Larry Collins born 4 October 1944

Larry Collins (4 October 1944 - 5 January 2024) and his older sister Lawrencine "Lorrie" Collins (May 7, 1942 – August 4, 2018) were an American rockabilly duo. Their hits in the 1950s as youngsters were geared towards children, but their infectious 
singing and playing crossed over generations. Larry, a lightning-fingered guitar whiz at age 10, was known for playing a double-neck Mosrite guitar like his mentor, Joe Maphis.

They were raised on a dairy farm and attended a one-room school near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. At the age of eight Lorrie won a talent contest in Tulsa hosted by Western swing steel guitarist Leon McAuliffe. McAuliffe encouraged Lorrie's parents to relocate to California to develop her talents, which they did in 1953.

In the meantime, Larry mastered the guitar, with tutelage from the legendary guitarist Joe Maphis. After winning several talent contests, the Collins Kids landed a regular spot on the Town Hall Party in 1954, owning a major radio and television contract before they were teenagers. Approximately one year later they recorded their first releases for Columbia, "Hush Money" and "Beetle Bug Bop."

                            

During their tenure with Columbia from 1955 to 1959 they were showcased in their "hopped-up hillbilly" style with such releases as "Whistle Bait," "Hot Rod," "Soda Poppin' Around," and "In My 

Teens," all of which spoke directly to the teen generation of the fifties. They appeared on Steve Allen’s TV program and others, and performed at the Grand Ole Opry.  Lorrie and teen heartthrob Ricky Nelson dated during the 1950s. Lorrie appeared on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as Ricky's girlfriend, and the couple sang the Collins Kids' version of "Just Because" on one episode. The romance cooled, however, and Lorrie eventually married Stu Carnall, road manager for Johnny Cash, with whom the Collins Kids toured.

None of the Collins Kids Columbia records cracked the Billboard chart but their recordings were later discovered by record collectors and compiled many times on album collections. Although Lorrie never achieved widespread fame, many early-rock aficionados put her on a par with some of the greatest singers in pop and country.

The Collins Kids continued to perform together sporadically in the mid-1960s, appearing as regulars on the Canadian music program Star Route. When the Beatles ignited Beatlemania and the British Invasion in 1964, many American acts, especially country-leaning performers, saw their careers tail off dramatically.

They did make a guest appearance on the 8 September 1965, edition of Shindig!. Nevertheless, the Collins Kids continued touring, sometimes on country revues with Johnny Cash and others. They also tapped into the burgeoning lounge music scene in Las Vegas and Reno. By the 1970s,

Larry had moved to Nashville and was focusing on songwriting, co-writing hits including “Delta Dawn” for Tanya Tucker in 1972, and “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma” for David Frizzell in 1981.

Lorrie and Carnell focused on raising a family for the next two decades. Then in 1993 she and Larry accepted an invitation to return as the Collins Kids for a rockabilly festival in England, the Hemsby Rock ’N’ Roll Weekender in Norfolk, an appearance that set rockabilly fans young and old atwitter.

The duo reunited for a rockabilly revival concert in England in 1993 and performed together until Lorrie's death. They appeared at Deke Dickerson's Guitar Geek Festival in Anaheim, California, on January 19, 2008, with their nephew, Dakota Collins, playing upright bass as a new addition to the Collins band.

Health issues forced Lorrie  to quit singing in 2012, but for nearly two decades they were greeted at performances with adulation, said Deke Dickerson, who featured them at the Guitar Geek Festival he organized for years in conjunction with the National Assn. of Music Merchants’ massive musical products annual convention in Anaheim.

Lorrie Collins died 4 August 2018 in Reno at the age of 76 due to injuries related to a fall. Larry Collins died at age 79 on Jan. 5, 2024, at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, Calif. His death from natural causes was announced by his daughter Larissa Collins.

(Compiled and edited from Wikipedia &bestclassicbands.com & the L.A. Times & okhistory.org)