Charline Arthur is a 50s-era rock n roll singer from Texas, who toured with the likes of old Elvis before record labels decided she wasn’t it and dropped her. Luckily, the wonderful folks at Bear Family Records put out a comp of her recordings in 2003 for us all to enjoy. And enjoy it you will, because Charline is so darn enjoyable.
If you like Patsy Cline, if you like Ernest Tubb, you’re gonna love Charline. She has a bit more of an edge to her, which I always appreciate. She was even censored by the Grand Ol’ Opry (ok, who wasn’t?) for her sexually suggestive lyrics. ‘Attagirl, Charline.
All the power boys in Nashville wanted Charline to sing more feminine, sweet songs like mega-popular Kitty Wells. But Charline refused to change her tough gal image, and she got tagged with that “difficult to work with” label. That pretty much ended her career, but she’s gained more respect in recent years and was posthumously inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame as the world has finally caught up with the ahead-of-her-time, “difficult” musician that lovely Charline proudly was.
