The Collins Kids were an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

duo featuring Lawrencine "Lorrie" Collins (May 7, 1942 – August 4, 2018) and her younger brother Lawrence "Larry" Collins (born October 4, 1944). Their hits in the 1950s as youngsters, such as "Hop, Skip and Jump", "Beetle Bug Bop" and "Hoy Hoy", 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 Mosrite is an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists. Mosrite guitars wer ...

guitar like his mentor,

Joe Maphis Otis Wilson "Joe" Maphis (May 12, 1921 – June 27, 1986), was an American country music guitarist. He married singer Rose Lee Maphis in 1953 and they performed together, later referred to as "Mr & Mrs Country Music". One of the flashiest co ...

Career

The Collins Kids became regular performers on ''

Town Hall Party ''Town Hall Party'' was an American country music program, firstly broadcast on radio and then television The first radio broadcast was in Autumn 1951 by stations KXLA-AM in Pasadena, California and KFI-AM in Los Angeles, California The televis ...

'' in 1954 and on the syndicated for television version of the show, Tex Ritter's ''Ranch Party'', which ran from 1957 to 1959. It was on ''Town Hall Party'' that

Ricky Nelson Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...

first saw Lorrie Collins, and soon after they began dating. In a 1958 episode of ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

'', Lorrie played both Ricky's girlfriend - and that girlfriend's sister. Ricky unsuccessfully lobbied to make Lorrie a part of the show. The Collins siblings continued to perform together in the mid-1960s, appearing as regulars on the Canadian music program ''Star Route'' and making a guest appearance on the 8 September 1965, edition of ''

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Delta Dawn "Delta Dawn" is a song written by musician Larry Collins and country songwriter Alex Harvey (country musician), Alex Harvey. The first notable recording of the song was in 1971 by American singer and actress Bette Middler, Bette Midler for her ...

", " You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma", "Tulsa Turnaround"; some in partnership with songwriter Alexander Harvey. The duo reunited for a rockabilly revival concert in England in 1993 and performed together until Lorrie's death in 2018. They appeared at Deke Dickerson's Guitar Geek Festival in Anaheim, California on January 19, 2008 with their nephew Dakota Collins, who played upright bass as an addition to the Collins band.

Selected discography

* ''Rockin' Rollin' Collins Kids'' P( Bear Family BFX-15074, 1981) * ''The Collins Kids, Vol. 2'' P(Bear Family BFX-15108, 1983) * ''Introducing Larry And Lorrie: The Collins Kids'' P/CD( Epic PE-38457, 1983) * ''Hop, Skip & Jump'' CD(Bear Family BCD-15537, 1991) * ''The Rockin'est'' D(Bear Family BCD-16250, 1997) * ''Rockin' And Boppin' '' D( Jasmine JASMCD-3709, 2018)

Notes

References

External links

Recordings
*
L.A. RECORD interview with The Collins Kids

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins Kids, The 1950s establishments in Oklahoma 2018 disestablishments in Oklahoma American country music groups + Musical groups established in the 1950s Musical groups disestablished in 2018 Child musical groups Family musical groups People from Creek County, Oklahoma Rockabilly music groups Sibling musical duos