Post by Rob Durkee on Jan 4, 2012 23:32:37 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Robert Dickey, who was half of the 1960's cousin duo James and Bobby Purify, died on Thursday, December 29, 2011. He was 72. At presstime, the cause of death had yet to be disclosed.
Dickey's passing comes on the heels of news of the death of Fred Milano of Dion and the Belmonts...and the ironic and scary thing is that both were 72. And there's more. Milano was born August 26, 1939 and died January 1, 2012. According to Joel Whitburn's Record Research, Dickey was born on September 3, 1939 and died December 29, 2011. Thus, these two performers' passings came about three days apart and they were born about a week apart.
James and Bobby Purify burst onto the pop music scene in the fall of 1966 with "I'm Your Puppet," which reached #6 on the Cash Box pop chart. According to writer Mark Hinson of Gannett News Service, Dickey hated the song. In a 2000 interview, Dickey confessed, "I didn't even like it. In fact, I hated it. It was supposed to be the B side, but things got changed. I sang it for 23 hours straight (in the studio) and that's why I hate it. And the last take was the one they decided to go with."
James and Bobby Purify went on to score three more Top 40 hits, all in 1967. They were "Wish You Didn't Have To Go" (#35), "Shake A Tail Feather" (#27) and "Let Love Come Between Us" (#30). Over the years, we've had very few cousin duos like James and Bobby Purify. Other cousin duos (with special thanks to radio friends Matt Wilson and Toby Petty) include Mel and Tim, Snap and Hugo and Luigi. We've also had a cousin trio, the Ran-Dells, who hit with "The Martian Hop" in 1963.
Sadly, James and Bobby Purify never were able to truly cash in on their hits' success. Like the Cowsills and Anita Ward, the money just never came. "We were young," Dickey explained, "And we thought the money was coming through our manager but it never happened. It was a lesson. I asked our manager, 'If the record ("I'm Your Puppet") sold a million copies, then where's the money?' He didn't have an answer."
Instead of fighting for money in court and becoming embittered, Dickey just left the music business by the mid-1970's. "I probably could've pressed the issue and gotten what was coming to me," he said, "but I'm an easy-going person and I don't like to leave enemies behind me, so I left." He became a custodial crew supervisor for the Tallahassee Police Department starting in 1976. He became a deacon in his church. Plus, he sang with the Bethlehem Male Singers for 31 years.
Dickey's career began in 1963, when he visited the Club 40 nightclub in Midway, Florida to see the Alabama band the Dothan Sextet. The group's guitarist abruptly quit and suddenly Dickey was called to join the band on stage as a last-second replacement guitarist. He blended in with the band so well that he became a permanent member. In 1965, the Dothan Sextet would tour with Otis Redding. Eventually, Dickey would work with Wilson Pickett, Curtis Mayfield, Tyrone Davis, Jimmy Reed and his music idol, James Brown.
Dickey and James Purify connected when the latter joined the Dothan Sextet when the band relocated to Pensacola. Together, the duo met and hooked up with talent scout and DJ Papa Don Schroeder in 1966. At the height of the duo's popularity, they would wear Mohair suits. "Nothing under $150 apiece," Dickey noted, "And we never wore the same thing twice."
James Purify's whereabouts are unknown at presstime. However, his son, Bobby Purify Jr., was a star running back at the University of Colorado. He wasn't able to make it in the NFL, though, as both the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers cut him in the fall of 2005.
Robert Dickey, who was half of the 1960's cousin duo James and Bobby Purify, died on Thursday, December 29, 2011. He was 72. At presstime, the cause of death had yet to be disclosed.
Dickey's passing comes on the heels of news of the death of Fred Milano of Dion and the Belmonts...and the ironic and scary thing is that both were 72. And there's more. Milano was born August 26, 1939 and died January 1, 2012. According to Joel Whitburn's Record Research, Dickey was born on September 3, 1939 and died December 29, 2011. Thus, these two performers' passings came about three days apart and they were born about a week apart.
James and Bobby Purify burst onto the pop music scene in the fall of 1966 with "I'm Your Puppet," which reached #6 on the Cash Box pop chart. According to writer Mark Hinson of Gannett News Service, Dickey hated the song. In a 2000 interview, Dickey confessed, "I didn't even like it. In fact, I hated it. It was supposed to be the B side, but things got changed. I sang it for 23 hours straight (in the studio) and that's why I hate it. And the last take was the one they decided to go with."
James and Bobby Purify went on to score three more Top 40 hits, all in 1967. They were "Wish You Didn't Have To Go" (#35), "Shake A Tail Feather" (#27) and "Let Love Come Between Us" (#30). Over the years, we've had very few cousin duos like James and Bobby Purify. Other cousin duos (with special thanks to radio friends Matt Wilson and Toby Petty) include Mel and Tim, Snap and Hugo and Luigi. We've also had a cousin trio, the Ran-Dells, who hit with "The Martian Hop" in 1963.
Sadly, James and Bobby Purify never were able to truly cash in on their hits' success. Like the Cowsills and Anita Ward, the money just never came. "We were young," Dickey explained, "And we thought the money was coming through our manager but it never happened. It was a lesson. I asked our manager, 'If the record ("I'm Your Puppet") sold a million copies, then where's the money?' He didn't have an answer."
Instead of fighting for money in court and becoming embittered, Dickey just left the music business by the mid-1970's. "I probably could've pressed the issue and gotten what was coming to me," he said, "but I'm an easy-going person and I don't like to leave enemies behind me, so I left." He became a custodial crew supervisor for the Tallahassee Police Department starting in 1976. He became a deacon in his church. Plus, he sang with the Bethlehem Male Singers for 31 years.
Dickey's career began in 1963, when he visited the Club 40 nightclub in Midway, Florida to see the Alabama band the Dothan Sextet. The group's guitarist abruptly quit and suddenly Dickey was called to join the band on stage as a last-second replacement guitarist. He blended in with the band so well that he became a permanent member. In 1965, the Dothan Sextet would tour with Otis Redding. Eventually, Dickey would work with Wilson Pickett, Curtis Mayfield, Tyrone Davis, Jimmy Reed and his music idol, James Brown.
Dickey and James Purify connected when the latter joined the Dothan Sextet when the band relocated to Pensacola. Together, the duo met and hooked up with talent scout and DJ Papa Don Schroeder in 1966. At the height of the duo's popularity, they would wear Mohair suits. "Nothing under $150 apiece," Dickey noted, "And we never wore the same thing twice."
James Purify's whereabouts are unknown at presstime. However, his son, Bobby Purify Jr., was a star running back at the University of Colorado. He wasn't able to make it in the NFL, though, as both the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers cut him in the fall of 2005.