Billy Walker

I did not want this day to pass without remembering Grand Ole Opry star Billy Walker, who passed away on this date, May 21, 2006, in a car accident that took place as he was returning to Nashville after a concert. His wife, Bettie, along with several members of his band, also passed away in the one van accident.

Billy was born on January 14, 1929 and had a very interesting career. He stared off singing Texas honky-tonk style music, was involved for a short period of time in rock & roll, and then went to Nashville and was part of the "Nashville Sound" that was influencing country music at the time.

Billy started out professionally in 1948, just after finishing high school. He was soon a part of the Big D Jamboree in Dallas, and worked with Hank Thompson. It was with the help of Hank that he received his first recording contract in 1949 from Captiol Records. A little over a year later, he switched to Columbia Records. In 1952, he joined the Louisiana Hayride and then in 1954 he joined the Ozark Jubilee, before returning to Texas in 1958.

In 1959, he moved to Nashville and on January 1, 1960, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, even though he had only charted in the top 10 once on the Billboard charts. It was then that his career really took off. One of his most famous songs, "Funny How Time Slips Away" came out of the gate first, but only reached #23 on the charts. That was followed by his only #1 record of his career, "Charlie's Shoes", which reached the top of the charts in April 1962. He would continue to hit the charts until the late 1980s.

Billy was a regular performer on the Opry. While he joined the Opry in 1960, he had first appeared on the show in 1954. That was during the time that he had his first record on the charts, "Thank You For Calling." Billy was quoted about how he came up to the Opry:

"I was working the Louisiana Hayride and was from Texas, and didn't really have any thought about moving to Nashville. But in 1959 Randy Hughes, who was pretty well associated with the Opry and had Ferlin Husky and a couple of other acts, began to talk to me about coming to the Opry. By that time I had been on the Ozark Jubilee with Red Foley and had left there to move back to Fort Worth. And when Hughes mentioned the Opry to me, I said, 'Well, usually you come to the Opry when you get a number one record, and I don't have anything going at this particular time.' And he said, 'I don't think that will be the case.' So he got me booked in on The Prince Albert Show as a guest. Ott Devine had taken over the Opry and he began talking to me about it and I said, 'Yeah, I'd love to be a member.' That was in November. I started working it regular the first of January 1960."

Billy maintained a regular number of Opry appearances and would continue to average about 80-90 appearances each year, right up until he passed away. He was, however, part of the group of Opry veterans, that included Charlie Louvin, Stonewall Jackson and Del Reeves, that did make public comments about the number of appearances that they were making and the time slots that they were being scheduled for. However, as I said, Billy continued to be a regular part of the show until he passed away.

I had the opportunity to meet Billy once. Back in the 1990s, he came into the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, which was near his home, to have breakfast with his wife. To say that he stood out with his hair would be an understatement. But after he ate and I approached him while he was paying for his breakfast, he was as nice and as pleasant as you could ask. His wife was also particuarly nice. She was one of the organizers of some of the early legend shows that took place in Nashville and you could tell that they were a devoted couple.

In honor of Billy Walker, here is the Opry line up from Saturday May 13, 2006, which were the final Opry shows that Billy performed at. He appeared on both shows that Saturday night. He had been scheduled for the Tuesday Night Opry on May 23rd, but he passed away before that performance. I am sorry that I do not know what Billy's final Opry songs were, as I do not have the song list from that night:

Saturday May 13, 2006

6:30
Jimmy Dickens
Connie Smith
Jimmy C Newman
Keni Thomas

7:00
Jeannie Seely
The Whites
Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys
Pinmonkey

7:30
Riders In The Sky
Jan Howard
Jim Ed Brown
The Wreckers

8:00
Porter Wagoner
Billy Walker
Jean Shepard
Buddy Jewell
Opry Square Dancers

8:30
Bill Anderson
Eddy Raven
Ricky Skaggs

9:30
Jimmy Dickens
Connie Smith
Jimmy C Newman
Keni Thomas

10:00
Porter Wagoner
The Whites
Eddy Raven
Pinmonkey

10:30
Jeannie Seely
Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press
The Wreckers
Opry Square Dancers

11:00
Bill Anderson
Jean Shepard
Jack Greene
Ricky Skaggs

11:30
Riders In The Sky
Charlie Louvin
Billy Walker
Buddy Jewell

God Bless Billy Walker. You are missed.