Janis Martin passed away last fall to little fanfare and re-action by the American music buying public. However, fifty years ago she was publicized and recognized as the female Elvis Presley.
The RCA label signed Janis Martin to a recording contract a couple of months after Elvis. She was just shy of her 16th birthday. One similarity she bore to the king was that she same out of the country rockabilly tradition, but it was her stage act that inspired RCA to crown her with the title of the female Elvis Presley. This would prove an impossible moniker for Janis Martin to live up too. Later in life, she would always say that Carl Perkins was her favorite artist.
She issued the single “Will You Willyum” in 1956 and it became a hit, reaching the American top forty charts and ultimately selling close to a million copies. The flip side, “Drugstore Rock ‘N’ Roll” was written by Martin, proving that she could produce a well constructed song. Her second single, “My Boy Elvis,” was an attempt to cash in on the Presley legacy and it did not sell well. Her first full album featured many of the musicians that were playing for Elvis at the time. Guitar players Chet Atkins and Grady Martin, piano player Floyd Cramer and bassist Bob Moore all provided instrumental support for Janis. Her first album was even produced by Steve Sholes, who would go on to produce many of Elvis’ releases.
Janis Martin’s success would be short lived. Musically, she was a rockabilly artist. She was never able to move over to true rock ‘n’ roll nor was she able to produce a classic country sound. She remained stuck in the middle. Personally I like rockabilly but it has always been a niche sound. Elvis quickly moved to rock and then to pop while Martin did not have that flexibility. Also, she got married at 16 and had a child. This soured the RCA label on her commercial possibilities and she was dropped from their roster by the end of the decade. She recorded for a couple of minor labels for a few years but disappeared from the music scene until 1975. She spent the last 30 years of her life performing in small clubs and overseas.
Article comments
1 - Big Geez
Nice write-up, David. I did mark her death last year with an article, but you're right when you say there wasn't a lot of attention paid to her passing.
2 - edd bayes
well thought out and my feelings exactly. i had the great fortune to locate janis in the early 70s and with a little encouragement and letter writing to the record industry, we were able to get the name out and recoup royalties that had been held for decades. thanks to the european market, her name flourished and she was able to achieve more than what rca tried to do in her short lived recording contract with them. she will be missed, but the trees have been chopped down by her and those ladies who ventured in that same direction for those of today to achieve what is rightfully theirs.