Richard William Curless (March 17, 1932 – May 25, 1995)
was an American country music singer 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."
The Trail Riders |
Life seemed to smile at Dick for once, but then somehow
all the happiness turned to a fully opposite direction. Though Dick had a bad
eye (which is why he had to wear an eye-patch) and serious heart problems, he
was drafted and sent to the Korean war in 1952 for two years, first as a truck
driver and later as a radio host with the stage name "Rice Paddy Ranger"
and he also made a popular recording, "China Nights", under that
name. After coming home in 1954, Dick continued to appear in radio and
television shows. He also did some one-night stands in local joints (Silver
Dollar House in Bangor, for example). When his health condition started to
fail, he simply walked away from the spotlights and returned to his home area
in Maine, spending almost a year in the wilderness, totally separated from
publicity and without singing a single note during this time.
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. While in Maine, Curless recorded several singles including "China
Nights" at Event Records with Al Hawkes, but his budding career was
interrupted by an ill health.
Eventually he temporarily left the music industry and
bought his own lumber trucking vehicle in Maine.
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 and soon was
working with such stars as Gene Hooper, Lone Pine, and Betty Cody. 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 22
Billboard top-40 hits throughout his career.
In 1970 Curless signed to Capitol and scored a Top 30 hit
titled "Big Wheel Cannonball," based on the classic "Wabash
Cannonball." The follow-up, "Hard, Hard Traveling Man" (1970),
made it to the Top 40.
In 1975 Dick had most of his stomach removed, but he
never really recovered from his health problems. However, it didn't prevent him
from recording 20 new songs in 1976 at the Hilltop company's studios in
Tennessee with Curtis McPeake & the Nashville Pickers (released only in
Europe on an album called "CB Special"). Soon thereafter Dick
experienced a religious transformation, and retired slowly from the music
business, even though MR Records issued some of his singles in the late 1970's.
During the 70’s and 80’s he recorded infrequently and eventually
became a born-again Christian. He was inducted into the Maine Country Music
Hall of Fame on April 30, 1978, and got the DECMA Country Music Pioneer Award
in 1982.
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. In 1989 Dick's own Allagash Records issued the LP
"Close Up", which was a tribute to his all-time singer-songwriter
favourites and colleagues, including Smokey Rogers, Hank Williams, Jimmie
Rodgers, Pee Wee King and Brook Benton
By 1992 Dick worked at the Cristy Lane Theater in
Branson, Missouri, and appeared randomly in TV and memorial concerts. In
Germany he was a big star all the way to the end, and in the early 1990's he
made his last recordings there, with the German singer Tom Astor.
In 1995 the world saw the last comeback of Dick Curless,
but tragically it wasn't meant to last long. The "baron" passed away
on May 25, 1995, aged 63, shattered by stomach cancer, right after his strongly
emotional Rounder album "Travelling Through" was released. (Edited
from AllMusic, Wikipedia & Black cat Rockabilly)
2 comments:
For “Drag 'Em off the Interstate and Sock It to 'Em: The Hits of Dick Curless” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/11286630/Dick_Curless.rar.html
1. Travelin' Man
2. I Ain't Got Nobody
3. A Tombstone Every Mile
4. Six Times A Day (The Trains Came Down)
5. Nine Pound Hammer
6. 'Tater Raisin' Man
7. The Baron
8. All Of Me Belongs To You
9. Big Foot
10. Bury The Bottle With Me
11. Big Wheel Cannonball
12. Hard, Hard Travelin' Man
13. Drag' em Off The Interstate, Sock It To 'Em J.P. Blues
14. Juke Box man
15. Loser's Cocktail
16. Snap Your Fingers
17. Stonin' Around
18. Chick Inspector (That's Where My Money Goes)
19. Evil-Hearted Man Blues
20. I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town
21. The Last Blues Songs
Found all tracks at various places so bit rate will vary.
Thanks for this. My dad, who was from Maine's neighbor, New Brunwick, was a big fan of his. He says he used to listen to Dick on the local radio station (Bangor perhaps?)
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