Song:Six Days On The Road
Album:20th Century Masters: The Millenium Collection: The Best Of Dave Dudley
Dave Dudley wasn't the first to record a song about truck drivers but his 1963 hit Six Days On The Road popularized truck driving songs and led to a long career in country music. He was born David Pedruska May 23, 1928 in Spencer, WI. He wanted to be a baseball player but an arm injury forced him to become a DJ at a Texas radio station. He would sing along with the songs and was encouraged to become a performer. He moved to Idaho in the early 50s and formed The Dave Dudley Trio. They didn't have much success. He moved to Minneapolis and finally started getting some attention with his group Country Gentleman. After recovering from a Dec. 1960 hit and run accident, he recorded for smaller labels and finally got his big break with Six Days On The Road for the Golden Wing label in 1963. It reached #2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and even reached #32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dudley soon signed with Mercury Records and he had a long career in country music and of course he was a big favourite of truck drivers. Dave Dudley had 33 Top 40 country hits in the 60s and 70s. This Mercury comp has the re-recording of Six Days On The Road but it has a lot of his other Mercury hits. It's a budget CD and it's hard to get a decent CD with the original version. Someone needs to do a really definitive Dave Dudley comp. Dave Dudley left Mercury for United Artists in 1973 and though his recording career faded, he continued to be a popular live act until his death on Dec. 22, 2003 at age 75. Here's Dave Dudley performing Six Days On The Road in the 1966 film Music City USA.
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