Chapter 14: Rock and Roll Pt. 2
During the 1950s, several young women performed rock and roll, though many remain less well known today. The political and cultural conservatism of the 1950s made it difficult for young women to be publicly recognized as rebellious or empowered figures. While male rock and roll performers often faced controversy, most teenagers of the period, regardless of gender, preferred to admire these male artists from a distance and were reluctant to see the rebellious image extend to young women. Post-World War II ideals of domestic femininity were strongly reinforced and remained largely unchallenged until the 1960s.
Like Wanda Jackson, young performers like Jo Ann Campbell, Janis Martin, and Lorrie Collins whose talents included songwriting and who received a degree of public attention. Nevertheless, these women have largely been overlooked in mainstream rock and roll histories. They are often absent from comprehensive works such as the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll and Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock. This suggests that their limited recognition reflects broader social and cultural factors rather than simply individual setbacks.
Jo Ann Campbell received attention from disc jockey Alan Freed, who promoted her as "the blonde bombshell" on his radio show, at his rock and roll revues, and in the 1959 film Go, Johnny Go!. Despite this exposure, her recordings such as "Wait A Minute" and "You're Driving Me Mad," which showed clear rhythm and blues influences with energetic band arrangements, did not achieve significant commercial success. Lorrie (Lawrencine) Collins performed as part of the duo the "Collins Kids" with her younger brother Larry. Their act gained recognition through television in the mid-1950s, and they recorded several rockabilly songs for Columbia Records between 1956 and 1958. Tracks like "Heartbeat" and "Mercy," both written by the Collins Kids, highlighted Lorrie Collins’s strong vocal delivery. However, none of their recordings reached the music charts
Among female performers of the era, Connie Francis, born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in New Jersey in 1938, is often regarded as the first notable recording star of the rock and roll era. Her success began in 1958 with a revival of the 1923 Tin Pan Alley song “Who’s Sorry Now.” Although she recorded some rock-oriented songs like “Stupid Cupid” (1958) and “Lipstick on Your Collar” (1959), her overall style remained eclectic and best characterized as mainstream pop, designed to appeal to younger audiences without presenting a rebellious image. Compared to Wanda Jackson, Francis’s public persona was less confrontational or edgy.
The situation was even more restrictive for African American women in rock and roll during this period. Only a few, such as LaVern Baker and Sarah Vaughan, achieved some success on the pop charts. The Bobbettes, a group of five African American schoolgirls from Harlem, had a notable hit in 1957 with “Mr. Lee,” which reached number six on the pop charts and number one on the R&B charts. However, they quickly faded from public view after this brief success.
By 1960, the American music industry was beginning to accept a young female artist with a more spirited image. Brenda Lee, born Brenda Mae Tarpley in Georgia in 1944 and known as "Little Miss Dynamite," emerged with popular rock and roll songs such as “Sweet Nothin’s” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” While Lee recorded many slow, sentimental love songs, her rock and roll records show a different approach from that of Wanda Jackson or Lorrie Collins, indicating a range of styles among female performers of the period.