R.I.P. : Lee Dresser passed away

Guitarist, harmonica player and vocalist Lee Dresser joined with high school friends, Willie Craig and Fred Fletcher, to form a rockabilly band, The Krazy Kats, in 1957. They released several impressive recordings including a single, "Beat Out My Love" b/w "Wiggley Little Mama" in 1959 and a full-length album, Movin' Out!, in 1964. More than four decades later, Dresser and the Krazy Kats remain among the hardest working Midwestern bands. Inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, in 1999, they've performed their covers of classic tunes from the 1950s and ‘60s at an estimated more than three thousand shows.

The son of a government worker father and a ballerina mother, Dresser lost both parents at an early age and was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Moberly, Missouri. Teaching himself to play guitar, at the age of fourteen, he didn't begin performing seriously until the mid-1960s, when he was drafted into the United States Army, after briefly attending Moberly Junior College and Missouri University. Sent to Viet Nam, where Craig had been sent the previous year, he developed a solo act as a singer-songwriter.

Relocating to Los Angeles, after receiving his honorary discharge, Dresser found employment as a guitarist and harmonica player for Danny Thomas, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and the Oak Ridge Boys. Signing with Capitol, he recorded several singles in the early-1970s and represented the United States in the World Popular Song Festival, in Tokyo, in 1972. His vocals were heard on the soundtrack of 1975 film, The Adventures Of The Wilderness Family, and during the Country Bear Jamboree show at Disney World. His songs were covered by Pat Boone, Bobby Sherman, the Osmonds, Trini Lopez and Ray Price.

Despite his success in southern California, Dresser missed his former musical partners. When the Krazy Kats were revived, in 1980, he began shuttling back and forth, by plane, between California and Missouri. As the band's schedule intensified, he moved back to Missouri in 1985.


http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lee-dresser-mn0000274705



Travelling down this highway, Highway 101
Wishing that my lonesome trip was over and done
Counting off those miles, listening to that whine
I Got a California woman on my mind
El Camino Real take me home, back to Monterey
'Cause I didn't have much luck down in L.A.
Well, I sang my songs in Montery
And build up quite a name
Then I went down to L.A.
For fortune and fame
But no one cared about me there
So, now I'm coming home
Travelling north on Highway 101
El Camino Real take me home, back to Monterey
'Cause I didn't have much luck down in L.A.
Well, soon I'll be in Monterey
And then I'll feel so fine
'Cause I'll be back with the girl
That I left so far behind
I'll stay right there and sing my songs
Happy as can be
And if L.A. wants, they can come to me
El Camino Real take me home, back to Monterey
'Cause I didn't have much luck down in L.A.
El Camino Real take me home, back to Monterey
'Cause I didn't have much luck down in L.A.
Well, I didn't have much luck down in L.A.
No no no, you know I didn't have much luck down in L.A.

More information later about his death

R I P

Lee Dresser of the Krazy Kats has died
April 25

Lee Dresser, a founding member of the Krazy Kats, has died. His wife, Kelly Dresser, posted an announcement of his death on Thursday at the band’s web site, krazykats.net.

“It is with a heavy and broken heart that I must post this,” she wrote. “I just want to let everyone know that the love of my life, Lee Dresser, passed away April 24, 2014. Our son, Jason, his wife, Tasha, our granddaughter, Charlyie Mae and myself were all with him when he died.”

Dresser, the band’s lead vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player, had been suffering leukemia. He had a bone-marrow transplant two years ago, according to a post at rockabillyromp.com, announcing the band’s induction into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

Dresser founded the rockabilly band in 1957 in Kansas City with high school classmates Fred Fletcher and Willie Craig. According to his biography at AllMusic.com, after college and a stint in the U.S. Army, where he served in Vietnam, Dresser found work as a musician in Los Angeles, performing with Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and others, and released a solo album.

The Krazy Kats reunited in 1980 and within five years, Dresser had rejoined them in Kansas City, where they performed regularly for decades. In 1999, they were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. | Timothy Finn, The Star

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/04/25/4982264/lee-dresser-of-the-krazy-kats.html#storylink=cpy


SOURCE : HERE