Ernest E. "Jimmy" Walker

Ernest E. "Jimmy" Walker (December 18, 1915 – June 27, 1990) was an American country musician.

Although relatively little has been written about Jimmy Walker, he ranks as an important figure in the development of country music. Not only did he record the first version of the country standard "Detour" in 1945, but to date he is the only man who ever replaced Roy Acuff on the Grand Ole Opry. He also recorded numerous other outstanding western swing-honky tonk numbers, appeared as a regular on Midwestern Hayride, WWVA Jamboree and Louisiana Hayride, and appeared in several motion pictures.

Born Ernest E. Walker in Mason County, West Virginia on December 18, 1915, "Jimmy" did not opt for a regular musical career until the mid-forties. By this time, he had relocated to the West Coast which then was a booming region for country dance music. At his first record session he waxed the hit song "Detour." The song's author, Paul Westmoreland, played steel guitar on the recording. A year later, Grand Ole Opry officials hired him to replace Roy Acuff who took an extended leave. At the time, they were much impressed not only with "Detour" but also "Sioux City Sue" and a fine heart song entitled "Oh Why." Unfortunately for Jimmy, Roy Acuff chose to return to the Opry after a year. His recordings during that period (1945–47), all made in Los Angeles, featured such name musicians as Noel Boggs on steel guitar, Tex Atchison on fiddle, Cliffie Stone on bass, and Merle Travis on lead guitar.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Walker moved on to serve stints of roughly a year and a half each on WLW Cincinnati's Midwestern Hayride and WWVA Wheeling's "World's Original Jamboree." In 1949, he returned to California and made some more recordings for another independent label. These sessions again featured Atchison and also Joe Maphis on lead guitar and Speedy West on steel. Other musicians who appeared on Walker sessions included Pedro DePaul and George Bamby on accordions (both veterans of the Spade Cooley band), and guitarist Charlie Morgan, the brother of pop vocal star Jaye P. Morgan. By 1951, he had done some twenty-eight sides. Later in the decade he had sessions for two major labels and another independent studio visit in 1965. All are fine examples of the mainstream honky-tonk sound that dominated the country field prior to the rise of the Nashville sound. Meanwhile, Walker returned to the WWVA Jamboree in 1953 remaining for more than a decade. During this time one of his songs "Unkind Words" recorded by Jamobree vocalist Kathy Dee made the "Billboard Top 20" in 1964, but as is often the case, the royalties never reached him.

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