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===Early years===
Billy Walker was born in [[Ralls, Texas,]] on January 14, 1929 and was the youngest of three children. His mother died when he was only six years old, and Billy's father was unable to care for him and his two older brothers. Some of the children were placed in a Methodist orphanage in Waco, Texas. Billy attended High School in [[Whiteface, Texas,]] and had won a talent contest which entitled him to appear on radio in [[Clovis, New Mexico]]. He seems to have played on his own radio show there, too. This was possibly at the station owned by Pop Echols at the time. Inspired by the music of [[Gene Autry]] as a teenager, he had begun his professional music career in 1947 at age 18. After his debut on Clovis radio as a teenager he later joined the ''[[Big D Jamboree]]'' in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]] in 1949. The same year, [[Hank Thompson (musician)|Hank Thompson]] helped him sign with [[Capitol Records]] after he worked with Walker in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]].<ref name="In Memory of Billy Walker">{{cite web | url = http://www.billywalker.com/ | title = In Memory of Billy Walker | publisher = The estate of Billy Walker | access-date = 2009-04-17}}</ref> His manager at the time had him wear a [[Lone Ranger]]-style black mask and billed him as The Traveling Texan, the Masked Singer of Country Songs.
In 1951, Walker signed with [[Columbia Records]] and the following year joined the ''[[Louisiana Hayride]]'' in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], where he and [[Slim Whitman]] were responsible in part for [[Elvis Presley]]'s first appearance on the radio program. In 1954, Walker scored his first hit with "[[Thank You for Calling]]". His early Columbia recordings were at a Dallas studio owned by producer [[Jim Beck]], responsible for hits by [[Ray Price (musician)|Ray Price]], [[Lefty Frizzell]] and others.<ref name="CMT.com Staff">{{cite web | url = http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1532202/20060521/walker_billy.jhtml?headlines=true | title = Grand Ole Opry Star Billy Walker, Three Others Killed in Traffic Accident | publisher = CMT.com | author = CMT.com Staff | date = 2006-05-21 | access-date = 2009-04-17}}</ref> In 1955, Walker, Presley and [[Tillman Franks]] teamed up for a tour of West Texas. Walker soon became a cast member of ABC-TV's ''[[Ozark Jubilee]]'' in [[Springfield, Missouri]], where he began a long friendship with host [[Red Foley]].<ref name="CMT.com Staff"/>
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===Country music career===
After a brief attempt at [[rock 'n' roll]], Walker played the Texas bar circuit before moving to [[Nashville, Tennessee,]] in 1959 and joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1960. He was one of the first artists to record a [[Willie Nelson]] song; and although his 1961 version of "[[Funny How Time Slips Away]]" only reached No. 23 on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'''s country singles chart, it helped establish Walker's national reputation.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1532202/20060521/walker_billy.jhtml?headlines=true | title = Grand Ole Opry Star Billy Walker, Three Others Killed in Traffic Accident | publisher = CMT.com | author = CMT.com Staff | date = 2006-05-21 | access-date = 2009-04-17}}</ref> In 1962, he topped the chart with "Charlie's Shoes", the only No. 1 single of his career. His smooth tenor was well-suited to other Western-inspired hits including "Matamoros" and "Cross the Brazos at Waco" (1964).
After performing at a charity concert in [[Kansas City, Kansas]] on March 3, 1963, Walker received an urgent phone call to return to Nashville. Fellow performer [[Hawkshaw Hawkins]] gave Walker his [[Airline|commercial airline]] ticket and instead flew back to Tennessee on March 5 on a private plane, which crashed, killing Hawkins, [[Patsy Cline]], [[Cowboy Copas]] and pilot Randy Hughes.<ref name="In Memory of Billy Walker"/>
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