Charles Mansfield Gore Jr. was born in Chapmanville West Virginia on October 4th 1930, Charlie as he prefered to be known , was introduced to music at an early age. His father was a fiddler, his mother an organist & his 5 sisters & 3 brothers could play a variety of instruments. At the age of 6 he made his debut on radio, a medium he was to become very familiar with in later years. At school Charlie showed promise as an athlete. He excelled at a number of sports, in particular Basketball. His parents encouraged his sporting activities. However, it was his music that one the day. At school Charlie was featured in the Choir, and was often invited to sing at school plays, dances & the like.In 1942, at the tender age of 11, Charlie secured himself a regular weekly spot on radio station WLOG in Logan, West Virginia. He stayed 6 years with this staion . Upon graduating high school in 1948, Charlie found full time employment on WSAZ in Huntington, W Virginia, he stayed with this staion for a little over a year then transfered to WFRD in Worthington, Ohio. A Year later he moved to Cincinnatti where he found work on WLM. In addition to his own radio show, Charlie was given a regular radio slot on the station's poular "Mid Western Hayride" . It was on the Hayride that Charlie met Ernie Lee (Ernest Cornielson) who was to become Charlie's friend & mentor. Charlie worked for Ernie Lee for just over a year. During that time he made his debut on record as the harmony vocalist on Lee's Mercury waxing "While You're Out Cheating" Although as yet unconfirmed Charlie is most likely the fiddler on some of Lee's Mercury recordings (He also plays fiddle on Donnie Bowshirer's SKIP recordings). Charlie Gore's debut as a singer in his own right was on December 16th 1952 when he cut four sides for KING in their Cincinnati studio's. He returned to the KING studio's a little over 3 weeks later to record a couple of numbers with Ruby Wright. This material attracted some interest north of the border in Canada, and was subsequently issued there on QUALITY. A solo session followed , then Charlie was teamed up with his old Hayride buddy Louis Innis to record cover versions of "Mexican Joe" & "Hound Dog" the latter retitled (You Ain't Nothin' But A Female) Hound Dog.In 1954 Charlie, his wife Gloria Ann & their 7 year old son Jerry Lee, named in part after Ernie Lee, moved to Indianapolis, where Charlie had landed job on radio station WFBM, and their TV chanel (WFBM-TV) At the station he teemed up with accordionist Walter Brown, fiddler Ralph Cook, & bass player Bob Boyer to form "The Rangers".The band were regulary featured on WFBM, where they had their own show. In addition they backed the likes of Herb & Kay Adams , Lee Jones & Estil McNew's Briarhoppers, on their own featured slots. Charlie's role with "The Rangers" did nor obscure his own solo efforts. He made daily appearences on WFBM TV's OPEN HOUSE SHOW PARTY & FARM CIRCLE shows. whilst he had been working on WFBM Charlie had let his recording activities take second place. After an absence of almost a year, he returned to the studios in Cincinnati to record another two numbers for KING. A month or so later he cut some material with The Rangers, & Hern & Kay Adams at WFBM. This material was released on an onscure promotional ep. The ep also inclded one of Charlie's first KING sides "If God Can Forgive You So Can I" .Much Of Charlie's KING material was self penned, but nothing he wrote & recorded himself could compare to the runaway succuss of "Daddy-O" which he wrote for Bonnie Lou. This song, also covered by the Fontaine Sisters, was a huge hit & won Charlie a coverted BMI award in 1956. In the summer og that year, Charlie moved from WFBM to another Indianapolis station, WTTV-TV. This more or less coincided with his departure from KING. His next recordings were for the FAN label. Charlie's effort's for this Indianapolis label were a radical departure from his usual style, for they were a mixture of Rock & Roll & Pop material. As the 50's moved into the 60's Charlie was on the move once again, this time back to West Virginia, where he had a job lined up on WVOW in Logan. Around this time he formed his own BLANK label. The only known release on this label was by Charlie himself , a single on Murray Nash's DO-RA-ME label was nwxt, then nothing for 6 or 7 years when towards the end of the 60's an album appeared on the LAKE label. That release was to mark the end of Charlie's recording career.The Bones of the previous text was taken from Al Turner's wonderful "Hillbilly Researcher" & is several years old, I have made this page as I'm a fan of his great KING recordings, I would appreciate any help with any more biograpical information.Currently Charlie's KING recording are unavalable as a full album.Long live the music of CHARLIE GORE
MARK LEE ALLEN 2006
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