Tombstone Every Mile [Sundazed] [Remaster] (CD - 1973)

Liner Note Author: Rich Kienzel.

Arranger: Dick Curless.

Anchored by the number five country hit title track, Dick Curless' first album for Tower also included his Top 20 country follow-up, "Six Times a Day (The Trains Came Down)," which like "Tombstone Every Mile" was written by Dan Fulkerson. The trucker disaster song "A Tombstone Every Mile" might be what Curless is best known for, but this LP isn't built around trucking songs, as were the albums of the time by Red Simpson (who covered "A Tombstone Every Mile," as it happens). Instead, it's a fairly versatile, hard to categorize set of an enjoyable journeyman who mixed country-pop with a folksy all-around entertainer approach. Curless can sound a little like (or, at least, certainly influenced by) Johnny Cash on the more hard-charging numbers, yet the way his voice is apt to lapse into a low, slightly hammy bass vibrato puts a nod in the direction of Tennessee Ernie Ford as well. Covers of some familiar narrative-style songs ("Streets of Laredo," "King of the Road," "Nine Pound Hammer") fill out an album with just three Curless originals, with some of the tracks so under-produced they almost sound like demos for final versions with additional instrumentation, though they don't suffer for their simplicity. ~ Richie Unterberger

When Dick Curless' truck-driving hit "Tombstone Every Mile" became a national hit in 1965, few knew that the singer was from Maine and had been banging around on small regional labels for the previous 15 years. This album, recently reissued with beautiful sound by those amazing music freaks at Sundazed, contains the original album, which in addition to the hit also includes great versions of "Streets of Laredo," "King of the Road," and "Nine Pound Hammer." There are credible versions of Johnny Horton's "Teardrops in My Heart" and Leon McAuliffe's' "Sunny Side of the Mountain." In addition to the covers, sung with Curless', deep, moving, clear-as-water baritone, are a few unique originals: the borderline rockabilly "Cupid's Arrow," the honky tonk ballad "Heart Talk," and the folksy roots hillbilly waltz of "Down by the Old River." Issued as part of the label's Truckstops, Broken Hearts & Honky Tonk Heroes series, this is an essential brick in the country music wall. ~ Thom Jurek minimize