{{Short description|American country music singer (1932–1995)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}} {{more footnotes needed|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Dick Curless | image = Dick_Curless_-_125th_BROOKLYN_FAIR_-_27-28-29_August_1976 | caption = Curless in August 1976 | image_size = | birth_name = Richard William Curless | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|03|17}} | birth_place = Fort Fairfield, Maine, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|05|25|1932|03|17}} | death_place = Togus, Maine, U.S. | instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|Guitar}} | genre = Country | occupation = Musician | years_active = 1956–1995 | label = {{hlist|Capitol|Rounder}} }}
'''Dick Curless''' (March 17, 1932 – May 25, 1995) was an American-Canadian country music singer and guitarist known for his extensive vocal range, trademark eye patch, and songs about life on the road. Rising to fame with the 1965 hit "A Tombstone Every Mile," Curless built a loyal following with his blend of truck-driving country, folk ballads, and gospel music.
==Biography== Curless was born in Fort Fairfield, Maine, United States, and moved with his family to Massachusetts at the age of eight.<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=333/4}}</ref> He 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.<ref name="Larkin"/>
Curless 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 alias "Rice Paddy Ranger".<ref name="Larkin"/>
Curless returned home to Maine in 1954 and continued performing on radio shows, but he spent much of the following year, 1955, at home due to a chronic illness.<ref name="Larkin"/>
In 1956, Curless returned to the public spotlight with his own rendition of ''Streets of Laredo''. In 1957, he appeared on the CBS television show ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts''.<ref name="Larkin"/> He spent much of the late 1950s making what seems to be the world record of consecutive one night stands, ranging from ''Quebec, Canada'' all the way to ''Los Angeles, California''. He occasionally returned home to recover from fatigue and chronic illness, caused by his intense addiction to alcohol. <ref name="Larkin"/> While in Maine, Curless recorded several singles, including "China Nights" (1957) at Event Records with Al Hawkes. Eventually he temporarily left the music industry and bought his own lumber trucking vehicle in Maine.<ref name="Larkin"/>
In 1965, Curless recorded the biggest hit of his career, "A Tombstone Every Mile", which cracked the top 5 on the ''Billboard'' country charts and propelled him to national fame.<ref name="Larkin"/> In 1966, he recorded the album ''A Devil Like Me Needs an Angel Like You'' with Kay Adams. 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)", Travelin' Man, Big Foot, and lots of others.<ref name="Larkin"/> Altogether, he recorded 22 ''Billboard'' top-40 hits throughout his career.
After Curless' 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.<ref name="Larkin"/>
Curless recorded an album with German country musician Tom Astor in 1991. From 1992 all the way to his death, he performed often at the Cristy Lane Theater in Branson, Missouri.
Curless died of stomach cancer in 1995, aged 63.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/28/obituaries/dick-curless-63-a-country-singer.html?mcubz=1|title=Dick Curless, Country Singer, Aged 63|date=May 28, 1995|newspaper=The New York Times|author=The Associated Press|accessdate=October 14, 2019}}</ref>
==Discography== ===Albums=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Album ! <small>US Country</small> ! Label |- | 1959 | ''Songs of the Open Country'' | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Tiffany |- | 1961 | ''Singing Just for Fun'' | align="center"| — |- | 1962 | ''I Love to Tell the Story'' | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1965 | ''Tombstone Every Mile'' | align="center"| 12 | rowspan="2"| Capitol |- | ''Hymns'' | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="4"| 1966 | ''The Soul of Dick Curless'' | align="center"| — | rowspan="8"| Tower |- | ''Travelin' Man'' | align="center"| — |- | ''At Home with Dick Curless'' | align="center"| — |- | ''A Devil Like Me Needs an Angel Like You'' <small>(w/ Kay Adams)</small> | align="center"| 16 |- | rowspan="2"| 1967 | ''All of Me Belongs to You'' | align="center"| — |- | ''Ramblin' Country'' | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1968 | ''The Long Lonesome Road'' | align="center"| 43 |- | ''The Wild Side of Town'' | align="center"| — |- | 1970 | ''Hard, Hard Traveling Man'' | align="center"| — | rowspan="6"| Capitol |- | rowspan="2"| 1971 | ''Doggin' It'' | align="center"| 42 |- | ''Comin' On Country'' | align="center"| 43 |- | 1972 | ''Stonin' Around'' | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="2"| 1973 | ''Live at the Wheeling Truck Driver's Jamboree'' | align="center"| 37 |- | ''The Last Blues Song'' | align="center"| — |- | 1974 | ''End of the Road'' | align="center"| — | Hilltop |- | 1987 | ''Welcome to My World'' | align="center"| — | Rocade (Norway) |- | 1990 | ''It's Just a Matter of Time'' | align="center"| — | Rocade (Norway), Stetson (UK) |- | 1995 | ''Traveling Through'' | align="center"| — | Rounder |}
===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! colspan="2"| Chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |- ! width="50"| <small>US Country</small> ! width="50"| <small>CAN Country</small> | - | rowspan="3"| 1965 | "A Tombstone Every Mile" | align="center"| 5 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| ''A Tombstone Every Mile'' |- | "Six Times a Day (The Trains Came Down)" | align="center"| 12 | align="center"| — |- | "'Tater Raisin' Man" | align="center"| 42 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| ''Travelin' Man'' |- | rowspan="4"| 1966 | "Travelin' Man" | align="center"| 44 | align="center"| — |- | "Highway Man" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | single only |- | "A Devil Like Me Needs an Angel Like You" <small>(w/ Kay Adams)</small> | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | ''A Devil Like Me Needs an Angel Like You'' |- | "The Baron" | align="center"| 63 | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| ''All of Me Belongs to You'' |- | rowspan="3"| 1967 | "All of Me Belongs to You" | align="center"| 28 | align="center"| — |- | "House of Memories" | align="center"| 72 | align="center"| — |- | "Big Foot" | align="center"| 70 | align="center"| — | ''Ramblin' Country'' |- | rowspan="3"| 1968 | "Bury the Bottle with Me" | align="center"| 55 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| ''The Long Lonesome Road'' |- | "I Ain't Got Nobody" | align="center"| 34 | align="center"| — |- | "All I Need Is You" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | single only |- | 1969 | "The Wild Side of Town" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | ''The Wild Side of Town'' |- | rowspan="3"| 1970 | "Big Wheel Cannonball" | align="center"| 27 | align="center"| 18 | rowspan="3"| ''Hard, Hard Traveling Man'' |- | "Hard, Hard Traveling Man" | align="center"| 31 | align="center"| — |- | "Drag 'Em Off the Interstate, Sock It to 'Em, J.P. Blues" | align="center"| 29 | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1971 | "Juke Box Man" | align="center"| 41 | align="center"| — | ''Doggin' It'' |- | "Loser's Cocktail" | align="center"| 36 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| ''Comin' On Country'' |- | "Snap Your Fingers" | align="center"| 40 | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1972 | "January, April and Me" | align="center"| 34 | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| ''Stonin' Around'' |- | "Stonin' Around" | align="center"| 31 | align="center"| 35 |- | "She Called Me Baby" | align="center"| 55 | align="center"| — |- | rowspan="3"| 1973 | "Chick Inspector (That's Where My Money Goes)" | align="center"| 54 | align="center"| — | ''Live at the Wheeling Truck Driver's Jamboree'' |- | "China Nights (Shina No Yoru)" | align="center"| 80 | align="center"| — | ''Stonin' Around'' |- | "The Last Blues Song" | align="center"| 65 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| ''The Last Blues Song'' |- | rowspan="2"| 1974 | "Swingin' Preacher" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |- | "Brand New Bed of Roses" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — | single only |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p24203|pure_url=yes}} Dick Curless: Allmusic Overview]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Curless, Dick}} Category:1932 births Category:1995 deaths Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters Category:20th-century American male singers Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American male singer-songwriters Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Deaths from stomach cancer in Maine Category:People from Ware, Massachusetts Category:Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts Category:United States Army soldiers Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War