Charlie Walker   -  Biography

Country singer Charlie Walker's career was highlighted with his 1958 classic hit release of Harlan Howard's "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down." Texas-born Walker began in the early '40s as a vocalist in the Cowboy Ramblers. After several years singing with the Bill Boyd-led group, Walker briefly retired from the performing side of the business to work as a DJ. A recording contract with Columbia brought him back to performing, though, and it was then that he scored with Howard's classic composition. In addition to "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down," Walker scored three other Top 10 country hits -- "Only You, Only You" (1956), "Wild as a Wildcat" (1965) and "Don't Squeeze My Sharmon" (1967). He became an Opry member in 1967 and was inducted into the Country Radio DJ Hall of Fame in 1981. As an actor, he portrayed country singer Hawkshaw Hawkins in Sweet Dreams, the 1985 film biography of Patsy Cline which starred Jessica Lange. Diagnosed with colon cancer, Walker died on Sept. 12, 2008, in Hendersonville, Tenn.