Dave
Dudley
The
Pool Shark
( As of this date I do not have
the titles of releases Roy worked with Dave Dudley)
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.
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. --
Stephen Thomas Erlewine,
All-Music Guide