Cindy Walker facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cindy Walker
Background information
Born	(1917-07-20)July 20, 1917 Mart, Texas, U.S.
Died	March 23, 2006(2006-03-23) (aged 88) Mexia, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Country
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, singer, dancer

Cindy Walker (born July 20, 1917 – died March 23, 2006) was an amazing American songwriter. She was also a talented country music singer and dancer. Cindy wrote many popular songs that are still loved today. Lots of famous artists recorded her music.

Cindy had a special way of writing songs. She often created songs just for certain singers. Her songs were known for being "direct, honest and unpretentious," meaning they were clear, real, and not fancy. She had songs in the Top 10 charts for over fifty years!

In 1997, she was honored by being added to the Country Music Hall of Fame. She also joined the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.

Early life

Cindy Walker was born on July 20, 1917. Her family lived on her grandparents' farm near Mart, Texas. This was close to Mexia, a town east of Waco. Her dad was a cotton-broker. Cindy's grandfather, F.L. Eiland, wrote many hymns. Her mother was a wonderful piano player. From a young age, Cindy loved poetry and wrote all the time.

Career

How she started

When Cindy was a teenager, she read about the terrible dust storms in the American prairies. These stories inspired her to write a song called "Dusty Skies." Later, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys recorded it. In 1936, her song "Casa de Mañana" was played by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. By the end of the 1930s, Cindy was singing and dancing in shows across Texas.

Moving to Los Angeles

In 1940, when Cindy was 22, she went with her parents to Los Angeles. They were on a business trip. As they drove down Sunset Boulevard, Cindy asked her dad to stop the car. They were near the Bing Crosby Enterprises building. Cindy later said she wanted to show Bing Crosby a song she wrote for him called "Lone Star Trail."

Her dad thought she was "crazy," but he stopped the car anyway. Cindy went inside to share her song. Soon, she came out and asked her mom to play the piano for her. Bing Crosby's brother, Larry Crosby, agreed to listen. Cindy sang "Lone Star Trail" while her mom played. Larry Crosby was very impressed. He knew his brother, Bing, was looking for a new Western song.

The next day, Cindy played guitar and sang "Lone Star Trail" for Bing Crosby himself! This happened at Paramount Studios, where he was making a movie. Crosby helped her record a demo with Dave Kapp from Decca Records. Kapp was also impressed and offered her a recording contract. "Lone Star Trail" was recorded and became a top-ten hit for Bing Crosby.

Singing and recording

Cindy stayed in Los Angeles for 13 years. In 1940, she appeared as a singer in the Gene Autry Western movie Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride. Her contract with Decca Records led to her recording several songs. She sang with Texas Jim Lewis and His Lone Star Cowboys. One of these was "Seven Beers with the Wrong Man" in 1941. This song was even filmed as an early "Soundie," which was like a music video back then. In 1944, Cindy recorded a song that became a top ten hit, "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again."

Focusing on songwriting

Cindy was very good at getting her songs to famous artists. She started working with Bob Wills. She regularly wrote songs for his recordings and the movies he made in the 1940s. This partnership was very successful! Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys recorded over 50 of Cindy's songs. Some of these include "Cherokee Maiden" (1941), "Dusty Skies" (1941), "Miss Molly" (1942), "Sugar Moon" (which she wrote with Bob Wills in 1947), and "Bubbles in My Beer" (1948). Bob Wills and his band also performed Cindy's first top-ten country hit, "You're From Texas" (1944).

Other popular songs she wrote in the 1940s were "Warm Red Wine" (Ernest Tubb, 1949) and "Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me" (Eddy Arnold, 1950).

Cindy continued to write hit songs in the 1950s. In 1952, Hank Snow had a hit with her song "The Gold Rush Is Over." In 1955, Webb Pierce had success with "I Don't Care."

Another of Cindy's songs was "Blue Canadian Rockies." Gene Autry recorded it, and it was even in his 1952 movie of the same name. In 1968, the song was brought back by The Byrds on their famous country-rock album Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

In 1955, Eddy Arnold gave Cindy an idea for a song called "You Don't Know Me." They met at a music event in Nashville. Cindy then wrote the song based on Arnold's idea. Both of them got credit for writing it. People have called it "a beautifully symmetrical and poignant portrait of a love not to be."

"You Don't Know Me" has been recorded by many artists over the years. Some of the most famous versions were by Jerry Vale (1956), Lenny Welch (1960), Ray Charles (1962), and Elvis Presley (1967).

"Anna Marie" was a hit for Jim Reeves in 1957. This started another great partnership between an artist and Cindy. It led to songs like "This is It" (1965) and "Distant Drums." "Distant Drums" became a huge hit for Reeves after he passed away. It stayed at number one on the British charts for five weeks in 1966.

Jim Reeves recorded many of Cindy's songs. She often wrote songs just for him. "Distant Drums" was first recorded by Reeves as a demo because he loved the song. After his death, this demo was found. Cindy helped make it ready for release in 1966, and it became a huge international hit.

In 1961, Eddy Arnold had a hit with Cindy's "Jim, I Wore a Tie Today." This was a touching song about a cowboy's death. Cindy also wrote "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream) ," which was recorded by Roy Orbison. Orbison's recording was a hit in both the US and Britain in 1962. It was a hit again in 1971 for Glen Campbell and in 1983 for Lacy J. Dalton.

In 1964, Cindy recorded an album called Words and Music by Cindy Walker. Her song "In the Misty Moonlight" was a hit for both Jerry Wallace (1964) and Dean Martin (1967). It was also recorded by Jim Reeves. "Heaven Says Hello" (recorded by Sonny James) and "You Are My Treasure" (Jack Greene) were hits in 1968, both written by Cindy.

Honors, awards and tributes

In 1970, Cindy Walker became a founding member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1981, Mickey Gilley's version of "You Don't Know Me" was a hit on the country charts. A year later, Cindy had her last big hit with Ricky Skaggs' new version of "I Don't Care."

It's believed that more than 500 of Cindy's songs have been recorded. Her songs made the Top 40 charts (country or pop) over 400 times! In September 1997, Cindy was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. During her speech, Cindy shared a poem she wrote for the special day:

In the 1980s, my mother bought me a dress for a BMI affair and she said “when they put you in the Hall of Fame, that's the dress I want you to wear.” And I said “Oh Mama, the Hall of Fame? Why that will never be.” And the years went by, but my mother's words remained in my memory. And I know tonight she'd be happy, though she's gone now to her rest. But I think of all that she did for me, and tonight I'm wearing this dress.

After her speech, everyone stood up and clapped. Cindy left the stage with tears in her eyes, blowing a soft kiss. During the event, famous songwriter Harlan Howard called Cindy "the greatest living songwriter of country music."

In 1998, Cindy was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2002, the Country Music Television network honored the 40 Greatest Women in Country Music. Cindy was ranked number 32 on this list.

In March 2006, Willie Nelson released an album called You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker. It featured 13 of Cindy's most famous songs.

Personal life

Cindy Walker liked to keep her personal life private. People often said she never married. However, in an interview shortly before she passed away, Cindy said she had "a very short-lived marriage" once. After living in Los Angeles, she moved back to Texas in 1954. She lived in Mexia in a simple house with her widowed mother, Oree.

Cindy's routine was to wake up at dawn every day to write songs. She typed her lyrics on a pink typewriter. Her mother, Oree, helped her create melodies for her words. Each year, Cindy and her mother would stay in an apartment in Nashville for about five months to sell her songs. Oree Walker passed away in 1991. In a 2004 interview, Cindy said, "I miss Mama every day."

Death

Cindy Walker passed away near her home at the Parkview Regional Hospital in Mexia, Texas. She was 88 years old and died on March 23, 2006. This was just seven days after Willie Nelson's tribute album to her was released. She had been sick for several weeks before her death. Cindy was buried in the Mexia City Cemetery. Her family had a special sculpture made for her gravestone to honor her work. The memorial is a large pink-granite guitar, which was her favorite color.

Charting singles

See also

• Mr. Texas (film 1951)