Dick Curless cut an imposing figure. Tall, lanky, and weathered, with a battered cowboy hat and an eye patch slung over his right eye, Curless possessed a booming baritone voice so powerful, he could seem like the toughest singer in country during the '60s and '70s. Perhaps that's why he was so... [+] Expand

Dick Curless cut an imposing figure. Tall, lanky, and weathered, with a battered cowboy hat and an eye patch slung over his right eye, Curless possessed a booming baritone voice so powerful, he could seem like the toughest singer in country during the '60s and '70s. Perhaps that's why he was so perfectly suited for truck driving country -- he sounded and looked like a trucker. But Curless couldn't be reduced to an equation as simple as that, and he was one of the most interesting figures in '60s/early-'70s country music, since he was producing music that was traditionalist yet modern, music that was more versatile than it seemed on the surface, touching on folk ballads, Western swing, blues, and even rock. Best of all, this pure country singer was from Maine, not the South, which may be the reason he was so individual: He existed outside of the country mainstream, so he had his own distinctive voice in his words and music, which can be best heard on Razor & Tie's excellent 1998 collection, Drag 'Em off the Interstate, Sock It to 'Em Hits of Dick Curless. He had enough depth to his music to make his two Bear Family boxes compelling -- and that's where his surprising sensitive side is revealed -- but that's far too much information for an introduction. Here, his work is boiled down to 16 charting hits, a couple of lesser-known singles and a couple of excerpts from his great 1973 album Live at the Wheeling Truck Drivers Jamboree. Curless started out with songs of the road and songs of main, coming out of folk tradition but with a Johnny Cash spin, with the wonderfully ominous "A Tombstone Every Mile" making him a star and a favorite with truck drivers. This side of Curless -- including other great hits like "Travelin' Man," "Nine Pound Hammer," "Tater Raisin' Man," "Bury the Bottle With Me," and "The Baron" -- accounts for the first half of the disc, with the second given over to wild, wooly songs of the road, truck stops, drink, loose women, and heartache. Topically, it's all over the place and the music is, too, as he croons ballads and swing tunes, rocks out on the lewd "Chick Inspector (That's Where My Money Goes)," and acts out as the bartender on "Loser's Cocktail," one of the greatest unheralded barroom songs in country history. Though this roughly divides into two halves, both serve up some of the finest hardcore country of the '60s and early '70s -- the kind that true connoisseurs adore. And, for those listeners, Curless is a necessary listen, with this standing as the best overview and summary of his extraordinary music. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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