Pick Me Up On Your Way Down / Don't Squeeze My Sharmon - Single

Charlie Walker is remembered for his 1958 hit "Pick Me Up on Your Way Down," but he charted over two dozen hits in his long career that included stints with Imperial, Decca, Columbia, Epic, RCA, and Capitol. Pick Me Up on Your Way Down is a five-disc box set that collects Walker's complete recordings from his earliest, tentative efforts for Imperial through the end of his tenure with Epic in the late '60s. Walker was a honky-tonker in the Texas dancehall tradition second only to Ray Price in his use of the shuffle beat, but he varied his approach enough so that a set of this length doesn't become tedious. His early recordings were sometimes sung uncertainly, but Walker improved with age to the point where the last recordings on this box set are some of the best. Walker's late-'60s efforts were surprisingly adventurous (including an incredible hard-rocking cover of the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women") and much better than his declining fortunes on the charts would suggest.