Here’s a snippet of one of those songwriter stories I get a big kick out of. It’s about Cindy Walker. What?! You never heard of her? Somebody oughta bing your noggin. Check this out.
In 1940, Cindy Walker, at the age of 22, accompanied her parents on a business trip to Los Angeles. As they were driving down Sunset Boulevard she asked her father to stop the car near the Bing Crosby Enterprises building.
Walker later recalled: “I had decided that if I ever got to Hollywood, I was going to try to show Bing Crosby a song I had written for him called ‘Lone Star Trail.” Her father said “You’re crazy, girl.” But nonetheless he stopped the car. Walker went inside the building to pitch her song and emerged shortly afterward to ask her mother to play the piano for her.
Bing Crosby’s brother Larry Crosby had agreed to listen to the song. So Cindy sang “Lone Star Trail” to him, accompanied by her mother. And Larry Crosby was impressed. Plus, he knew his brother was looking for a new Western song to record. The next day Cindy played guitar and sang “Lone Star Trail” for Bing Crosby at Paramount Studios (where he was making a movie). Crosby arranged for her to record a demo with Dave Kapp of Decca Records. And he was also impressed and offered her a recording contract. “Lone Star Trail” was recorded and became a top-ten hit for Bing Crosby.
And this isn’t one of those songwriter stories that ends there.
Ms Walker wrote, performed, and wrote and sang songs with Gene Autry. Then, she wrote over 50 songs for Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. And she wrote hit songs for Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, and even Dean Martin. Also, she spent time in Hollywood.
But I like this part of her songwriter story. I found this info online.
“After her stint in Los Angeles she returned to Texas in 1954, living in Mexia in a modest three-bedroom house with her widowed mother, Oree (her mother). Walker’s custom was rising at dawn each day to write songs. She typed her lyrics on a pink-trimmed (pink was her signature color) manual typewriter and Oree helped work out melodies for her daughter’s words. Each year Walker and her mother would operate from an apartment in Nashville for five months or so in order to market the songs.”
My favorite Cindy Walker song is “You Don’t Know Me.” And that song has had some very nice covers. But my favorite is by Kenny Loggins, off his “Celebrate Me Home” album. Of course, it had his signature cool vocals. But there’s a snazzy guitar solo in there. Such a melancholy tune.
There’s no real underlying meaning to why I shared any of this with you. Just found out a lot more about Ms Walker that I’d never heard. And I enjoyed the way so many songwriter stories connected to her.
Anyway…
Enjoy your evening, night, morning, or afternoon with music in your heart. I know I will.
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