Charline Arthur

Charline Arthur (born September 2, 1929 in Henrietta , Texas , † November 27, 1987 in Pocatello , Idaho ) was an American musician who celebrated a brief success as a honky tonk and rockabilly artist in the 1950s .

Arthur had - especially for a woman - a very self-confident and independent demeanor for her time. At a time when the power of producers in the country was growing, it was considered extremely uncomfortable. The end of her short career was finally sealed when she fell out with rising star producer Chet Atkins .

Life

Childhood and youth

She was born Charline Highsmith, the second of 12 children. When she was four years old, the family moved to Paris , Texas. Her parents were relatively poor. They belonged to the Pentacostal Church. The father was a priest; both parents were amateur musicians. Music was part of Charline Highsmith's life so early on: she sang in the church choir, and at the age of seven she bought her first guitar, which she is said to have earned by collecting returnable bottles. She wrote her first song, I've Got the Boogie Blues , when she was 12 under the influence of the music of the honky tonker Ernest Tubb . In 1945 she sang on the radio station KPLT in her hometown. At 15, she left home to attend a medicine show . She sang in honky tonks and small clubs.

Career

Three years later, she met her future husband, Jack Arthur, who directed her early career and played bass on her first recordings. After a performance in Dallas, the label Bullet Records became aware of her, for which she recorded her first single. She also recorded for the Imperial Records label in 1950 .

Colonel Tom Parker became aware of the young artist during a short engagement as a singer and DJ at the radio station KERB in Kermit, Texas . He took it to Nashville , Tennessee in 1952 to present it to the Hill and Range Publishing Company . This got her a record deal with the major label RCA . In 1955 she seemed to have made it: the influential Nashville producers Steve Sholes and Chet Atkins produced their records. With her wild, rough and erotic appearances, in which she jumped across the stage including the amplifier, she won the “Best Female Singer” award from the country and western magazine “Dee jays Choice” right behind the then country superstar Kitty Wells . She has performed with country and rock 'n' roll superstars such as Elvis Presley , Johnny Cash , Jerry Lee Lewis , Marty Robbins , Lefty Frizzell . 1955 and 1956 she was a regular on the artist staff at the Big D Jamboree of the radio station KRLD in Dallas , Texas; she also appeared at the Louisiana Hayride and the Ozark Jubilee . Arthur was also on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry , the "Olympus" of country music.

In 1956, however, their arguments with Chet Atkins became more and more violent, whereupon RCA did not renew their contract. Charline Arthur switched to the Coin label , but it soon became an issue there too. During this time, she also separated from her husband. In 1960 she was financially ruined and moved to Salt Lake City , where nightclub and label owner Ray Pellum got her a job in Chubbuck, Idaho. She recorded for his label Eldorado , later also for other independent labels such as Rustic , Wytra and Republic . In 1965 she moved to the west coast and romped through small clubs. In 1978 she went back to rural Idaho , where she lived on $ 335 a month in welfare that she got because she was unable to work because of her arthritis . A year before her death, a singles compilation of her recordings from 1949 to 1957 was released on the German label Bear Family Records , which is said to have moved Arthur to tears.

It was not until the 1990s, when fans and academics were increasingly concerned with musicians who had pioneered country and rockabilly work, that interest in Charline Arthur rose again - and with it her popularity.

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Arthur contradicted the classic image of women in country music, which was mainly determined by country-style singers like Kitty Wells and one or the other chaste, rather staid cowgirl like Patsy Montana . Arthur anticipated the sexualized stage behavior of Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger with their energetic shows .

Discography

Compilations

• Burn That Candle - Charline Arthur (Bear Family) (1986)
• Calling All Rock 'N' Roll Collectors, Vol. 3b. (Cat)
• Ultra Rare Hillbilly Boogie, Vol. 1c. (Chief)
• Hillbilly Houn 'Dawgs & Honky Tonk Angels (Detour)
• The Big D Jamboree Live (Dragon Street)
• Gals Of The Big D Jamboree (Dragon Street)

literature

• Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann: Finding Her Voice: The Saga Of Women In Country Music Crown Publishers, 1993 (English).

Web links

• Biographical excerpt from a scientific article (English)
• Biography on the US-American country TV station CMT (English)