Charles Levi Walker (November 2, 1926 – September 12, 2008)
was an American country musician. His biggest success was with the song, "
Pick Me Up on Your Way Down".
He held membership in the
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...
from 1967,
and was inducted into the Country Radio DJ Hall of Fame in 1981.
Career
He was born in
Copeville, Texas
Copeville is an unincorporated community in southeastern Collin County, Texas, United States, along State Highway 78 near the east shore of Lavon Lake.
History
Copeville was named for John Miles Cope (January 5, 1827 – July 14, 1902), one ...
, United States.
In 1943, Walker joined
Bill Boyd's Cowboy Ramblers, and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he served as a disc jockey for the
Armed Forces Radio Network
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
.
Walker worked as a disc jockey in from 1951 until 1961 at
KMAC and then from 1961 up to 1963 at
KENS
KENS (channel 5) is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Fredericksburg Road in northwest San Antonio, near the South Texas Medical Center, wh ...
in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
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, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
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, Texas, before signing with
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
.
His first hit, "Only You, Only You" was co-written with Jack Newman and reached No. 9 on the country chart in January 1956.
Walker later signed with
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
and reached No. 2 with a
Harlan Howard
Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists.
C ...
song, "
Pick Me Up on Your Way Down".
His other hits include "Who Will Buy the Wine", "Wild as a Wildcat", "Don't Squeeze My Sharmon", and "I Wouldn't Take Her To A Dogfight."
Many of his records featured harmony vocals by
Ray Price. His more popular recordings were of
honky-tonk
A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...
numbers, such as "Close All the Honky Tonks", and "
Honky Tonk Women
"Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single on 4 July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States (although a country version called "Country Honk" was ...
".
Walker played a minor role in the 1985
Patsy Cline
Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...
biographical film, ''
Sweet Dreams''.
Walker died of
colon cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...
in September 2008, at the age of 81 in
Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville is the largest city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 61,753 at the 2020 census.
Hendersonville is the fourth-largest city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nashville, Murfreesboro, an ...
.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
Bibliography
Pugh, Ronnie (1998). "Charlie Walker". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 567.
External links
Charlie Walker's Grand Ole Opry member page*
1926 births
2008 deaths
People from Collin County, Texas
Grand Ole Opry members
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
Singer-songwriters from Texas
Deaths from colorectal cancer
Deaths from cancer in Tennessee
20th-century American singers
Country musicians from Texas
20th-century American male singers
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