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Dave Dudley
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Dave Dudley (May 3 1926 – December 22 2003) was a country music singer. Born David Darwin Pedriska, he is best known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s. He was readily recognizable for his semi-slurred baritone. His "signature song" was 1963's "Six Days on the Road"
ey is best-known for his trucker songs, including "Six Days on the Road", "Hello Vietnam", "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun", and "Me and ol' C.B.".
His duet with Tom T. Hall, called "Day Drinking," and his own top ten hit, "Fireball Rolled A Seven," supposedly based on the career and death of Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.
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Encyclopedia
Dave Dudley (May 3 1926 – December 22 2003) was a country music singer. Born David Darwin Pedriska, he is best known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s. He was readily recognizable for his semi-slurred baritone. His "signature song" was 1963's "Six Days on the Road"
Early life and rise to fame
Dudley is best-known for his trucker songs, including "Six Days on the Road", "Hello Vietnam", "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun", and "Me and ol' C.B.".
His duet with Tom T. Hall, called "Day Drinking," and his own top ten hit, "Fireball Rolled A Seven," supposedly based on the career and death of Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts. These songs demonstrated that he was not limited to trucking songs. He is one of the best-known singers of the truck-driving era in country music, and was one of the icons in this category.
Dave was born in 1926 in Spencer, Wisconsin. He had a short career as a semi-professional 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 on the NRC label).
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. Two years later, in 1963, the label released the single "Six Days on the Road".
Height of his career
"Six Days on the Road" immediately became a hit for Dudley. The song was written by Earl Green and Peanut Montgomery.
In 1963, Dudley moved on to Mercury records. 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" has remained a trucker's classic as well as a country classic, and has been covered by several artists, including George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Steve Earle, Sawyer Brown and country-metal outfit Trailor Thrash.
Dudley continued to have success into the 1970s. He continued to record for Mercury Records. He had some Country Top Tens in the '70s, including the songs "Comin' Down" and "Fly Away Again." His iconic status in the truck-driving world continued to grow. By the late 70s, his success on the charts was beginning to fade.
Overall, in the 60s and 70s, Dave scored thirty-three Top 40 Country hits.
Decline and death
In the 1980s, Dudley continued to record, but not as much as he once had. He remained popular in concert. During this time, he was elected to the Nashville Teamsters Truck Drivers Union. He received 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.
In total, Dudley recorded more than 70 albums. However, he did not manage to reclaim his past success, and neither his single "Where's that Truck?", recorded with DJ Charlie Douglas, nor the track "Dave Dudley, American Trucker", recorded in 2002 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 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 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Wisconsin.
Sources
- Country Music:The Rough Guide; Wolff, Kurt; Penguin Publishing
- LP Discography.com
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