Dave Dudley

Dave Dudley (May 3, 1928 – December 22, 2003) Dudley's grandparents came from Königsberg in East Prussia, Germany. His father, then a local tavern owner, gave Dudley his first guitar at the age of 11.

Baseball was his first love and in high school he was a standout pitcher. In 1942, the New York Yankees obtained his option. At the time, he was serving in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific, having convinced his mother to sign his enlistment papers when he was 17. She also signed the baseball option on his behalf. After his military service, his contract was transferred to the Chicago White Sox organization, In April 1948, the White Sox assigned him to their Wisconsin Rapids affiliate for spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas and was later transferred him to the Gainesville Owls of the Big State League in Texas. After an arm injury abruptly ended his baseball career, he dropped by WTMT in Wausau, Wisconsin and began hosting his, "Texas Stranger Show.", playing Country Western music while also performing on air.

In early 1951, Dudley began performing in taverns across northeastern Wisconsin, usually as part of a trio that worked under a variety of names and lineups. They were billed at different times as Dave Dudley and His Rodeo Riders and Dave Dudley and His Country Caravan before eventually settling on The Dave Dudley Trio.

That May, the group began an 18-week residency at The Flame in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where they performed mostly country-western songs alongside a few numbers from the Hawaiian songbook each night.

By May 1952, they had recorded their first single, “Nashville Blues” backed with “You Don't Care,” a 78 rpm disc released on Pfau Records of Milwaukee,

Dudley continued playing tavern residencies and gradually built a local following. In March 1953, he appeared on WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, which further boosted his popularity.

In 1955, Dudley signed with King Records, a Cincinnati label recognized for its roster of country, R&B, and early rock ’n’ roll artists. Over the next two years, King released three of his 45 rpm singles. In 1959, National Recording Corporation released his single, "Where's There's a Will"

In 1960, Dudley moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he started performing under the billing, Dave Dudley and the Country Gentlemen. He also began hosting his own radio show again, this time on KEVE in Minneapolis. On December 3, 1960, while packing away his guitar after a performance, he was seriously injured when struck by a car. Following a lengthy recovery, Dudley returned to performing and reached the Top 40 county charts for the first time with “Maybe I Do” in 1961 and “Under Cover of the Night” in 1962.

Height of his career In 1963, Jimmy C. Newman gave Dudley the demo for "Six Days on the Road." Soon after, while running under time during a recording session, the song was cut unrehearsed and completed on the second take. It was released as a single on Golden Wing Records, a label Dudley had founded using settlement money from his earlier accident. Released in late-April 1963, “Six Days on the Road” became Dave Dudley's breakout hit, roaring up the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and peaking at number two that summer. The only song standing between him and the number-one spot was Johnny Cash's “Ring of Fire,” which dominated the charts at the same time. The record spent 21 weeks on the chart and also crossed over to the pop market, peaking at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. One of the first radio stations to play the single was WOKY-AM, a Milwaukee rock station. The song would go on to sell over one million copies.

"It's amazing to hear the record was selling 10,000 copies a day," Dudley later recalled to the Nevada State Journal in 1973. "It's also amazing how many companies will offer you a contract that wouldn't before."

The success of “Six Days on the Road” led to a recording contract with Mercury Records and by the end of 1963, he released his first single from the label, "Last Day in the Mines". 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 several 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,

Discography Albums Year Album US Country Label 1963 Dave Dudley Sings Six Days on the Road

Golden Wing

Songs About the Working Man

Travelin' with Dave Dudley

Talk of the Town

Rural Route No. 1

Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun

Greatest Hits

There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere

Lonelyville

Free and Easy

My Kind of Love

Dave Dudley Country

Greatest Hits Vol. 2

Thanks for All the Miles

One More Mile

George (And the North Woods)

The Best of Dave Dudley

The Pool Shark

Dave Dudley Sings Listen Betty (I'm Singing Your Song)

Will the Real Dave Dudley Please Sing

1972 The Original Traveling Man

1973 Keep On Truckin'''

1977

1978

Diesel Duets (w/ Charlie Douglas)

1981

1982

Cetera 1983

Plantation 1984

1985

Singles

1952 "Nashville Blues"

1955 "Cry Baby Cry"

"Ink Dries Quicker Than Tears"

"Rock and Roll Nursery Rhyme"

1959 "I Just Want to Be Your Friend"

1960 "It's Gotta Be That Way"

1961 "Maybe I Do"

1962 "Under Cover of the Night"

"Six Days on the Road"A

Dave Dudley Sings Six Days on the Road|- "Cowboy Boots"

"Last Day in the Mines"

"Mad"

Talk of the Town|-

"Two Six Packs Away"

"Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun"

"What We're Fighting For"

"Viet Nam Blues"

"Lonelyville"

Lonelyville|- "Long Time Gone"

Free and Easy|-

"My Kind of Love"

My Kind of Love|- "Trucker's Prayer"

Dave Dudley Country|- "Anything Leaving Town Today"

Greatest Hits Vol. 2|-

"There Ain't No Easy Run"

"I Keep Coming Back for More"

"Please Let Me Prove (My Love for You)"

"One More Mile"

"George (And the North Woods)"

George (And the North Woods)|-

"The Pool Shark"

"This Night (Ain't Fit for Anything But Drinking)"

"Day Drinkin'" (w/ Tom T. Hall)

single only

"Listen Betty (I'm Singing Your Song)"

"Comin' Down"

"Fly Away Again"

Will the Real Dave Dudley Please Sing|-

"If It Feels Good Do It"

"You've Gotta Cry Girl"

"We Know It's Over" (w/ Karen O'Donnal)

single only

"Keep On Truckin'"

Keep On Truckin'|- "It Takes Time"

single only "Rollin' Rig"

"Have It Your Way"

"Counterfeit Cowboy"

"How Come It Took So Long (To Say Goodbye)"

"Fireball Rolled a Seven"

"Wave at 'Em Billy Boy"

"Me and Ole C.B."

"Sentimental Journey"

"1776"

1776|- "38 and Lonely"

"Rooster Hill"

"Just Memories"

single only "Devils in Heaven Bound Machines"

"Rollin' On (We Gone)"

"One A.M. Alone"

On the Road Again|- "Wayward Wind"

1979 "Moonlight in Vermont"

"Last Run"

Interstate Gold|- "Big Fanny"

Diesel Duets|- "Rolaids, Doan's Pills and Preparation H"

"Driver"

"Eagle"

"I Do"

"I Was Country Before Barbara Mandrell"

1983 "I Wish I Had a Nickel"

Nashville Rodeo Saloon|} APeaked at number 13 on Easy Listening (now Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks)