Janis Martin, "Female Elvis," Dies

Posted by amyclark on 08/16/2008
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9/5/2007 Stephen L. Betts Janis Martin, a teenage rockabilly sensation of the 1950s who was billed as "the female Elvis," died Sept. 3 of cancer at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., the Washingon Post reports. She was 67. Her career began on country radio shows in Virginia, and she enjoyed a short but bright burst of fame in the 1950s with the dawn of rock 'n' roll. By 15, she was recording for RCA, had a Top 40 hit and seemed poised for stardom. A ponytailed blonde with a strong, clear, country-inflected voice, Ms. Martin had a series of lively, eye-catching dance moves on stage. A convention of disc jockeys named her "the most promising female vocalist" of 1956. Ms. Martin was also one of the few young women, along with Wanda Jackson and Lorrie Collins, to make a mark in the masculine, raw-edged music that decades later became known as rockabilly. When Ms. Martin secretly married and became pregnant, her record label dropped her, and she returned to a life of relative obscurity in southern Virginia. Except for a few local appearances, she was all but forgotten until 1982, when she emerged from retirement with a concert in England. "I can't begin to tell you what it was like -- like stepping back in time," she told the Nashville Scene in 1998. "Those kids dressed like we did in the '50s. Here I'd been a housewife and a mother. When I hit the stage, it was like I'd come home." Janis Darlene Martin was born March 27, 1940, in Sutherlin, Va., and lived in Akron, Ohio, for eight years before her family returned to southern Virginia. Ms. Martin began playing the guitar at age 4, balancing it upright because it was too big for her to hold. Pushed by a "typical show-business mother," Ms. Martin finished second in her first talent contest at age 8. In the next two years, she entered 11 more contests and won all of them, including a statewide competition. By 11, she was a regular on a weekly country-music radio show in Danville. She appeared with country star Ernest Tubb at 13 and became a featured performer with the Old Dominion Barn Dance, a weekly country concert in Richmond broadcast on CBS Radio. Her influences were country stars Eddy Arnold and Hank Williams, but she soon became interested in Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker and other rhythm-and-blues singers. She went on tour with country singers Hank Snow and Porter Waggoner, made a demo tape and in short order was recording for RCA with Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer, all before her 16th birthday. She was called "the female Elvis" with the approval of Elvis Presley, her RCA label mate, and sang one of her minor hits, "My Boy Elvis" on NBC's Today show. She also appeared on The Tonight Show and American Bandstand and at the Grand Ole Opry.