Country Singer's Music Memorabilia Has New Home
Honky-Tonk Entertainer Charlie Walker's Artifacts Donated to MTSU
A native of Copewell, Texas, honky-tonk singer Charlie Walker is likely best known to country fans for Pick Me Up on Your Way Down, his 1958 country hit.
However, the Grand Ole Opry member’s reach was widespread, thanks to more than five decades as an entertainer within his chosen genre as part of a career that didn’t end until his death in 2008 at 81.
“He kept just about everything,” said Connie, referring to her husband, in an Aug. 31, 2009, press statement from Middle Tennessee State University, which is now home to the sometime actor and one-time disc jockey’s music memorabilia.
Grand Ole Opry Member's Music Memorabilia Now Part of MTSU Center's Collection
From his November 1952 contract with Commodore Records, including its original envelope, to photographs, political fliers, fan mail, 78s, reel-to-reel footage and video, Walker’s career-related memorabilia has found a permanent home with the Murfreesboro-based music archive, which now houses the collection in a climate-controlled room, where it is being cataloged.
Connie said she opted to donated her late husband’s career souvenirs to the Center for Popular Music after a librarian friend offered to help her find an appropriate home for the items that wasn’t too far away from the Walker family’s Hendersonville, Tenn., home. Consequently, the MTSU center— which was established in 1985 and is devoted to the study of American popular music from the prerevolutionary era to the present—was ideal.
“Another thing that sold me on MTSU was the audio restoration facilities (in the College of Mass Communication),” Walker shared in the August 2009 press statement. “I wanted a place that could digitize the reel-to-reel tapes and archive them, too.”
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Born Nov. 2, 1926, Charlie grew up on a cotton farm north of Dallas, Texas, in Collin County. According to the performer’s biography information from the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, Walker’s father encouraged his singing son’s country-music career. As a teen, Charlie signed on with a band known as Bill Boyd and His Cowboy Ramblers before securing a DJ job at KIOX Radio in Bay City in 1943, and then later—following a stint in the U.S. Army—he began DJing at San Antonio’s KMAC Radio.
For a decade, the part-time country entertainer was named by BIllboard magazine as one of country music's top-10 DJs. Nonetheless, his love for performing took the spotlight when, in 1956, he recorded Only You, Only You for Decca Records. The song made its way to the top-10 on the country charts, and not long thereafter, Walker inked a record deal with Columbia Records, where he released his biggest country-radio hit, Pick Me Up On Your Way Down.
Hall of Fame DJ Charlie Walker Made Traditional-Country Hits, Established Country Fan Base
Inducted into the Country Radio DJ Hall of Fame in 1981, Walker moved to Nashville, where he soon was among the most popular members of the revered Grand Ole Opry following his 1967 induction. The Stetson-donning singer also was a top draw in Las Vegas in the mid-'60s, where he performed for weeks at venues such as the Golden Nugget, where he served as both a show emcee and headlining country singer, according to his Texas Country Music Hall of Fame biography.
As for Walker's boxes and boxes of music memorabilia, the Center for Popular Music's staff, including Dr. Paul Wells, center director, is working to catalog all the Walker artifacts they have received.
“Because of the extent of the collection, it will be many months before we have it fully processed and available for researchers,” explained Wells in the Aug. 31 media release from MTSU. “We’re making it a high-priority project and will have it accessible as soon as possible.”
Country Singer's Widow Hopes Husband's Career Souvenirs, Memorabilia Will Increase
Walker's widow, meanwhile, has said she's optimistic that her late husband's memorabilia will encourage others who may have more Charlie-related information or souvenirs to share with the family to come forward, especially items related to Walker's days as a performer in the 1950s at his own San Antonio-based nightclub, The Barn.
For more information about the Center for Popular Music and its collections, visit its Web site at http://popmusic.mtsu.edu.
Honky-tonk hit-maker Charlie Walker
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Grand Ole Opry member Charlie Walker
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Country entertainer/DJ Charlie Walker
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