Background information From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Early life and rise to fame

Born in Spencer, Wisconsin, Dudley had a short career as a semi-professional baseball player. After he suffered an arm injury, he was no longer able to play baseball. He then decided to pursue a career in country music. He was one of the earliest artists to record for the National Recording Corporation, with "Where's There's A Will" (1959).

Dudley was injured once again in 1960, this time in a car accident, setting back his career in music. He first appeared on the Country charts in 1961 with "Maybe I Do," released by Vee Records. He later moved to Golden Wing Records.

Height of his career

In 1963, "Six Days on the Road" became a hit for Dudley. The song was written by Earl Green and Peanut Montgomery. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. 

In the original version of the song as recorded by Dudley the lyrics include the words "...I'm taking little white pills and my eyes are open wide..." a reference to the stimulants some truckers used to keep driving (and make their delivery times) when they needed sleep. Some remakes of the song replace these words with a reference to looking at the white lines on the road. Dudley can be heard and seen singing the correct original lyrics in a 1971 performance currently available at YouTube.

In 1963, Dudley moved on to Mercury Records. By the end of 1963, he released his first single from the label, "Last Day in the Mines". Dudley scored more big hits in the 1960s, including "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun", "Trucker's Prayer" and "Anything Leaving Town Today".

"Six Days on the Road" has been covered by several artists, including George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Steve Earle, The Flying Burrito Brothers and Sawyer Brown.

Dudley continued to have success into the 1970s, while continuing to record for Mercury Records. He had some Country Top 10s in the 1970s, including "Comin' Down" and "Fly Away Again." By the late 1970s, his success on the charts was beginning to fade, although Dudley amassed thirtythree Top 40 Country hits.

In 1978 Dudley's name became known to the audience in Germany after the most successful German country band Truck Stop had a single Top 10 hit in Germany, titled "Ich möcht’ so gern Dave Dudley hör’n" ("I would like to listen to Dave Dudley so much").

Late career and death

In the 1980s, Dudley continued to record sporadically, and remained popular in concert. During this time, he was elected to the 'Nashville Teamsters Truck Drivers Union', receiving a solid gold membership card from the union. During this time, he also found out that he had a big fan base in Europe, and he decided to try to appeal more to this market. Dudley purchased Staples Lake Resort in the mid 1970s and ran a successful business/resort there until the mid to late 1980s with wife, Marie. During his ownership he also sponsored multiple country music festivals on the property.

In total, Dudley recorded more than 70 albums. However, he did not manage to reclaim his past success, and neither his single "Where's That Truck?", recorded with disc jockey Charlie Douglas, nor the track "Dave Dudley, American Trucker", recorded in 2002 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, helped revive his career. Few of his hits have made it onto CDs and albums, creating a market for his vintage vinyl recordings.

Dudley died on December 22, 2003, aged 75, after suffering a heart attack in his car in a parking lot in Danbury, Wisconsin.

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