From:   "Dik de Heer"  
Date:  Sat May 3, 2003  2:08 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Dave Dudley
 
DAVE DUDLEY

Born David Darwin Pedruska, 3 May 1928, Spencer, Wisconsin

Dave Dudley 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 charted 41 country hits
between 1961 and 1980, 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, Texas 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 WTWT-Wausau in Texas, where he 
would sometimes play along with the songs on the air. The station owner 
encouraged him 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 a six-month recovery, he returned to the music scene, 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 it was followed by a Top 20 country
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 # 2 on the country charts and # 32 on the Billboard pop charts.
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 sixties, 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." Also in 1980, a German
pop group called Truck Stop recorded a tribute to Dudley ("I Want to Hear
More Dave Dudley"). 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. 

(Adapted from All Music Guide)

All CD's that are currently in print contain re-recordings of "Six Days On The
Road". Maybe this will change with the forthcoming release (on May 26) of
"Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun" (Westside WESA 922).

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P.S.: Dave Dudley died 22 December 2003 in Danbury, Wisconsin