Rusty Draper, 80; Hit Pop, Country Singer of 1950s, ‘60s

Rusty Draper, a country and pop singer in the 1950s and ‘60s remembered for such hits as “Gambler’s Guitar” and “The Shifting, Whispering Sands,” has died. He was 80.

Draper died of pneumonia March 28 in a Bellevue, Wash., hospital. For the last two decades, he had suffered from heart disease, strokes and, more recently, throat cancer that destroyed his melodic voice.

Beginning with “Gambler’s Guitar” in 1953, which sold more than 1 million records and hit No. 6 on the country and pop music charts, Draper had 11 songs on the pop charts and six songs on the country charts. His other best-known hits are “The Shifting, Whispering Sands,” which reached No. 3 in 1955, and Willie Nelson’s “Night Life,” Draper’s final recording to make the pop charts, in 1963. His last recording to reach the country charts was “Harbor Lights” in 1980.

Born Farrell Draper in Kirksville, Mo., the freckle-faced, red-haired boy received a guitar from his father on his 10th birthday. By the age of 12, he was singing on Tulsa, Okla., radio as “Freckles” with his uncle, Ralph Powell, who performed as Cy Perkins. Throughout his teens, he sang and played guitar on radio stations in Quincy, Ill., and Des Moines, Iowa.

Draper moved to San Bernardino with his family when he was 18 and, selling an electric guitar to finance the trip, made his way to San Francisco, where he became the singing master of ceremonies at a bar called the Barn. He moved to the Mel Hertz Club and then the Rumpus Room, where he stayed for seven years.

The personable singer had his own radio show in San Francisco and on Los Angeles’ KNX-AM (1070) in 1957. In 1966, he headed the NBC network television show “Swingin’ Country,” which ran for 26 weeks.

He also made guest appearances on the television variety shows of Patti Page, Eddie Cantor, Ed Sullivan and “Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts.” As an actor, he had guest roles on such series as “Rawhide,” “Laramie” and “77 Sunset Strip” and was in the stage musicals “Oklahoma!” and “Annie Get Your Gun.”

Draper toured widely until his health began to fail about 1980. He is survived by his wife and manager, Fay; two children from his first marriage, John of Sacramento and Judy of Sultan, Wash.; a stepson, Mark DeGraaf of Kirkland, Wash.; 15 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.