James & Bobby Purify

[3] The duo were signed by Don Schroeder to Bell Records in 1966, with Dickey taking his cousin's surname as a stage name.

[4] Although "I'm Your Puppet" was their biggest hit, they had several further successes on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B chart in the US in the late 1960s, including a revival of "Shake a Tail Feather", originally by The Five Du-Tones, and "Let Love Come Between Us".

[3] Oliver's cover of the twosome's 1968 hit "I Can Remember", written by Richie Grasso, reached the top 25 of the Billboard Easy Listening Chart in the mid summer of 1970.

The duo continued to record and tour together until 1971, when Dickey retired from the music business for health reasons and returned to Tallahassee, where he worked as a city maintenance supervisor as well as singing and playing guitar with his church and as a member of the Bethlehem Male Singers.

He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1983, in the category of Best Soul Gospel Performance - Traditional, for the song "He Believes in Me".