ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Dave Dudley

(May 3, 1928 ~ Dec. 22, 2003 )

Career Highlights

Barn Dance Affiliate: Louisiana Hayride

Film, Night Club, Radio & TV

• Austin City Limits, 4
• Billy Bob's Texas, 2
• Ernest Tubb’s  Midnight Jamboree, 3
• Gilley’s Club, 2
• Hee Haw, 4
• Nashville Now, 4
• Pop Goes the Country, 4
• The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, 4
• The Jimmy Dean Show, 4
• The Johnny Carson Show
• The Johnny cash Show, 4
• The Porter Wagoner Show, 4
• The Statler Brothers Show, 4
• The Wilburn Brothers Show, 4 

1-Film, 2-Night Club, 3-Radio, 4-TV 

Billboard Chart Data 

• No. 1 Singles: 1
• Top-10 Singles: 12
• Crossover Singles: 1
• Charted Singles: 41
• Chart Years Active: (1961-1980)

Career Labels:

• Golden Wing (1963)
• Mercury Records (1963-1973)
• United Artists Records (1975-1976)

Billboard Top-10 Singles

1.  Six Days on the Road, 1 -1963
2. Cowboy Boots
3. Last Day in the Mines
4. Mad -1964
5. Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun -1965
6. What We're Fighting For
7. There Ain't No Easy Run -1968
8. Please Let Me Prove (My Love for You)
9. Georde (And the North Woods) 1969
10. The Pool Shark*# -1970
11. Comin' Down -1971
12. Fly Away Again

1-Crossover Chart SWingle

*No. 1 Chart Single

#-Biggest Chart Sin

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Pool Shark: The Dave Dudley Story

When it comes to trucking songs, deep-voiced Dave Dudley was best-known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s. Dave was born on May 3, 1928, in Spencer,Wis. He played on semi-pro baseball teams until an arm injury forced an end to his athletic career in 1950. Moving toward a career in country music, he became a radio disc jockey, working at stations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Idaho andMinnesota.

He formed the Dave Dudley Trio in 1953. Dudley was sidelined for several months in 1960 after being struck by a car following a performance inMinneapolis. Dave's success manifested after many years of working noisy, small town clubs.Dudley first hit the Billboard country singles chart in 1961 with Maybe I Do, released on Vee Records.

Dudleycharted a top-20 a year later and then Dave came across a song called Six Days on the Road. At his own expense, Dave recorded and released the song on the tiny Golden Wing label in 1963. With the help of a friend, they placed the song in truck-stop jukeboxes across the country.

The rocking song about a truck driver going home went all the way to No. 2 in 1963 and subsequently launched his career. Encouraged by the success of Six Days, Dave released Cowboy Boots on Golden Wing and it climbed to No. 3 that year.

After that, Dave landed a contract with Mercury Records (1963). At the end of the year he released his first single for the label called Last Day in the Mines (No. 7, 1963). Dudley scored more big hits in the 1960s, including Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun (No. 3, 1965), There Ain’t No Easy Run (No. 10, 1968) and his biggest chart song, The Pool Shark (No. 1, 1970).

Dudley died on December 22, 2003, aged 75, after suffering a heart attack at his home in Wisconsin.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, compiled and written by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Aug. 3, 2009.