Janis Martin

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Janis Darlene Martin (March 27, 1940 – September 3, 2007) was an American rockabilly and country music performer.

She was one of the few female performers working in the male-dominated rock and roll music industry during the 1950s and was one of country music's early female pioneers.

Martin was known as the Female Elvis on stage for her dancing moves, which were reminiscent of Elvis Presley's.

Early life and rise to fame

Martin was born in Sutherlin, Virginia, east of Danville. Her mother, the stage mother, and her father and uncle were both musicians. Martin was already playing the guitar before she was six years old, and Eddy Arnold and Hank Williams inspired her. This culminated in over 200 contestants in statewide championships, which she won. As a result, Janis was asked to appear on the same bill as Cowboy Copas and Sunshine Sue. Martin became a member of the Old Dominion Barndance on WRVA, which ran out of Richmond every Saturday Night on CBS network. She was in her mid-teens, performing with country stars such as Arnold, Hank Snow, The Browns, and Jim Reeves. She quickly admitted she was sick of country music and embarked on a rock and roll career.

Carl Stutz, the WRVA station announcer, wrote a song titled "Will You Willyum" and begged Martin to perform the song live on Saturday night in order to make a demo tape to send to his publisher in New York. Stutz called Martin a week later to inform her that RCA Victor was interested in recording "Will You Willyum." As it happened, the publisher gave Steve Sholes, RCA Victor's producer, "Will You Willyum" to him, asking if Sholes had an artist to record it. "Well, who's the demo?" Sholes replied, "Who's the girl doin' the demo?"

Martin signed with RCA Victor in March 1956, just two months after Elvis Presley joined the company. On March 8, 1956, she performed "Will You Willyum," backed by her own composition "Drugstore Rock 'n Roll."

The song became the country's biggest hit of her career, grossing 750,000 copies. Soon Martin was on American Bandstand, The Today Show, and Tonight Starring Steve Allen. She appeared on Jubilee USA and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, making her one of the youngest entertainers to ever appear. This year, Billboard named her the Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year.

Presley and RCA were so impressed with Martin's stage presence that they dubbed her the Female Elvis. When she appeared at the RCA Victor convention in Miami, Florida, Presley delivered a dozen red roses to her. Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis' boss, encouraged her to take over her leadership as a result of a lucrative double-girl" bill. Elvis had died on stage in New York due to exhaustion right before, even before his grueling touring schedule. Janis Martin, a young girl from this, was rescued by her parents, who decided not to accept Parker's invitation and instead go to the Old Dominion shows. Martin was chosen to tour on both of the Jim Reeves shows and country material that ended up selling on both charts, including "My Boy Elvis," "Let's Elope Baby," her tribute to Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby" and "Love Me to Pieces."

Martin eloped with her paratrooper Chris Donnell on January 7, 1956. She told her parents that her husband was only married after her husband was safely shipped outside of Germany. Since she was only 15 years old, her father tried to have it annulled. The situation was eventually dismissed, but Janis' mother told her to keep her marriage private to protect her career. Janis travelled through Europe in 1957 with Jim Reeves, Del Wood piano player "Down Yonder," The Browns and Hank Locklin. Her husband got a 30-day leave and went on the road with her, which resulted in her getting pregnant with her son. RCA Victor was forced to drop Martin in 1958 due to her teen pregnancy. In South Africa, a 10" LP album titled Janis and Elvis was probably released during this period. On request from the United States, this was recalled immediately because it implied that the two artists were performing together. Despite the fact that King Records and Decca Records were involved, she signed with Palette, a Belgian company.

Martin was on her second marriage by 1960, and her husband had requested that she leave the music business by 1960. She began performing with her newly formed band, The Variations, in the 1970s. When Dennis West, a music historian, tracked her down in 1975, she was working with the Halifax, Virginia, Police Department. Dennis, a Maryland record collector, asked for his address, which Dennis gave to him. He then coaxed her to appear locally and tell her tale in the Goldmine magazine. Martin toured around Europe as part of the rockabilly revival, and Bayes convinced RCA to remove four Martin songs from their vault in 1979, which were later released on Dog Gone Records. Edd Bayes performed one of the songs that had been released twice ("Love Me Love") at various speeds, adding the word 'cha cha' to the title. The Bear Family label gathered Martin's complete record collection history in the 1980s, as shown by the compilation album The Female Elvis. Janis has been performing at Rockabilly shows in Europe and the United States since the 1980s. Here I Am On Hydra Records, one of her live shows was released on a CD named Here I Am on Hydra Records. Martin appeared on Rosie Flores' Rockabilly Filly album for HighTone Records in 1995. Flores recorded an album with Martin six months before her death, but Cow Island Music's The Blanco Sessions were not announced until September 18, 2012.

Martin died of cancer at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, on September 3, 2007. Kevin Parton, her only son, had died in January.

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Later career

Martin was in her second marriage by 1960, and her husband had requested that she leave the music industry by 1960. She performed with her newly formed band, The Variations, in the 1970s. Dennis West, a music historian, discovered her in 1975 when she was working with the Halifax, Virginia, Police Department when she was detained. Dennis, a record collector from Maryland, asked for her name, which Dennis gave to him. He then coaxed her to appear in Goldmine magazine and tell her about her experience. Martin toured Europe as part of the rockabilly revival, and Bayes convinced RCA to remove four Martin songs from their vault in 1979, which were later released on Dog Gone Records. Edd Bayes performed one of the songs ("Love Me Love") at two different tempos and added the word "cha cha" to the title. Martin's complete record was gathered by the Bear Family label in the 1980s, as shown by the compilation album The Female Elvis. Since the early 1980s, Janis has been performing at Rockabilly shows around Europe and the United States. Here I Am on Hydra Records, one of her live shows, was released on a CD called Here I Am. Martin appeared on Rosie Flores' Rockabilly Filly album for HighTone Records in 1995. Flores released an album six months before her death, but the Blanco Sessions by Cow Island Music was not released until September 18, 2012.

Martin died of cancer at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, on September 3, 2007. Kevin Parton, her only son, had died in January.

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