Royden Dickey Lipscomb, born September 21, 1936, in Memphis, Tennessee, was known professionally as Dickey Lee (sometimes misspelled Dickie Lee or Dicky Lee), is an American pop/country singer and songwriter, best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs "Patches" and "Laurie (Strange Things Happen)."

Lee began playing in a band while in high school. The group won several talent shows, earning them a spot on a local radio station. DJ, Dewey Phillips, was impressed by Lee's voice and recommended him to a couple of local studios, Tampa Records & Sun Records, where Lee made his first recordings in 1957 and 1958.

Lees first chart success was in 1962, with his composition, "She Thinks I Still Care." It was originally recorded by George Jones and later covered by Elvis Presley, Connie Francis. Anne Murray covered it as "He Thinks I Still Care."

Later in 1962, rising to #6 on the pop charts "Patches," written by Barry Mann and Larry Kobler, and recorded by Lee for Smash Records, tells, in waltz-time, the story of teenage lovers of different social classes whose parents forbid their love. The girl drowns herself and the boy vows to join her. Because of the teen suicide theme, the song was banned by a number of radio stations.

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."{1}

After the 1960s, Lee devoted his efforts to country music performing and songwriting. His 1970s, country hits as a singer include, "Never Ending Song of Love," "Rocky" (another bitter-sweet song, written by Jay Stevens, aka: Woody P. Snow), "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 still performs occasionally.

He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1995. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ {1}Resurrection Mary is the Chicago area's best-known ghost story. Of the "vanishing hitchhiker" type, the story takes place outside Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, Illinois, a few miles southwest of Chicago. According to legend, since the 1930s, several people driving northeast along Archer Avenue between the Willowbrook Ballroom and Resurrection Cemetery, which is a wooded, rural area, have reported picking up a young female hitchhiker. This young woman is dressed somewhat formally and said to have light blond hair, blue eyes, and wearing a white party dress. There are other reports that she wore a thin shawl, dancing shoes, and a small clutch purse. When the driver nears the Resurrection Cemetery, the young woman askes to be let out, whereupon she disappears into the cemetery. According to a story in the [Chicago Tribune,] "full-time ghost hunter," Richard Crowe, has collected "three dozen...substantiated" reports of Mary from the 1930s to the present.

The story goes that Mary had spent the evening dancing with a boyfriend at the [Oh, Henry Ballroom] (now the Willowbrook Ballroom). At some point, they got into an argument and Mary stormed out. Even though it was a cold winter’s night, she thought she would rather face a cold walk home than spend another minute with her boyfriend. She started walking up Archer Avenue, and had not gotten very far, when she was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver, who fled the scene leaving Mary to die.

The Resurrection Mary story is often referred to as the vanishing hitchhiker story, a type of folklore that is known from many cultures. One such story, written in 1965 by fifteen-year-old Cathie Harmon for a Memphis, Tennessee newspaper, was picked up by psychologist-songwriter Milton Addington, who used it as the basis for Dickey Lee's song, "Laurie (Strange Things Happen.)" There have also been a few low-budget horror films released that are based on this legend.