Love To Know serves up this small plate of trivia about the first women to wear pants:
- Katherine Hepburn was the first actress to wear pants in a major motion picture.
- Marlene Dietrich furthered the cause when she wore pants in the 1930 film Morocco.
- Charlotte T. Reid, a Congresswoman from Illinois, caused a stir in 1969 when she became the first woman to wear pants on the floor of the House.
- Mary Tyler Moore created a controversy, wearing capri pants as Dick Van Dyke’s television wife Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
- Charline Arthur, a country western star, was the first female singer to wear pants while performing on stage in the mid-1940s.
Charline Arthur
Cash Box ad
“Discovered” in the early 1950s by Elvis Presley’s future manager, Col. Tom Parker, Arthur — like Elvis — was photographed almost exclusively above the waist in newspaper and music industry coverage of the era, so as not to offend American sensibilities regarding choice of clothing.
A Google search might initially appear to credit Patsy Cline as being the trailblazer in this regard:
Parse the wording, however, and you will quickly discover that, while Patsy Cline enjoys the distinction of being the “first woman to wear pants on stage at the Grand Ole Opry,” scroll further down the Google search results to the Texas State Historical Association‘s web page tribute to Charline Arthur, where THSA’s Tresi Weeks affirms that Arthur not only was “the first female country singer to perform onstage wearing pants” but — even more scandalous — “was the only one photographed with a cigarette.”
Charline Arthur
1986 Bear Family compilation LP
rear cover photo
Weeks also informs us that (the former) Charline Highsmith was born September 2, 1929 “in a railroad boxcar in Henrietta, Texas” – the second of twelve children. Although known primarily as a vocalist, Arthur does not receive sufficient credit for also being a skilled instrumentalist on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and steel, among other instruments. The “plug” side of Arthur’s 1950 debut single for Nashville’s Bullet label, “I’ve Got The Boogie Blues,” was an original song that Charline had written at the age of twelve.
“I’ve Got The Boogie Blues“
Although acknowledged today as a pioneering rockabilly figure, Arthur’s resolute independence of spirit proved a difficult fit at RCA Victor in Nashville under the direction of Chet Atkins, who is said to have experienced a fair amount of friction from the outspoken, self-confessed “nonconformist” in his attempts to produce a more traditional (i.e., “prim and proper”) female country sound. Despite the quality of Atkins’ immaculate production and arrangements, Charline Arthur’s RCA Victor releases are generally thought to lack the electricity of the singer’s stage performances, even on such appealing, uptempo numbers as “Heard About You” (Leon Rhodes on guitar and Jimmy Kelly on steel); “Looking At The Moon And Wishing On A Star” (Chet Atkins on guitar and Dale Potter on fiddle); and “Flash Your Diamonds” (George McCoy on steel and Paul Blunt on piano).
By way of comparison, note how this recording of “I’m Having A Party All By Myself” — captured live at Little Rock’s Robinson Memorial Auditorium on May 9, 1954 — crackles with an unmistakable energy:
“I’m Having A Party All By Myself“
Charline Arthur
May 9, 1954
Live at Robinson Memorial Auditorium in Little Rock
streaming audio clip also includes photo show
Cash Box‘s May 15, 1954 edition features a full-page review of the May 9th Little Rock performance by the RCA Victor Country & Western Caravan that includes this description of Charline Arthur’s opening set:
With every mark of a good trouper, Charline Arthur set the show in motion with an opening act that was nothing but great. Charline’s version of “I’m Having A Party All By Myself” in which she displayed her ability to sing, dance and mug and really ‘win’ an audience paid off with gratifying customer appreciation.
Charline Arthur’s final RCA studio recording, “What About Tomorrow” — which features Chet Atkins and Hank Garland‘s interlocking guitars and soaring steel guitar from Jack Evins — stands apart in Arthur’s body of work and is easily a career highlight.
“What About Tomorrow“
Recorded May 18, 1956
RCA’s 1525 McGavock St. Studio
After RCA decided not to renew her contract in 1956, Charline Arthur continued for years in various capacities as a live performer. Despite a brief association with North Hollywood-based Coin Records that produced the classic rockabilly side, “Hello Baby,” and other intermittent releases in the 1960s, Arthur would never be able to regain the same momentum as a recording artist.
“Hello Baby“
Charlene Arthur & The Knights
Tragically, Charline Arthur died in 1987 at the age of fifty-eight without the wider acknowledgement of her pioneering work as an early “outlaw” country figure that came later. Texas State Historical Association‘s Tresi Weeks points out that Arthur’s mid-50s stint as a headlining artist at The Big “D“ Jamboree in Dallas was “an unusual honor at the time.”
Charline Arthur – Big “D” Jamboree
Cash Box
middle row – far left
Ed McLemore’s Sportatorium
“The Southwest’s Biggest, Oldest, Boldest & Best Country Music Show”
Cash Box
Biographical snippet from Discogs:
For most of her life, Charline Arthur was viewed as a renegade. A Texas-born musician, she was a hard-living, feisty and opinionated woman – musically and physically aggressive onstage and off. She wore men’s slacks and cowboy shirts. She leapt from stage amplifiers. She sang while lying down.
