N
nate81
Guest
(To be fair, this isn't a relatively new find. I spotted it on a Google search a year or two ago. However, I was compelled to re-find it again earlier today, so there you go!)
http://rockabillyhall.com/LauraLeePerkins.html
This is from the official website for the Rockabilly HOF, whose fellow inductees include Johnny Cash, Brian Seitzer and the Stray Cats, Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, among others.
But there's one interesting inductee: Laura Lee Perkins. She was born (as Allie Mae Perkins) and grew up in a small town in West Virginia, and loved to sing as a child - especially with piano accompaiment. The following is directly from the web page:
"After she graduated from Stoco High School in 1957 ... only 17 years old ... (Laura) left town on a Greyhound bus, with her belongings in a cardboard box. She bought a ticket to Cleveland, OH ... but when she got there, looked at all of the tall buildings and decided it was much too big for her, so she bought another ticket to just west of Cleveland, a cute small town named Elyria, OH.
After landing a job as a waitress in a restaurant just across the street from Radio Station WEOL, one night her and a couple of friends wanted to meet the D.J. Jeff Baxter. He was on the air ... so once again, Laura found a room with a piano in it, and started playing and singing. She was so happy, because she hadn't seen a piano in months and miss her music so very much.
Jeff heard the piano and came to see who was playing. He made a a tape of her and sent it to Imperial Records, in Hollywood CA ... also sent one to Sun Records in Memphis, TN. Laura got a recording contract offer from both."
The website rockabilly.nl also notes that Jeff Baxter co-wrote two of her singles: "Don't Wait Up" and "Oh La Baby."
And, yes, WERE/1300's Bill Randle - literally THE voice of late 50's Cleveland radio - presided over her first recording sessions prior to her California record deal. Her name was change at THAT point to from Allie Mae to Laura Lee - as in the 'female Jerry Lee Lewis,' according to one of the record execs.
Laura Perkins, from what I've read, is now retired and residing in Detroit, Michigan.
Pay note to the "WEOL RADIO 930" sign right that's next to Miss Perkins in the photo below:
That would lead me to believe that this was taken in the studios for WEOL. From what I've read, their studios have always been in downtown Elyria on Broad Street, right next to Ely Square.
Above all, I keep forgetting about the fact Jeff Baxter - now the commanding voice for WLEC/1450- Sandusky and at WNIR/100.1- Kent - was once at WEOL. And that was before he teamed up with Jack Riley for many years at WERE/1300.
- Nathan Obral
http://rockabillyhall.com/LauraLeePerkins.html
This is from the official website for the Rockabilly HOF, whose fellow inductees include Johnny Cash, Brian Seitzer and the Stray Cats, Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, among others.
But there's one interesting inductee: Laura Lee Perkins. She was born (as Allie Mae Perkins) and grew up in a small town in West Virginia, and loved to sing as a child - especially with piano accompaiment. The following is directly from the web page:
"After she graduated from Stoco High School in 1957 ... only 17 years old ... (Laura) left town on a Greyhound bus, with her belongings in a cardboard box. She bought a ticket to Cleveland, OH ... but when she got there, looked at all of the tall buildings and decided it was much too big for her, so she bought another ticket to just west of Cleveland, a cute small town named Elyria, OH.
After landing a job as a waitress in a restaurant just across the street from Radio Station WEOL, one night her and a couple of friends wanted to meet the D.J. Jeff Baxter. He was on the air ... so once again, Laura found a room with a piano in it, and started playing and singing. She was so happy, because she hadn't seen a piano in months and miss her music so very much.
Jeff heard the piano and came to see who was playing. He made a a tape of her and sent it to Imperial Records, in Hollywood CA ... also sent one to Sun Records in Memphis, TN. Laura got a recording contract offer from both."
The website rockabilly.nl also notes that Jeff Baxter co-wrote two of her singles: "Don't Wait Up" and "Oh La Baby."
And, yes, WERE/1300's Bill Randle - literally THE voice of late 50's Cleveland radio - presided over her first recording sessions prior to her California record deal. Her name was change at THAT point to from Allie Mae to Laura Lee - as in the 'female Jerry Lee Lewis,' according to one of the record execs.
Laura Perkins, from what I've read, is now retired and residing in Detroit, Michigan.
Pay note to the "WEOL RADIO 930" sign right that's next to Miss Perkins in the photo below:
That would lead me to believe that this was taken in the studios for WEOL. From what I've read, their studios have always been in downtown Elyria on Broad Street, right next to Ely Square.
Above all, I keep forgetting about the fact Jeff Baxter - now the commanding voice for WLEC/1450- Sandusky and at WNIR/100.1- Kent - was once at WEOL. And that was before he teamed up with Jack Riley for many years at WERE/1300.
- Nathan Obral
