Country Songwriter Cindy Walker Donates Catalog
Museum Celebrates Life and Hit Music of Country Music Hall of Famer
Aug 16, 2009
Before famed country-music songwriter Cindy Walker died, she made sure she took care of her songs—which she lovingly referred to as her “babies”—and in doing so, the bulk of her music catalog now has a new home with Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Museum representatives celebrated the award-winning tunesmith and her music on Aug. 12, 2009, during an invitation-only donation ceremony that acknowledged Walker’s decision to world-famous museum and archive.
Country Music Hall of Fame Welcomes Cindy Walker's Hit-Song Collection
Media representatives invited to the event were not allowed to provide advance coverage of the news—only post-coverage—following a musical salute to Walker’s music that included performances and participation from big-name country stars such as Vince Gill, who joined Nashville’s premier western swing unit, the Time Jumpers, in performing a selection of Walker’s creations.
During the ceremony’s live-music portion, the Time Jumpers provided the musical backdrop for Walker songs such as “Sugar Moon,” with Kenny Sears on vocals; “You Don’t Know Me,” with vocals by Carolyn Martin; “Miss Molly,” with vocals by Ranger Doug; “I Don’t Care,” which featured the voice of Dawn Sears; and lastly, multiple Grammy Awards-winner Gill chimed in to sing on “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream).”
Museum Recounts Texas Musician-Hit Songwriter's Life and Country Music
Museum Director Kyle Young said that when the prolific songwriter died on March 23, 2006, she donated what would become the largest portion of song holdings to the museum.
“We are accustomed to gifts documenting or recalling the work of country-music luminaries,” he said, “but this is the first time we have ever received the actual work.”
During the announcement-turned-celebration, images of Walker from various stages of her career were shown, as Young recounted her life from her youth in Waco, Texas, to her arrival and early professional career in Hollywood, and then her return to Texas and embrace of the Nashville music scene until her death in 2003.
Music Video Pioneer: Country Music Hall of Fame Inductee CIndy Walker
Young also noted that Walker was a pioneer in regard to today’s music videos, thanks to her efforts in creating, Election Day and Seven Beers with the Wrong Man, both of which were three-minute song-and-dance/dramas that were screened between western movie double-features and played on video jukeboxes in the early 1940s.
A 1997 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Walker’s gift to the museum included files and notebooks related to the songs, sheet music, photographs and business documents.
During the ceremony, Young explained that Walker, who was once married briefly and had no children, considered her songs as her “babies.” Consequently, among her files, a museum curator discovered the songwriter’s farewell letter to her beloved “babies.”
Famous Country Songwriter Bids Farewell to Hit-Song Catalogs
“Goodbye my darling,” Walker wrote. “You have been so good to me. You have made me rich and famous. I love you, you are the reason I am, and you are in the Hall of Fame. I will miss you. Goodbye, your girl, Cindy Walker.”
Referring to Walker’s good-bye note, Young remarked, “Few things have served as a more emotional reminder of our responsibilities here than Cindy Walker’s note to her ‘babies.’”
Thanks to inspiration from Sony/ATV Music Publishing President and CEO Troy Tomlinson, one of the museum’s curators, David Conrad, told those in attendance that the hall of fame intends to create a dozen-song demo of Walker’s songs that will be directed to film and television music supervisors.
Vince Gill & Others Will Create Project In Honor of Cindy Walker's Hit Songs
With Conrad as executive producer, this project also will be aided by volunteer producers Tony Brown, Fred Foster and hit-maker Gill, each of whom will produce four songs for the project.
“Each producer will choose artists from different music genres, who will be invited to create new arrangements of both Cindy’s immortal songs and some that are not so well known,” Conrad explained.
 |
 |
 |
