Dickey
Lee
In
his sixth decade of hit making, Dickey Lee's awesome track record
includes twenty "BMI" awards, six "Million Performance
Awards" and a reputation as one of Nashville's most consistently
creative and soulful writers. Dickey's place as a major hit recording
artist beginning in the early days of rock 'n' roll, and he still
retains a certain boyish charm that captivates today's audiences
around the world.
With number
one records on pop-rock and country charts, and as a songwriter,
Dickey says: "I guess you might say I've had three careers
that sort of overlapped each other". It all started in his
hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, a fantastic music melting pot
of pop, rock 'n' roll, country, rhythm & blues and gospel.
"I was influenced by so many people in so many fields that
it took about half my career to find out who I was."
Dickey made
his recording debut in 1957 with "Dream Boy", a song
he'd written, on the tiny Tampa label. When another fellow in
Memphis named Elvis Presley heard this local smash, he invited
Dickey out to his house. Sam Phillips, Elvis's producer, heard
it and signed Dickey to Sun Records where he had more local hits.
Dickey went
to Smash Records in 1961, where he and producer Jack Clement recorded
his first number one ... "Patches", the record that
launched a pop career of major hits including "I Saw Linda
Yesterday", "Laurie (Strange Things Happen in This World)"
and "The Girl From Peyton Place".
Then in 1969
Dickey signed with RCA Records and had ten years of country hits
that included "Rocky", "9,999,999 Tears" and
"Never Ending Song of Love". Many of these songs were
top ten and several hit number one.
Dickey Lee's
impressive songwriting credits have insured his place in American
music history. "The Door Is Always Open" (#1-Dave and
Sugar), "Let's Fall To Pieces Together" (#1-George Strait),
"I've Been Around Enough To Know" (#1-John Schneider),
"You're The First Time I've Thought about Leaving" (#1-Reba
McEntire), "I'll Be Leaving Alone" (#1-Charley Pride),
"In A Different Light" (#1-Doug Stone), "The Keeper
of The Stars" (#1-Tracy Byrd), "She Thinks I Still Care"
(#1-George Jones, #1-Anne Murray, #1 Elvis Presley). Beside these
number ones, he has hundreds of recordings by such diverse and
notable artists as Kenny Rogers, Merle Haggard, James Taylor,
Brenda Lee, Kathy Mattea, Don Williams, Waylon Jennings, Jerry
Lee Lewis, Randy Travis, The Cox Family, Marty Robbins and countless
others.
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