The Collins Kids
The Collins KIds | |
---|---|
General information | |
Genre (s) | Rockabilly |
founding | 1954, 1993 |
resolution | 1962 |
Founding members | |
Lawrencine "Lorrie" Collins | |
Guitar, vocals |
Lawrence "Larry" Collins |
The Collins Kids was an American rockabilly duo. Although the two siblings Lorrie and Larry never had a real hit, they were extremely popular in the mid-1950s, which was probably due to their appearances at the successful KFI Town Hall Party .
Life
Childhood and beginnings
The siblings Lorrie (* May 7, 1942, † August 4, 2018) and Larry (* October 4, 1944) Collins come from Tulsa , Oklahoma . Lorrie entered talent competitions early on. She won her first in 1950, which then took Lorrie to California with her mother in 1952 . The following year the Collins family moved to California. At this time, her brother Larry began to take part in such competitions. At Christmas 1952 he was given a guitar that he soon mastered.
Career
In 1953 they could be heard regularly on the Squeakin 'Deacon Talent Show . After the duo entered another competition in 1954, this time hosted by the Town Hall Party , the show's management booked them for a few appearances. During these performances Larry met the guitar virtuoso Joe Maphis , who gave him further guitar lessons. Maphis gave Larry a "double-neck guitar", a guitar with two necks that Maphis also played. Johnny Bond then recommended the duo to Don Law , an employee of Columbia Records .
Columbia signed Larry and Lorrie in July 1955. In October they held their first session, accompanied by Columbia musicians like Joe Maphis, from which their single Hush Money / Beetle-Bug Bop emerged, which was released in November 1955. At the time, the two were only eleven and thirteen years old. In total they played 14 sessions for Columbia by 1962. Make Him Behave / Rockaway Rock even made it to number three on Columbia's most successful country records in June 1956. By then, they had become permanent members of the Town Hall Party and were considered the show's most popular artists, more popular than Johnny Cash , Gene Vincent , Skeets McDonald or Bob Luman .
In 1959 Lorrie had already married and two years later she had their first child, which finally meant the end of the Collins Kids. The days of rockabilly and country shows had come to an end by the end of the 1950s and the great days of the Collins Kid were over.
Larry initially continued his career, but then retired from the music business and pursued his second passion, golf, in which he won several important prizes. In 1993 the Collins Kids got together again and have been performing together again since then. They also toured Europe . The Collins Kids were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame for their contributions to the rockabilly genre .
Discography
Singles
year | Title A | Title B | Record company |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | Beggar Bug Bop | Hush money | Columbia Records |
1956 | Rockaway Rock | Make Him Behave | Columbia Records |
1956 | In My Teens | They're still in love | Columbia Records |
1956 | Rock and Roll Polka | My first love | Columbia Records |
1957 | Move a little closer | Go Away, Don't Bother Me | Columbia Records |
1957 | Hop, skip and jump | Young Heart | Columbia Records |
1957 | party | Heartbeat | Columbia Records |
1958 | Hoy Hoy | Mama worries | Columbia Records |
1958 | Mercy | Sweet talk | Columbia Records |
1958 | Whistle bait | Rock boppin 'baby | Columbia Records |
1959 | Kinda Like Love | Sugar Plum | Columbia Records |
1959 | The Lonesome Road | Another Man Done Gone | Columbia Records |
|
not published |
Albums
- 1956: Collins Kids
- 1957: Collins Kids
- 1981: Rockin 'Rollin' Collins Kids
- 1983: Collins Kids Vol. 2
- 1991: Hop, Skip & Jump
- 1995: Introducing Larry and Lorrie
- 1997: Rocking On TV
- 1998: Rockin'est
Web links
- The Collins Kids at Allmusic (English)
- The Collins Kids on Hillbilly-Music.com
- Discography with audio samples
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dynamic Rockabilly Singer Is Dead New York Times, April 8, 2018