Ted Daffan

Theron Eugene "Ted" Daffan (September 21, 1912, - October 6, 1996) was an American country musician noted for composing the seminal Truck Driver's Blues and the much covered Country anthem Born to Lose.

Biography

Daffan was born in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. He lived in Texas in the 1930s, working in an instrument repair shop in Houston. Milton Brown convinced him to start performing, and soon after he scored his first success as a songwriter with the song "Truck Drivin' Blues", a hit for Cliff Bruner. This was one of the first truck-driving songs, a motif which would come to dominate country music for decades.

Forming his own band, The Texans, Daffan scored a string of hits, including "Worried Mind", "Born to Lose", "Those Blue Eyes Are Not Shining Anymore", "She Goes The Other Way" and "No Letter Today". "Born to Lose" may have sold as many as 7 million copies.

Truck Drivers' Blues

Daffan wrote the seminal "Truck Drivers' Blues," after he stopped at a roadside diner and noticed that every time a trucker parked his rig and strolled into the cafe, the first thing he did, even before ordering a cup of coffee, was push a coin in the jukebox. He decided to write a song to capture some of the truck drivers' nickels and make himself rich and famous. The resulting song was recorded by western swing artist Cliff Bruner in 1939, and it sold more than 100,000 copies, a smash hit at the time, and was later featured James Jones' best-selling novel,"From Here to Eternity."

Retirement and passing

Daffan left active performance in the 1960s, and founded a Nashville-based publishing house with Hank Snow. He retired to Houston, but retained interests in the publishing business for a time. He died in 1996 in Houston, Texas

Discography

Singles

• Conqueror 9697: Put Your Little Arms Around Me / I'm A Fool To Care (1940)
• Conqueror 9698: She Goes The Other Way / Gray Eyed Darling (1940)
• Conqueror 9699: Blue Steel Blues / Worried Mind (1940)
• Conqueror 9700: Rainy Day Blues / Let Her Go (1940)
• Conqueror 9701: I'm Sorry I Said Goodbye / I Told You So (1940)
• Okeh 5741: Crying The Blues Again / Where The Deep Waters Flow (1940)
• Okeh 6172: Because / Those Blue Eyes Don't Sparkle Anymore (1941)
• Okeh 6253: Weary, Worried And Blue / Too Late, Little Girl, Too Late (1941)
• Okeh 6504: I'll Travel Alone / I Lost My Sunshine (1941)
• Okeh 6542: Breakin' My Heart Over You / Car Hop's Blues (1941)
• Columbia 20077: Shut That Gate / Broken Vows (1946)
• Columbia 20103: Baby You Can't Get Me Down / You Better Change Your Ways Baby (1946)
• Columbia 20358: Long John / Lonesome Highway (1945)
• Columbia 20567: Flame Of Love / I'm That Kind Of Guy (1949)
• Columbia 20628: That's A Dad Blamed Lie / Take That Leash Off Of Me (1949)
• Columbia 20678: I've Got Five Dollars And It's Saturday Night / I'm Gonna Leave This Darned Old Town (1950)
• Columbia 20707: Ain't Got No Name Rag / Kiss Me Goodnight (1950)

References

• Ted Daffan at Allmusic
• Online Discographical Project

External links

• Ted Daffan at Find a Grave