Dickey Lee Lipscomb (born September 21, 1936, Memphis, Tennessee), known professionally as Dickey Lee (sometimes misspelled Dickie Lee), is an American pop/country singer and songwriter best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs "Patches" and "Laurie (Strange Things Happen)." For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... A piece of fabric. ...

Lee made his first recordings in his hometown of Memphis for Tampa Records and Sun Records in 1957-58. He achieved his first chart success 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 #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. Label of the fourth Sun Records Sun Records has been the name for four 20th century record labels. ... George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931), is an American country music artist known for his distinctive voice and phrasing that frequently evoke the raw emotions caused by grief, unhappy love, and emotional hardship. ... 1980s Smash Records logo Smash Records is an American record label. ...

Lee had a #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 (Strange Things Happen)" a song related to the urban legends known as the vanishing hitchhiker and Resurrection Mary . The song was written by a Memphis psychologist, Milton Addington, based on a newspaper article by Cathie Harmon, who shared songwriting credit. The singer meets a girl at a dance and falls in love with her. He loans her his sweater, and when he goes to her house to retrieve it, he is informed by her father that Laurie "died a year ago today." When a "strange force" draws the singer to the graveyard, he sees his sweater lying on Laurie's grave. The song made only #14 on the national charts, but broke the top ten in a number of regional markets. To many, "Laurie" is still remembered as "the sweater song." An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... The vanishing hitchhiker (or phantom hitchhiker) is a reported phenomenon in which people travelling by vehicle meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle. ... Resurrection Mary is a famous ghost story and is considered by many to be the original hitchhiker ghost story. ...

After the sixties, Lee devoted his efforts to country music performing and songwriting. His 1970s country hits as a singer include "Rocky" (another song with a youthful death theme, written by Austin Roberts), "Angels, Roses, and Rain," and "9,999,999 Tears." 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, Charlie Pride, and Reba McEntire. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1995. This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Tracy Byrd may refer to: Tracy Byrd, the female boxer, or Tracy Byrd, the male country music singer. ... George Harvey Strait, (born May 18, 1952), is an American country music singer. ... Charley Frank Pride was one of eleven children born in Sledge, Mississippi, on March 18, 1938 to poor sharecroppers. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. ...