Today, another song I found out about courtesy of the Evan Dando gig I went to last year.
Dave Dudley has the least rock’n’roll name in history, especially if you say it in the way that people from Dudley, Birmingham, would.
He was an American country singer best known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s, and today’s selection is perhaps – no, not perhaps, definitely – his best known song:
Dave Dudley – Six Days on the Road
That was released in 1963, and there’s more than a hint of Elvis about some of the lyrical delivery, isn’t there?
That’s the original version, where he refers to “…taking little white pills…”, a reference to the stimulants some truckers used to keep driving when they needed sleep. Some re-recordings of the song replace these words with a reference to looking at the white lines on the road.
I’m not sure White Lines is quite the safe reference the censors were hoping for; 20 years later, this came out:
Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel – White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)
That’s your actual country/hip-hop linkeage, right there. Happy to report, it’s that standard of links (actually, better than that, if I’m honest) that y’all keep suggesting for my The Chain thread that makes that particular thread such a pleasure to do. Check in later to see what’s been suggested today. If you like. No pressure.
Nope, it’s no good. I can’t mention that without also mentioning “Shaun of the Dead”, surely the best rom-zom-com film ever:
I always remember Hel and I dancing to that at the first of the two Southport Weekenders that we went to, both singing along to it like it was 1983 again. I, of course, being the (slightly) bassier of the two took the “Baby” line, which left me with little to do but cut a mean carpet for the rest of the time.
(Disclaimer: I do not cut a mean carpet)
Anyway: Dave Dudley. Tune, right?
And yes, that Evan Dando gig was one hell of a gig. I haven’t finished with referencing it yet, by the way.
More soon.
A History of Dubious Taste 