Last week, a lady passed away at age 67 in a hospital not too far from her lifelong home in Virginia. Her death, along with a little of her history, was reported in the national media but didn't make much of a ripple in the music world, and that's a cryin' shame. Her name was Janis Martin, and she was a powerhouse—an early rockabilly singer who is still remembered as "the female Elvis."
The history of women in rockabilly is a subject that has started to draw some attention, and that's reflected by a PBS special that aired not too long ago. Janis was featured in that show, as were a few other early female country/rock singers, such as Wanda Jackson and Brenda Lee, who had similar sounds.
But Janis also had the on-stage moves and style that earned her the Elvis comparison, although the nickname was probably both a blessing and a curse. It was tough to live up to, but there's little doubt that it gave her something that set her apart from her contemporaries and made her a budding star - until she ran into problems with the moral codes of the 1950's.
Growing up in rural Virginia as part of a musical family, Janis was a natural. She was so talented that she regularly won amateur contests while still in grade school, and began appearing on the radio as a pre-teen. By the time she was in her teens, she'd appeared with Ernest Tubb, Sonny James, and the Carter Family.
She not only played the guitar and sang, but she composed too, and after hearing a demo of one of her compositions, RCA signed her to a recording contract. That led to her first hit, "Drugstore Rock 'N Roll," which was a perfect fit for teenagers' tastes in music at that time.
It was about then that she began to be compared to another young RCA star, Elvis Presley, and press agents began using her new nickname, the female Elvis. It's been said that Elvis (or Colonel Parker) gave his approval, although RCA might have helped a little.
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