Dickey Lee

Born Dickey Lipscomb in Memphis on September 21, 1936, the future country songwriter Dickey Lee first entered a recording studio for the Sun label after forming a high-school band that captured multiple talent contests and secured airtime on a local station. Deejay Dewey Phillips arranged the contract, yielding the 1957 singles “Good Lovin’” and “Fool, Fool, Fool,” neither of which gained traction. Lee then relocated to Texas, where he kept performing.

Early 1962 brought his breakthrough when George Jones carried Lee’s composition “She Thinks I Still Care” to the top of the country charts for a six-week stay; the track ranked among Jones’s biggest successes and later reached number one in Anne Murray’s 1974 version. Riding that momentum, Lee’s own “Patches” climbed to number six on the pop charts in August 1962, followed by “I Saw Linda Yesterday,” which peaked at number 14 in early 1963. His final pop entry, the 1965 single “Laurie (Strange Things Happen),” preceded a shift toward production and songwriting that occupied the remainder of the decade.

Recalled to Nashville in 1969, he signed with RCA and notched the modest 1971 hit “The Mahogany Pulpit.” The next release, “Never Ending Song of Love,” entered the country Top Ten late that year and reached number eight. Throughout the 1970s Lee continued recording, most often landing in the Top 30 or 40, save for the chart-topping “Rocky” in 1975 and its number-three successor, “9,999,999 Tears.”

He remained with RCA until 1978 and resurfaced on Mercury the following year. Two 1980 Top 30 singles, “Workin’ My Way to Your Heart” and the duet “Lost in Love” with Kathy Burdick, highlighted that period; the latter became a pop success for Air Supply the same year. Once the Mercury deal ended, Lee sustained his career through songwriting and occasional package-show appearances.