Royden Dickey Lipscomb, known professionally as Dickey Lee, is an American pop/country singer and songwriter, best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs "Patches" and "Laurie ".
Career
Lee made his first recordings in his hometown of Memphis for Tampa Records and Sun Records in 1957–58. He achieved his first chartsuccess in 1962, when his composition "She Thinks I Still Care" was a hit for George Jones. Later that year, "Patches", written by Barry Mann and Larry Kobler and recorded by Lee for Smash Records, rose to No. 6. The song tells in waltz-time the story of teenage lovers of different social classes whose parents forbid their love. The girl drowns herself in the "dirty old river". The singer concludes: "It may not be right, but I'll join you tonight/ Patches I'm coming to you." Because of the teen suicide theme, the song was banned by a number of radio stations. However, it sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Lee had a No. 14 hit in 1963 with a song he co-wrote, a conventional rocker, "I Saw Linda Yesterday". In 1965, he returned to teen tragedy with "Laurie ", a song related to the urban legends known as the vanishing hitchhiker and Resurrection Mary. After the 1960s, Lee devoted his efforts to country music performing and songwriting. His 1970s country hits as a singer include two remakes of pop songs, Delaney & Bonnie's "Never Ending Song of Love" and Austin Roberts's "Rocky", in addition to original songs such as "Angels, Roses, and Rain", and "9,999,999 Tears". He also co-wrote several songs with Bob McDill, including "Someone Like You", "I've Been Around Enough To Know", and "The Door is Always Open". He co-wrote the 1994 Tracy Byrd hit "The Keeper of the Stars", and has written or co-written songs for a number of other prominent country artists, including George Strait, Charley Pride, and Reba McEntire. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1995. Lee is included as co-writer and singer on singer-songwriter Michael Saxell's 2005 album Wonky Windmill on the song "Two Men".
