Janis Martin
| Janis Martin | |
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Martin in 1956
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Janis Darlene Martin |
| Born | March 27, 1940 |
| Origin | Sutherlin, Virginia, United States |
| Died | September 3, 2007 (aged 67) |
| Genres | Rockabilly, country, rock and roll |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1956–2007 |
| Labels | RCA, Palette |
Janis Darlene Martin (March 27, 1940 – September 3, 2007) was an American rockabilly and country music singer. She was one of the few women working in the male-dominated rock and roll music field during the 1950s and one of country music's early female innovators. Martin was nicknamed the Female Elvis for her dance moves on stage, similar to those of Elvis Presley.
Martin was born in Sutherlin, Virginia, east of Danville. Her mother was a stage mother, and her father and uncle were both musicians. Before she was six, Martin was already singing and playing the guitar, inspired by Eddy Arnold and Hank Williams. Over the years, this resulted in statewide contests with over 200 contestants, which she won. As a result, Janis was asked to play on the same bill as Cowboy Copas and Sunshine Sue. Through them Janis became a member of the Old Dominion Barndance on WRVA, which came out of Richmond every Saturday Night on CBS network. When she was in her mid-teens, she was appearing with country singers including Arnold, Hank Snow, The Browns and Jim Reeves. She soon claimed she was tired of country music and began a rock and roll career.
The WRVA station announcer, Carl Stutz, wrote a song called "Will You Willyum", and asked Janis to sing the song live on stage that Saturday night so he could make a demo tape and send to his publisher in New York. A week after the recording, Stutz called Janis that RCA Victor was interested in recording "Will You Willyum". As it happened, the publisher offered the song to Steve Sholes, producer at RCA Victor and asked whether Sholes had an artist to record "Will You Willyum". Apparently Sholes replied, "Well, who's the girl doin' the demo?"
At age 15, Martin signed with RCA Victor in March 1956, just two months after Elvis Presley joined the label. She recorded "Will You Willyum" on March 8, 1956, backed by her own composition, "Drugstore Rock 'n Roll".
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