Janice Brooks
From:
Pleasant Gap Pa
|
Posted 1 Apr 2003 4:24 pm |
|
New Orleans paper says he died last FridayFarrell H. Draper
The Associated Press
4/1/03 6:49 AM
BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- Farrell H. "Rusty" Draper, a country and pop singer with a number of recordings that sold more than a million copies in the 1950s and '60s, died of pneumonia Friday. He was 80.
Draper's hits included "Gambler's Guitar," "Shifting Whispering Sands" and "Night Life."
Besides music, his career included acting appearances in the television western shows "Rawhide" and "Laramie" and the stage musicals "Oklahoma" and "Annie Get Your Gun."
He recorded his first million-seller in 1953, "Gambler's Guitar," which reached No. 6 on the pop and country charts, and went gold again two years later with "Shifting, Whispering Sands," which made No. 3 on the pop charts.
Draper's other pop hits included "Seventeen" and "Are You Satisfied" in 1955, "In The Middle Of The House" in 1956, "Freight Train" in 1957 and versions of "Muleskinner Blues" in 1960 and "Night Life" in 1963.
He had his own radio show in San Francisco and Los Angeles and was often on television, including two appearances on Ed Sullivan's variety show.
Draper had minor hits with "My Elusive Dreams," "California Sunshine" and "Buffalo Nickel," in the late 1960s and "Two Little Boys" in 1970. His last appearance on the charts was in 1980 with a country version of "Harbour Lights" by The Platters.
Nicknamed for his bright red hair, Draper got interested in music after his father gave him a guitar for his 10th birthday. He worked at a radio station at Des Moines, Iowa, where he often filled in for sportscaster -- and future U.S. president -- Ronald Reagan.
At age 18 he moved to San Francisco, working at the Barn, the Mel Hertz Club and Hermie King's Rumpus Room.
His final performance, about two weeks before his last trip to the hospital, was at the Elks Club in Issaquah.
[This message was edited by Janice Brooks on 01 April 2003 at 04:43 PM.] |
|
Gary Walker
From:
Morro Bay, CA
|
Posted 1 Apr 2003 11:02 pm
|
|
| As a young kid living in San Francisco, I would come home and watch westerns after school and Rusty was the host. Roman Meal Bread was his sponser. He would point to the logo of the Roman soldier and call him Regis Patoff, meaning the patent notification. My mother and her husband would be regulars at the club where Rusty appeared and my sister and I were treated with permission to go to the club in '52. What a thrill it was to see and meet my hero in person. He was very gracious to this 13 year old, thanks for closure on Rusty, Gary Walker. |
|
