VA - It's All Her Fault - A Tribute to Cindy Walker (2025) Hi-Res

Cindy Walker (July 20, 1917 – March 23, 2006) was an American songwriter, country music singer, and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists.

She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songwriting, often tailoring particular songs to specific artists. She produced a large body of songs that have been described as “direct, honest, and unpretentious”. She had top-10 hits spread over five decades. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in March 2011.

Songwriters don’t always become as famous as their songs. The late Texan Cindy Walker is a case in point. Though she’s a household name among veteran country performers, many music fans have probably never heard of her.

You know her beautifully crafted songs, however. Walker wrote such numbers as “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream),” the Roy Orbison classic, which rose to No. 4 on the charts in 1962; the often-covered “You Don’t Know Me,” which she composed with Eddy Arnold and which gave Ray Charles a No. 2 hit the same year; and 1944’s “You’re from Texas,” one of many chart tunes she penned for country-swing king Bob Wills.

You’ll find covers of all those numbers on this fine tribute album, whose all-female lineup includes Kelly Willis (“I Don’t Care”), Summer Dean (“Don’t Talk to Me about Men”), Melissa Carper (“Take Me in Your Arms”), Jolie Holland (“Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age”), and nine other artists.