Charline Arthur

Country, honky tonk, rock n' roll singer and songwriter born September 1929, died November 27, 1987. For most of her life, Charline Arthur was viewed as a renegade. A Texas-born musician, she was a hard-living, feisty and opinionated woman - musically and physically aggressive onstage and off. She wore men's slacks and cowboy shirts. She leapt from stage amplifiers. She sang while lying down. In 1950 she landed a daily radio job at KERB in Kermit, Texas as both a DJ and singer. Music entrepreneur Colonel Tom Parker heard her and brought her to the attention of RCA Records in 1952. Because of her singles "Welcome to the Club," "Honey Bun" and "Burn That Candle," she is often cited as a pioneering rockabilly female. RCA dropped her in 1956, and, because of her reputation for being controversial and difficult, no other major record label took her in. In 1969 she revived her career, but arthritis in her hands forced her to retire. She died in her sleep at age 58 in 1987, never fully realizing her place in music history.