Dick Curless was best known for singing truck-drivin' songs such as "Drag 'Em Off the Interstate, Sock It to 'Em J.P. Blues; " a tall man with an eye-patch and rich baritone voice, Curless was often called the "Baron of Country Music," after one of his popular songs, "The Baron."

He was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, and started out... [+] Read More

Dick Curless was best known for singing truck-drivin' songs such as "Drag 'Em Off the Interstate, Sock It to 'Em J.P. Blues; " a tall man with an eye-patch and rich baritone voice, Curless was often called the "Baron of Country Music," after one of his popular songs, "The Baron."

He was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, and started out professionally in 1948 with the Trail Blazers at a radio station in Ware, Massachusetts. While with the group, Curless was billed as the "Tumbleweed Kid." In 1951, he was drafted, and while stationed in the Far East frequently appeared on the Armed Forces Network, where he was known as "The Rice Paddy Ranger." He returned to Maine three years later and began singing in Bangor clubs. He got his big break when he won on Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts. Afterward Curless began performing in Las Vegas and Hollywood; a record contract followed, but his budding career was interrupted by an illness.

He then returned to Maine, and soon was working with such stars as Gene Hooper and Lone Pine and Betty Cody. He finally reached the country charts in 1965 with the Top Five hit "A Tombstone Every Mile," followed by nine more chart hits including the highly successful "Six Times a Day (the Trains Came Down)." In 1970, Curless signed to Capitol and scored a Top 30 hit based on the classic "Wabash Cannonball," titled "Big Wheel Cannonball." The follow-up "'Hard, Hard Traveling Man," (1970) made it to the Top 40.

During his career, he had a total of 22 hits. During the '60s, Curless was a member of the Wheeling Jamboree, and from 1966-68 he toured with the Buck Owens show. During the '70s and '80s, Curless recorded infrequently, and eventually became a born-again Christian. He recorded an album in Norway in 1987, and by 1992 was a regular at the Cristy Lane Theater in Branson, Missouri. Curless died in 1995. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Best known for his string of trucking songs, Red Simpson was raised in Bakersfield, California, the youngest of a dozen children. At age 14, he wrote his first song -- about chickens -- and sang it to his family's fowl. During the Korean War, he served aboard a naval hospital ship, the Repose, where he found relief by forming the Repose... [+] Read More

Best known for his string of trucking songs, Red Simpson was raised in Bakersfield, California, the youngest of a dozen children. At age 14, he wrote his first song -- about chickens -- and sang it to his family's fowl. During the Korean War, he served aboard a naval hospital ship, the Repose, where he found relief by forming the Repose Ramblers, who played any instruments they could scrounge up. He bought better ones in Japan and began to practice in earnest, and became a professional musician in California after his discharge.

Simpson was working at the Wagon Wheel in Lamont when Fuzzy Owens saw him and arranged for Simpson to work at his Clover Club as a piano player. He then got a job replacing Buck Owens at the Blackboard Club on weekends. Simpson was influenced by Owens, Merle Haggard and Bill Woods, who asked Red if he would write a song about driving trucks. (By the time Simpson handed him four truck songs, however, Woods had stopped recording.) Simpson began writing songs with Buck Owens in 1962, including the Top Ten hit "Gonna Have Love."

In 1965, Capitol's Ken Nelson was looking for someone to record some songs about trucking. His first choice was Haggard, who wasn't interested, but Simpson readily agreed. His first, Tommy Collins's "Roll, Truck, Roll," became a Top 40 country hit and Simpson recorded an album of the same name. That year he offered up two more trucking songs, both of which made it to the Top 50 or beyond. As a songwriter, he scored his first number one hit with "Sam's Place," recorded by Buck Owens. After th3at, Simpson decided to become a full-time writer. He returned to performing in 1971 with his Top Five hit "I'm a Truck," which had been written by postman Bob Staunton.

In 1972, he debuted on the Grand Ole Opry and had two more "truck" hits for Capitol. In 1976, Simpson signed to Warner Brothers and released "Truck Driver's Heaven." The following year, he teamed up with Lorraine Walden for a series of duets that included "Truck Driver Man and Wife." In 1979, Simpson appeared for the last time on the charts with "The Flying Saucer Man and the Truck Driver." Haggard recorded his song "Lucky Old Colorado" in 1988; later that year Simpson was diagnosed with skin cancer and underwent surgery, but he fully recovered and continued his writing and performing career. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Dave Dudley (born David Darwin Pedruska, May 3, 1928, Spencer, WI) is the father of truck driving country music. With his 1963 song "Six Days on the Road," he founded a new genre of country music -- a variation of honky tonk and rock-inflected country that concentrated lyrically on the lifestyles of truck drivers. Dudley had a string of Top 15... [+] Read More

Dave Dudley (born David Darwin Pedruska, May 3, 1928, Spencer, WI) is the father of truck driving country music. With his 1963 song "Six Days on the Road," he founded a new genre of country music -- a variation of honky tonk and rock-inflected country that concentrated lyrically on the lifestyles of truck drivers. Dudley had a string of Top 15 singles that ran through the '60s, while he continued to have Top 40 hits well into the '70s, establishing himself as one of the most popular singers of his era.

At the age of 11, Dudley's father gave him a guitar, but he had his heart set on being a baseball player. Throughout his teenage years he played ball, becoming a member of the Gainesville Owls as a young adult. However, his career was cut short by an arm injury. Following his retirement from baseball, he became a DJ at a local Texas station, where he would sometimes play along with the songs on the air. The station owner encouraged to become a performer, and Dudley followed the advice.

Dudley moved to Idaho in the early '50s, where he formed the Dave Dudley Trio, which didn't have much success in its seven years together. In 1960, following the breakup of the trio, he moved to Minneapolis, where formed a group called the Country Gentlemen, which quickly built up a dedicated following. His career was thrown off track in December of 1960, when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver as he was packing his guitar into his car. After several months, he was recovered and managed to secure a record deal with Vee Records. His first single, "Maybe I Do," was minor hit in the fall of 1961 and was followed by another minor hit, "Under Cover of the Night," the following year on Jubilee Records.

In the summer of 1963, he had his breakthrough hit, "Six Days on the Road," which was released on Golden Wing. The song became a massive success, peaking at number two on the country charts and making the pop Top 40. That same year, he signed with Mercury Records, releasing his first single for the label, "Last Day in the Mines," by the end of the year. Throughout the '60s, he had a long string of truck driving singles, including "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun," "Trucker's Prayer," "Anything Leaving Town Today," "There Ain't No Easy Run," and "Two Six Packs Away." By the end of the decade, he was also making conservative, good-old-boy anthems as well.

During the early '70s, he had several hits -- notably the 1971 Top Ten singles "Comin' Down" and "Fly Away Again" -- but by the beginning of the '80s, he was no longer a presence on the charts. His last hit single was 1980's "Rolaids, Doan's Pills and Preparation H." During the '80s and '90s, Dudley didn't record much, but he remained a popular concert draw. And truck drivers still loved him -- the Teamsters Union awarded him an honorary, solid-gold membership card. Dudley died of a heart attack at his Wisconsin home on December 12, 2003. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Prior to Razor & Tie's 1999 compilation The Best of Red Simpson: Country Western Truck Drivin' Singer there was no CD compilation of one of the quintessential truck driving country singers, nor had there even been a good, comprehensive vinyl collection covering Red Simpson's classic Capitol recordings of the '60s and early '70s. So, any... [+] Read More

Prior to Razor & Tie's 1999 compilation The Best of Red Simpson: Country Western Truck Drivin' Singer there was no CD compilation of one of the quintessential truck driving country singers, nor had there even been a good, comprehensive vinyl collection covering Red Simpson's classic Capitol recordings of the '60s and early '70s. So, any collection of his work would have been welcome, but fortunately this 20-track disc does its job perfectly, containing six of his seven charting hits (the last, 1976's "Truck Driver's Heaven," arrived outside of the scope of this collection and isn't part of his prime), along with a generous selection of album tracks from some of the greatest Bakersfield country albums of the '60s. Some may complain that Simpson's material is a little narrow, focusing almost entirely on vehicles, the rules of the road, policemen, truck stops, highways, and other concerns of truckers, but that's like complaining that George Jones sang too much about affairs of the heart. Truck driving country was Simpson's milieu, and while he didn't start the genre or have hits as big as either Dave Dudley or Dick Curless, he produced consistently enjoyable, tremendously entertaining country. Plus, he took the genre seriously, never deviating from its subject and themes, while also having a lot of fun with it, singing good-natured, good-humored songs about the road. Then, there was the sound of the records -- filled with twangy Telecasters, propulsive skipping rhythms, echoed vocals, and tinkling pianos, this is Bakersfield country at its leanest, catchiest, and best, practically the definition of how truck driving country should sound, particularly because although it all sounds similar, it never sounds the same. There is a wealth of great songs here: The wonderful pro-police anthem "Highway Patrol," the surprisingly tender "Roll, Truck, Roll," the gleefully silly "I'm a Truck," the outlaw travelogue "Give Me Forty Acres," the menacing, minor-key "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves," and terrific renditions of the perennials "Truck Drivin' Man" and "Six Days on the Road" are just the tip of the iceberg on this stellar compilation. It's certainly the cornerstone of any basic truck driving country collection, but it's more than that -- it's one of the best unheralded collections of '60s country on the market. And it's perfect for long trips on the open road. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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Dick Curless cut an imposing figure. Tall, lanky, and weathered, with a battered cowboy hat and an eye patch slung over his right eye, Curless possessed a booming baritone voice so powerful, he could seem like the toughest singer in country during the '60s and '70s. Perhaps that's why he was so perfectly suited for truck driving country -- he... [+] Read More

Dick Curless cut an imposing figure. Tall, lanky, and weathered, with a battered cowboy hat and an eye patch slung over his right eye, Curless possessed a booming baritone voice so powerful, he could seem like the toughest singer in country during the '60s and '70s. Perhaps that's why he was so perfectly suited for truck driving country -- he sounded and looked like a trucker. But Curless couldn't be reduced to an equation as simple as that, and he was one of the most interesting figures in '60s/early-'70s country music, since he was producing music that was traditionalist yet modern, music that was more versatile than it seemed on the surface, touching on folk ballads, Western swing, blues, and even rock. Best of all, this pure country singer was from Maine, not the South, which may be the reason he was so individual: He existed outside of the country mainstream, so he had his own distinctive voice in his words and music, which can be best heard on Razor & Tie's excellent 1998 collection, Drag 'Em off the Interstate, Sock It to 'Em Hits of Dick Curless. He had enough depth to his music to make his two Bear Family boxes compelling -- and that's where his surprising sensitive side is revealed -- but that's far too much information for an introduction. Here, his work is boiled down to 16 charting hits, a couple of lesser-known singles and a couple of excerpts from his great 1973 album Live at the Wheeling Truck Drivers Jamboree. Curless started out with songs of the road and songs of main, coming out of folk tradition but with a Johnny Cash spin, with the wonderfully ominous "A Tombstone Every Mile" making him a star and a favorite with truck drivers. This side of Curless -- including other great hits like "Travelin' Man," "Nine Pound Hammer," "Tater Raisin' Man," "Bury the Bottle With Me," and "The Baron" -- accounts for the first half of the disc, with the second given over to wild, wooly songs of the road, truck stops, drink, loose women, and heartache. Topically, it's all over the place and the music is, too, as he croons ballads and swing tunes, rocks out on the lewd "Chick Inspector (That's Where My Money Goes)," and acts out as the bartender on "Loser's Cocktail," one of the greatest unheralded barroom songs in country history. Though this roughly divides into two halves, both serve up some of the finest hardcore country of the '60s and early '70s -- the kind that true connoisseurs adore. And, for those listeners, Curless is a necessary listen, with this standing as the best overview and summary of his extraordinary music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide