E-file: Billy Walker got start in Clovis

Even those well-versed in the rich music history of Clovis are sometimes unaware of a country singer named Billy Walker and his connection to the city.

Walker had 37 Top 40 country chart hits between 1954 and 1975,  including 16 that made the Top 10.

Nicknamed "The Tall Texan," Walker got started with a weekly radio show in Clovis at the age of 15. The 15-minute show was the prize for winning a talent show on KICA-AM and Walker regularly hitchhiked 80 miles from his home in Whiteface, Texas, to Clovis in order to perform on the radio.

Walker, who had a No. 1 country hit with "Charlie's Shoes" in 1962, died in a car accident on May 21, 2006.

Eric Butler is the host of the syndicated radio program, “The Sunday Morning Classics Show,” which can be heard locally on 105.9 KSEL-FM.