Novelty Songs
The song was written by Dr. Milton “Mitt” Addington, a psychologist, and recorded by Dickey Lee in 1965. It was based on a story written by 15-year-old Cathie Harmon, who had it published in a Memphis, TN, newspaper in 1964. Harmon and Dr. Addington shared the credit and the royalties. “Laurie (Strange Things Happen)” went to #14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and to #6 in Canada.
Harmon’s story was based on the legend of a ghost called Resurrection Mary. Young men would encounter her at dance parties, so it goes, in Chicago in the 1930s. She was shy and had cold, cold hands. If she were escorted or driven home, she asked to be dropped off at Resurrection Cemetery on Archer Avenue. She would tell her escort not to follow her and would then disappear. In 1939, Jerry Palus met her at the Liberty Grove dance hall. Mary gave him a real home address. When he went there the next day, an older woman said that she had daughter who died many years ago. The woman showed Palus a photo, and it was the girl he escorted.
Dickey Lee was born Royden Dickey Lipscomb in Memphis in 1936. He is a pop and country singer and songwriter. Among his famous songs are”Patches,” another teen tragedy tune, and “Never Ending Song of Love.”
