Grand Ole Opry Member Charlie Walker Dies at Age 81 Fri. September 12.2008 3:13 PM EDT
Grand Ole Opry member Charlie Walker died Friday morning (Sept. 12) in Hendersonville, Tenn., at age 81. A honky-tonk singer best known for his 1958 recording of Harlan Howard's "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down," he also enjoyed a successful career as a radio broadcaster and was inducted into the Country Radio DJ Hall of Fame in 1981. Born Nov. 26, 1926, in Copeville, Texas, Charles Levi Walker began his professional music career in Dallas during the 1940s as singer and guitarist with Bill Boyd's Cowboy Ramblers. After serving in the Army, he formed the Texas Ramblers and began performing in the Corpus Christi, Texas, area in 1947. He moved to San Antonio in 1951 and gained a fan base as a disc jockey on radio station KMAC. As a singer, Walker's first appearance on the country charts came in 1956 with "Only You, Only You," which reached No. 9. Walker scored three other Top 10 country hits during his recording career on the Decca, Columbia, RCA Victor and Capitol labels. "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down" failed to reach No. 1, but it spent four weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard country chart. His other Top 10 singles include "Wild as a Wildcat" (1965) and "Don't Squeeze My Sharmon" (1967). He became an Opry member in 1967 and was cast as country singer Hawkshaw Hawkins in Sweet Dreams, the 1985 film biography of Patsy Cline which starred Jessica Lange. Walker, who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer, is survived by his wife Connie and 10 children. Taylor Swift Premiering New Video on CMT Fri. September 12.2008 12:31 PM EDT Taylor Swift's music video for her latest single, "Love Story," will have its world premiere Friday (Sept. 12) at 8:30 p.m. on CMT. The video will also air Friday at 9, 9:30, 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET and will continue to air in hot shot rotation during CMT's regular music hours. Immediately following the TV premiere, the video and a collection of never-before-seen photos will debut exclusively at CMT.com. "Love Story" is the first single from Swift's new album, Fearless, to be released Nov. 11 by Big Machine Records. Brad Paisley Makes Good Morning America Train Stop Fri. September 12.2008 12:31 PM EDT Brad Paisley will perform Wednesday (Sept. 17) near the Amtrak train stop in Gustavus, Ohio, to help kick off an election initiative sponsored by ABC News and USA Today. The "50 States in 50 Days" promotion will include news reports from every state in the nation in the days leading up to the presidential election day on Nov. 4, which is also the release date for Paisley's new album, Play. He will perform his latest No. 1 single, "Waitin' on a Woman," and songs from Play during the broadcast on Good Morning America. Reba McEntire's 50 Greatest Hits Due Oct. 28 Fri. September 12.2008 12:31 PM EDT Reba McEntire's 50 Greatest Hits, a three-CD boxed set, will be released on Oct. 28 by MCA Nashville. Beginning with "How Blue," her first No. 1 for MCA, the collection spans her tenure on the label, concluding with "Because of You," her hit duet with Kelly Clarkson. McEntire and Clarkson plan to tour together again this fall. The boxed set, the first devoted to McEntire, does not reflect her earlier recordings for Mercury Records, which released her first single in 1976. Rodney Crowell, T Bone Burnett Added as Americana Conference Keynote Events Fri. September 12.2008 12:31 PM EDT Grammy winners Rodney Crowell and T Bone Burnett will be featured during keynote presentations at the Americana Music Festival and Conference taking place Sept. 17-20 in Nashville. Crowell, recipient of the 2006 Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting, will perform several songs during an interview with music journalist Anthony DeCurtis on Sept. 19. Burnett, producer of Alison Krauss and Robert Plant's Raising Sand album and the multi-platinum soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, will be interviewed by Nashville record producer Garth Fundis on Sept. 20. The first recipient of the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for an executive, Burnett has also produced projects for Elvis Costello, Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, John Mellencamp, B.B. King and Tony Bennett, among others. The ninth annual Americana event provides seminars, panel discussions and networking opportunities for musicians and those who work in the music industry. The conference will be highlighted by the Americana Music Association Honors and Awards program taking place Thursday (Sept. 18) at the Ryman Auditorium. ---------- ---------- Kay --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
