Gene Louis O'Quin (or Oquin) (September 9, 1932 – November 27, 1978) was an American

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or d ...

and

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...

singer born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

on September 9, 1932 He established himself professionally at Dallas' Big "D" Jamboree, a

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

-like radio showcase, becoming one of its most popular entertainers. O'Quin recorded his first song at the age of 15 and was signed by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. He later relocated to California. His recording career reached its peak between 1950 and 1955. O'Quin's voice was high and nasally and had a twang evocative of

Little Jimmy Dickens James Cecil Dickens (December 19, 1920 – January 2, 2015), better known by his stage name Little Jimmy Dickens, was an American country music singer and songwriter famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size (4'10" 50 cm, and hi ...

. He cut many

novelty songs A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of Comedy music, humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with Comedy music, comedy songs, which are more explic ...

and boogie-woogie records. The persona in his records was happy-go-lucky and well suited to

hillbilly music ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, the term sp ...

. Although he did not record any

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 Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

songs in his career, rockabilly enthusiasts have embraced him. His career was eclipsed with the advent of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

but he did not successfully make the transition as rockabilly artists did. O'Quin died when his car was hit by a bus in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

on November 27, 1978.

Discography

*"Boogie Woogie Fever" *"It's No Use Talkin' Baby (I'm Through)" Capitol 1821Southern Folklife Collection-SFC Recordings Admin Interface - Display Physical Item Search Results
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References

External links

Gene O'Quin

YouTube Gene O'Quin performing "I'm Gonna Live the Life."
* American country singer-songwriters Capitol Records artists Country musicians from Texas Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Texas Singers from Dallas 1932 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from California Road incident deaths in California {{US-singer-songwriter-stub