JANIS MARTIN… THE FEMALE ELVIS
In the rockabilly world of the 50s, women were mostly seen and not heard. But – alongside Wanda Jackson – a notable exception was Janis Martin (1940-2007) whose stage moves even earned her the epithet ‘The Female Elvis’. She signed to Victor RCA in 1956 at just 16 years old, two months after the future King, and early hits Will You Willyum and her self-penned Drugstore Rock’n’Roll made her teen star. A ‘secret’ marriage / teen pregnancy was a little too racy for the day, mind, and Martin’s rockin’ career was brief – the label dropped her in 1958. Still, what could have been – being managed by Col Tom Parker and a Janis ‘n’ Elvis double-bill show – remains the stuff of rockabilly folklore.