Charline Arthur

Charline Arthur (also Charlene Arthur, née Charline Highsmith; September 2, 1929 – November 27, 1987) was an American singer of boogie-woogie, blues, and early rockabilly. In 1950, Arthur began work as a singer and a disc jockey at the Texas radio station KERB. She left three years later after the impresario Colonel Tom Parker discovered her, signing her with RCA Records. She was a regular performer on the Big D Jamboree radio program throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Arthur also performed and toured with Elvis Presley and others, but in 1956 RCA dropped her from the label and her career declined. Described as a "flash in the pan" and a "woman before her time", Arthur was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and has, since the 1980s, found favor with critics who praise her vocal style, her stage presence, and her influence on artists such as Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline.