Dave Dudley (May 3, 1928 – December 12, 2003) was an American country music singer best known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s and his semi-slurred bass.
Born David Darwin Pedruska in Spencer, Wisconsin, he grew up in Stevens Point. He received a guitar as a present from his father at age 11, but he had his heart set on being a baseball player and he became a member of the Gainesville Owls as a young adult. However, his career was cut short by an arm injury. Following his retirement from baseball, he became a DJ at a local Texas station, where he would sometimes play along with the songs on the air. His riveting baritone lent itself well to a decade-long career choice as a radio disc jockey, spinning records at WTMT, KBOK, and KCHA throughout the fifties. 
The station owner encouraged him in becoming a performer and Dudley followed the advice In 1953 he formed his first group, The Dave Dudley Trio, which lasted a good seven years until disbanding when Dudley moved to Radio KEVE Minneapolis. In 1956 he recorded six sides for King Records and was one of the earliest artists to record for National Recording Corporation on the NRC label in 1959.
In 1960, following the breakup of the trio, he moved to Minneapolis, where formed a group called the Country Gentlemen, which quickly built up a dedicated following. His career was thrown off track in December of 1960, when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver as he was packing his guitar into his car. After several months, he was recovered and managed to secure a record deal with Vee Records. His first single, "Maybe I Do," was minor hit in the fall of 1961 and was followed by another minor hit, "Under Cover of the Night," the following year on Jubilee Records.
In the summer of 1963, he had his breakthrough hit, "Six Days on the Road," which was released on Golden Wing. The song became a massive success, peaking at number two on the country charts and making the pop Top 40. The song was written by Earl Green and Peanutt Montgomery. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
![]()
That same year, he signed with Mercury Records, releasing his first single for the label, "Last Day in the Mines," by the end of the year. Throughout the '60s, he had a long string of truck driving singles, including "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun,""Trucker's Prayer,""Anything Leaving Town Today,""There Ain't No Easy Run," and "Two Six Packs Away." By the end of the decade, he was also making conservative, good-old-boy anthems as well.
Dudley continued to have success into the 1970s, while continuing to record for Mercury Records. He had some Country Top 10s in the 1970s, including "Comin' Down" and "Fly Away Again." By the late 1970s, his success on the charts was beginning to fade,
![]()
although Dudley amassed thirty-three Top 40 Country hits. In 1978 Dudley's name became known to the audience in Germany after the most successful German country band Truck Stop had a single Top 10 hit in Germany, titled "Ich möcht’ so gern Dave Dudley hör’n" ("I would like to listen to Dave Dudley so much.")
In the 1980s, Dudley continued to record sporadically, and remained popular in concert. During this time, he was elected to the 'Nashville Teamsters Truck Drivers Union', receiving a solid gold membership card from the union. He also found out that he had a big fan base in Europe, and decided to try to appeal more to this market.
![]()
Dudley purchased Staples Lake Resort in the mid 1970s and ran a successful business there until the mid to late 1980s with wife, Marie. During his ownership he also sponsored multiple country music festivals on the property.
In total, Dudley recorded more than 70 albums. However, he did not manage to reclaim his past success, and neither his single "Where's That Truck?", recorded with disc jockey Charlie Douglas, nor the track "Dave Dudley, American Trucker", recorded in 2002 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, helped revive his career. Few of his hits have made it onto CDs and albums, creating a market for his vintage vinyl recordings.
![]()
Dudley died on December 22, 2003, aged 75, after suffering a heart attack in his car in a parking lot in Danbury, Wisconsin. Although he's sadly no longer with us, Dave Dudley's deep, rich, booming baritone voice and excellent and exciting trucker's country songs shall forever live on as long as there are 18-wheelers hauling freight all over the world.
(Edited from AllMusic Wikipedia & IMDb)