Richard William Curless (March 17, 1932 – May 25, 1995) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer. He usually wore a patch over his right eye.

Biography

Curless was born in

Fort Fairfield, Maine Fort Fairfield is a town in Aroostook County, eastern Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Can ...

, United States, and moved with his family to

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

at the age of eight. 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. He married his wife, Pauline, in 1951, and only six months after the wedding, he was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He served in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

from 1952 to 1954 first as a

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

and later as a radio host with the stage name "Rice Paddy Ranger". He 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. In 1957, Curless returned to the public spotlight and appeared on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television show ''

Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' (also known as ''Talent Scouts'') was an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958. Sponsored by Lipton Tea, it starred Arthur Godfrey, who was also hosting ''Arthur Godf ...

''. He spent much of the late 1950s performing in clubs in California and

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the 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. 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. 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)". Altogether, he recorded 22 ''Billboard'' top-40 hits throughout his career. After his success in 1970 with the hits "

Big Wheel Cannonball "Big Wheel Cannonball" (title sometimes given as Big Wheel Cannon Ball) is a song written by Vaughn Horton. It follows the same notes as the folk song " Wabash Cannonball" by The Carter Family, but its lyrics eulogise trucks and truckers rather t ...

" 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 Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

in 1987. The albums were successful in Europe, especially in Norway and Germany. Curless recorded an album with German country musician Tom Astor in 1991. During the later part of his life, he performed often at the Cristy Lane Theater in

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postm ...

. Curless died of stomach cancer in 1995, aged 63.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* Dick Curless: Allmusic Overview {{DEFAULTSORT:Curless, Dick 1932 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Capitol Records artists Deaths from cancer in Maine Deaths from stomach cancer People from Ware, Massachusetts Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of the Korean War