Dick Curless
| Dick Curless | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Richard William Curless |
| Born |
March 17, 1932 Fort Fairfield, Maine, U.S. |
| Origin | Ware, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | May 25, 1995 (aged 63) |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1959–1974 |
| Labels | Tower, Capitol |
Richard William "Dick" Curless (March 17, 1932 – May 25, 1995) was an American country music singer, a pioneer of the trucking music genre, commonly known as the Baron of Country Music. He was easily distinguished because of the patch he usually wore over his right eye.
Biography
Curless was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, and moved with his family to Massachusetts at the age of eight. Curless began his music career in 1948 in Ware, Massachusetts, where he hosted a radio show and toured with a local band called the "Trail Blazers." He married his wife, Pauline, in 1951, and only six months after the wedding, he was drafted into the United States Army. He served in the Korean War from 1952 to 1954 first as a truck driver and later as a radio host with the stage name "Rice Paddy Ranger."
He returned home to Maine in 1954 and continued performing on radio shows, but he spent much of the following year, 1955, in the privacy of his home due to a chronic illness. In 1956, Curless returned to the public spotlight and appeared on the CBS television show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. He spent much of the late 1950s performing in clubs in California and Las Vegas but occasionally returned home to Maine to recover from periods of illness and fatigue.
In 1965, Curless recorded one of the biggest hits of his career, "A Tombstone Every Mile," which cracked the top-5 on the Billboard country charts and propelled him to national fame. From 1966 to 1968, he toured the nation with the Buck Owens All American Show. The pinnacle of his career came in the late 1960s with eleven top-40 hits, including "Six Times a Day (the Trains Came Down)." Altogether, he recorded twenty-two Billboard top-40 hits throughout his career.
After his success in 1970 with the hits "Big Wheel Cannonball" and "Hard, Hard Traveling Man," he recorded infrequently until he released the albums Welcome To My World and It's Just A Matter Of Time in Norway in 1987. The albums were successful in Europe, especially in Norway and Germany.
Death
Curless recorded an album with German country musician Tom Astor in 1991. During the later part of his life, he performed often at the Cristy Lane Theater in Branson, Missouri. He died of stomach cancer in 1995, aged 63.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Songs of the Open Country | — | Tiffany |
| 1961 | Singing Just for Fun | — | |
| 1962 | I Love to Tell the Story | — | |
| 1965 | A Tombstone Every Mile | 12 | Tower |
| Hymns | — | ||
| 1966 | The Soul of Dick Curless | — | |
| Travelin' Man | — | ||
| At Home with Dick Curless | — | ||
| A Devil Like Me Needs an Angel Like You (w/ Kay Adams) | 16 | ||
| 1967 | All of Me Belongs to You | — | |
| Ramblin' Country | — | ||
| 1968 | The Long Lonesome Road | 43 | |
| The Wild Side of Town | — | ||
| 1970 | Hard, Hard Traveling Man | — | Capitol |
| 1971 | Doggin' It | 42 | |
| Comin' On Country | 43 | ||
| 1972 | Stonin' Around | — | |
| 1973 | Live at the Wheeling Truck Driver's Jamboree | 37 | |
| The Last Blues Song | — | ||
| 1974 | End of the Road | — | Hilltop |
| 1987 | Welcome To My World | — | Rocade (Norway) |
| 1990 | It's Just A Matter of Time | — | Rocade (Norway), Stetson (UK) |
| 1995 | Traveling Though | — | Rounder |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | CAN Country | |||
| 1965 | "A Tombstone Every Mile" | 5 | — | A Tombstone Every Mile |
| "Six Times a Day (The Trains Come Down)" | 12 | — | ||
| "'Tater Raisin' Man" | 42 | — | Travelin' Man | |
| 1966 | "Travelin' Man" | 44 | — | |
| "Highway Man" | — | — | single only | |
| "A Devil Like Me Needs an Angel Like You" (w/ Kay Adams) | — | — | A Devil Like Me Needs an Angel Like You | |
| "The Baron" | 63 | — | All of Me Belongs to You | |
| 1967 | "All of Me Belongs to You" | 28 | — | |
| "House of Memories" | 72 | — | ||
| "Big Foot" | 70 | — | Ramblin' Country | |
| 1968 | "Bury the Bottle with Me" | 55 | — | The Long Lonesome Road |
| "I Ain't Got Nobody" | 34 | — | ||
| "All I Need Is You" | — | — | single only | |
| 1969 | "The Wild Side of Town" | — | — | The Wild Side of Town |
| 1970 | "Big Wheel Cannonball" | 27 | 18 | Hard, Hard Traveling Man |
| "Hard, Hard Traveling Man" | 31 | — | ||
| "Drag 'Em Off the Interstate, Sock It to 'Em, J.P. Blues" | 29 | — | ||
| 1971 | "Juke Box Man" | 41 | — | Doggin' It |
| "Loser's Cocktail" | 36 | — | Comin' On Country | |
| "Snap Your Fingers" | 40 | — | ||
| 1972 | "January, April and Me" | 34 | — | Stonin' Around |
| "Stonin' Around" | 31 | 35 | ||
| "She Called Me Baby" | 55 | — | ||
| 1973 | "Chick Inspector (That's Where My Money Goes)" | 54 | — | Live at the Wheeling Truck Driver's Jamboree |
| "China Nights (Shina No Yoru)" | 80 | — | Stonin' Around | |
| "The Last Blues Song" | 65 | — | The Last Blues Song | |
| 1974 | "Swingin' Preacher" | — | — | |
| "Brand New Bed of Roses" | — | — | single only | |
External links
- Dick Curless: Allmusic Overview
- Russo, Bill. "Dick Curless: The Forgotten Baron of Country Music". HubPages.