Billy "Crash" Craddock--Rub It In (1974)

     Billy Craddock got his start in the 50's as a rockabilly singer. He was signed to Columbia records and was positioned to be their "Elvis". It never quite turned out that way as the biggest hit he could muster was, "Don't Destroy Me" which eked in at number 94 on the charts. Craddock was however a major teen idol in Australia during that time.
     The sixties brought on a long dry spell as he drifted from one label to the next. Mercury, King, and Chart all tried to be the one to make him a star. By the late 60's however, he was without a label, and for the most part was out of music as well as he was back in his native North Carolina working in a cigarette factory and hanging drywall. After doing that for a bit, he went back to music, not going in more of a country format.
     This led him to a contract with Cartwheel records and his first country hit, a cover of Dawn's, "Knock Three Times". A move to ABC Records in 1973 gave another jolt to his career as he scored a host of hits, including three number 1's. One of them being, "Rub It In".
     The song, written and sung in 1971 by Layng Martine, and produced by Ray Stevens for his Barnaby label made it to the pop charts that year. Craddock reached number 1 on the country charts and number 16 on the pop charts. He never had that big of a hit again on the Hot 100, but continued making hits in country for the rest of the decade. You can check out his latest recordings and much more at his website: http://billycrashcraddock.com/