Charline Arthur was born Charline Highsmith on September 2, 1929. In the mid-Fifties, most women country singers took their cue from Kitty Wells. They'd stand demurely on stage in gingham dresses, singing mostly of betrayal and unrequitted love. Then came Charline Arthur, whose music spoke of a rowdier universe, a place where the boogie was woogied, diamonds were flashed, and men were picked up and cast off.
At the age of 12, Charline wrote her first song, The Boogie Blues, which she recorded nearly a decade later. She met her husband, Jack Arthur in 1947, and married him on April 17, 1948. By 1949, she was singing in small clubs and honky tonks all across Texas. A gig at a Dallus club landed her a deal to record two songs for Bullet Records. Yet, she held down a job as a singer and dee-jay at KERB (in Kemit, Texas), working six days a week. In 1950, she spent her own money recording two sides at the radio station studio. These recordings were later acquired by Imperial Records. Colonel Tom Parker can be credited as the reason she received a contact with RCA Victor. Ironically, she received her contract the same day that Hank Williams was pronounced dead (Jan 1, 1953).
In her day, Charline had no significant commercial impact as a recording artist. She was a far cry from the prim and propper image and style that the conservative music industry demanded of female country singers in that era. She continued to sing well into the 1970's. Toward the end of her life, she lived in a trailer, surviving on a $335 a month disabillity pension.
Charline Arthur died in her sleep on November 27, 1987.
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