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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZWALKER, Charlie(b 11 November 1926, Copeville TX; d 12 September 2008, Henderson TN) Country singer and guitarist. Turned pro with Bill Boyd's Country Ramblers in 1943, worked as a disc jockey with Armed Forces Radio Network and became a top country disc jockey in the USA, finally with 25 Billboard country hits of his own 1956-74 on five different labels, including four top tens, of which the biggest was his second hit, with Harlan Howard's 'Pick Me Up On Your Way Down' '58. One of the others, 'Don't Squeeze My Sharmon' '67, was written by Carl Belew and Van Givens, suggested by a TV advert for toilet tissue which had become a catchphrase. He played country singer Hankshaw Hawkins in Sweet Dreams, the 1985 biopic about Patsy Cline. Walker was also prominent in golf, both as a player and a broadcaster. |