Bio of Country Singer Billie Walker?

Answer 1

He was born inRalls, Texas, and one of eight children and the grandson of a Methodist minister. His mother died when he was four. Because of the great depression, his father was unable to keep the family together. He was 36 and had eight children so he placed him and two of his brothers in the Methodist Orphanage in Waco, Texas. The Orphanage was a cruel place at that time. His brothers and he were isolated for 30 days in one small room. You want to hear about child abuse -- they wouldn't be allowed to operate today. He recalls one young boy who was made to sleep all night sitting on the commode. They beat them and if anyone wet the bed, they rubbed our face in it. pulled our hair, made us go without food.

His daddy remarried and came to get them when he was 11. He gave billy a dime to see a Gene Autry movie. It was called "Public Cowboy #1." He looked at Gene on that screen and said I can do that. From that moment on, He knew he was born to sing. He worked at plucking' turkeys to earn enough money to buy his first guitar. By the age of 15 billy won his first singing contest at KICA Radio in Clovis, New Mexico singing "I'll Never Let You Go, Little Darling'." The prize was $3.00 - a chocolate cake and a chance to have his own radio show every Saturday. Billy would hitchhike 80 miles one way every week because he had a dream. Some nights he wouldn't make it all the way and he would sleep along side of the road but come morning he would be there to help his daddy with his milk route. When you've got a dream -- nothing can stop you.

A native of west Texas who was active on The Grand Ole Opry, Billy Walker emerged from the talent-rich Dallas scene of the late '40s and early '50s. After a brief stint on Capitol, he was signed to Columbia in 1951 at almost exactly the same time as Ray Price. For a while, Walker, Price, and Lefty Frizzell were all recording at the legendary Jim Beck studio in Dallas, which did for '50s honky tonk what Sun Studio in Memphis did for rockabilly. Nevertheless, Walker enjoyed his greatest success ten years later in Nashville, where the studio sound was perhaps more suited to his smooth tenor voice.

On Sunday May 21, 2006 Walker was killed along with his wife and two of his band members when a van they were riding in ran off Interstate 65 south of Montgomery.