival in London, England. He spent six seasons as the resident band at Howard Hughes'

Desert Inn The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the ...

in Las Vegas from 1985 to 1991. He appeared on Canadian television networks

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

and CTV, and at a concert at the

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, fair, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year a ...

Musical contacts

As a solo artist, Damron played alongside musicians including

Jerry Reed Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included " Gui ...

and

Buddy Emmons Buddy Gene Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) was an American musician who is widely regarded as the world's foremost pedal steel guitarist of his day. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1981. Affectionately known ...

in Nashville sessions, and

James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana, United States) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also ...

sitting in at a Las Vegas jam. His main backup group was the Stoney Creek Band, which featured Brian Richard, Sam Taylor, and Myron Szott. His songs have been covered by numerous artists, including

Charlie Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the genre's first blac ...

George Hamilton IV George Hege Hamilton IV (July 19, 1937 – September 17, 2014) was an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, switching to country music in the early 1960s. Biography Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, ...

, Wilf Carter,

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American retired actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

, Gary Buck, Terry Carisse, Jimmy Arthur Ordge,

Orval Prophet Orval William Prophet (31 August 1922 – 4 January 1984) was among the first Canadian country music performers to achieve a career of international scope. Early life Prophet was born in Edwards, Ontario, now part of Ottawa. During his teens, he ...

, and Rhythm Pals.

Author

Damron wrote the fictional thrillers ''Rockabye Baby Blues'' and ''Pacific Coast Radio'', and the autobiography ''The Legend and the Legacy''.

Death

Damron died in Lacombe, Alberta on March 29, 2025, at the age of 91.

Awards

Damron won the Big Country award for top country music composer in 1976 and 1984, best male country singer award in the years 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1983. "Susan Flowers" was declared the Big Country best country single in 1997. He has won CCMA Awards as best male vocalist (1983), instrumentalist (1985), entertainer (1989), and for best single in 1984 ("Jesus, It's Me Again"). Between 1980 and 1983 he won the Texas Proud Award. He was inducted into the International Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Damron won seven BMI songwriter awards.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Singles with Ginny Mitchell

References

External links

Dick Damron's homepage.
* *

Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Damron, Dick 1934 births 2025 deaths Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer(s) of the Year winners Canadian Country Music Association Fans' Choice Award winners Canadian Country Music Association Male Artist of the Year winners Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters RCA Victor artists Singers from Alberta