Customer Reviews

Welcome to the Club

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A stellar collection of ultra-rare oldies by one of hard country's most elusive figures. Brassy, loudmouthed and a snarly, dynamic singer, Arthur demolished the traditional role of the passive, ladylike country "girl" singer. Back in the early '50s, when all the other gals were demurely performing in Kitty Wells-style gingham dresses, Arthur was wearing slacks, smoking cigarettes, and cussing Chet Atkins out in the RCA recording booth. It was probably the last habit that had the most to do with her swift fall from grace -- Arthur was dumped from the label in 1956, after having plugged away for several years without much commercial success. Admittedly, Arthur's bluesy, occasionally raunchy style was at odds with the expectations of the times, but it's a tragedy she wasn't allowed to grow as an artist -- her vocals and approach certainly prefigured the work of bluesy country/pop stylists like Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee, and (of course...) the rockabilly bop of Wanda Jackson. Notably, the singer whose voice most resembles Arthur is Skeeter Davis, who Atkins *did* succeed in taming -- you can hear similar attempts to soften and Nashville-ize Arthur's vocals throughout this disc. But uptempo or slowed down, Charline Arthur was a force to be reckoned with, and this CD should send a quiver through the hard country community -- check it out!

Back about 1958, Charline Arthur was singing in a small bar in Eastern Montana, and my friends and I spent as much time as possible listening to her. A few years later, when I began buying LP's I started searching for recordings by her. I believe that there was a Gospel recording, but I couldn't even locate that.

Now thanks to 'Country Classics' on our TV Satelite, where I heard her songs, and to Amazon.Com, where I found the CD, I can listen to her again. When I first heard her voice on the TV I rushed to find who was singing, and was so glad to see her name.

I love listening to this CD. She has such an energy, and I am reminded of the days when I could hear her in person. Thamk you Bear Family, Dish Network, and most of all Amazon.com.

Now I hope you will do the same with recordings of Browning Bryant. I had his album, but dropped it and broke it several years ago. I have never been able to locate another.

My mother and Charline were friends so I grew up with all these songs. Today I am amazed at the talent of this woman. Regardless of all the different styles and arrangements dictated by her record producers...her raw talent shines through. What a tragedy that she was never recognized in her lifetime as the great artist she was due mostly to the fact that she wouldn't play the Nashville game. There's a song for every emotion and feeling on this album. The fifties just werent ready for this woman. I am so glad and grateful her music is available today.

I was stranded and walking on a side road in eastern Idaho, I had a cowboy hat, sleeping bag and a guitar, with a sign that read "Nashville." I hadn't had a ride in two days and I was extremly hungry. I had given up on a ride, my plan was to walk to the next intersection 15 miles down the road, when an old pontiac station wagon stopped and backed up to me. a entergetic little lady jumped out and asked me where I was going, I was stunned I asked her where was she going, she said Casper. Good enough, she grabed my Guitar and sleeping bag and through it in the back of the car, on top of some Amps and other guitar cases. As we took off I asked her why were they going to Casper, she replied that they had a gig at the Beacon Club tomorrow night, then it off to Dallas. The little lady was Charlines friend Alice, ( I belive? ) And the driver was Charline. I had never heard of her, we rode and talked all night long, she told me the whole story. She had a poster from the fifties with her headlining and Johnny Cash, and Elvis doing the warm up. I was overwhelmed, didn't quite know what to think. When we got to Casper we drove to the radio station that was running the promos for her gig and did an hour live on the air. She introduced me as an up and coming songwriter out of Oregon, and made me feel real big. Charline thought of herself as the number one girl singer in country with Kitty Wells as her only threat, (so to speak). She was a spark plug on stage and could flat take over a room. She commanded the attention of a crowd. For yous guys that want to call this Rock a Billy or swing you would be wrong, Charline was a Honky Tonk Sweatheart.

I didn't hear about Charline Arthur until PBS did the "Women in Rockabilly" special. Thank goodness somebody put together a CD! The sound quality on this is excellent and there are a lot of tracks. Definitely worth it!

Charline Arthur had a bit of an edge to her voice,similar to Jean Shepard and Rose maddox with subtle nuances in the league of Patsy Cline.She sang and spoke with a rural Texas twang that singers of today just do not have.This is a really great disc.The sound quality is quite good.It also comes with a nice little booklet which contains a short biography,discography,and some great photographs of Charline,who had the biggest smile and cutest cowgirl duds you've ever seen. My favorites are,"What About Tomorrow","Just Look ,Don't Touch,He's Mine","Welcome To The Club","The Good And The Bad",and "Hello Baby".

Charline Arthur was never a star; she never had a chance to be. She was one of these long-forgotten talented musicians that is fun to discover. She was at her best when she had the freedom to record & perform as herself, though she seldom was granted that. She was a fireball - hot tempered, hard drinking, action-seeking, sexual - so much so, that she was dropped by RCA music before she had the chance to hit her peak. That didn't stop her; she then hit the road, performing any place that would have her in the western U.S.,and generally living poorly. She seems to have influenced Patsy Cline, Wanda Jackson, and perhaps even Elvis, who was known to have admired her racy stage performances. Anyway, "Welcome to the Club" is a collection of 32 songs, her entire RCA recordings, plus a few others. She was from a time when country was country, not the era of dishwater-dull junk played on radio & CMT today. Strongly recommended for those who like the real thing.

First of all, I'm impressed with the sound quality of this recording. Excellent remastering job. She's not entirely to my taste but what she did, she did well and with a lot of spunk. I'd recommend this to anyone who is interested in rockabilly.

Charline Arthur burned brightly and briefly in the 1950s. Her style had rockabilly overtones but she was best doing hard core honky tonk and with a voice that ranged sweet to rough, she did a good job in typically male genre. Her career never really took off due to several reasons, but it wasn't because of the music. "The Good with the Bad" is my favorite cut, a "talking" song with a vocal that goes from normal to gutteral as she changes mood. If you like straight up honky tonk, check Charline out. You won't be disappointed.