Lorrie Collins, shown with brother Larry (Deke Dickerson)
Los Angeles Times: “Lorrie Collins died on Aug. 4 at 76 in Reno, where she had been living in recent years. Her brother, Larry Collins, revealed the news via Facebook. He said her death was the result of complications from a fall.
“Initially regarded as something of a novelty act because of their youth — Lorrie was 12 and Larry 10 when they started performing professionally as a duo in 1954 — the Collins Kids soon became one of the best-kept secrets in rockabilly music, the early hybrid of country — often referred to as “hillbilly” music — and its driving, rhythm-and-blues infused offshoot soon to be known as rock ‘n’ roll.
“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.
“I think she’s criminally underrated,” said roots-rock guitarist and bandleader Deke Dickerson, who backed the Collinses for numerous performances in the last quarter century….
“The sister-brother act was a study in striking similarity and contrast: she looking elegantly beautiful with a cool sensuality on camera, her 2½-years-younger brother a ball of energy with a geometrically perfect flattop haircut and a prodigy on the double-neck electric guitar he mastered under the tutelage of country musician Joe Maphis. Both typically dressed in eye-popping fringed, western outfits and boots, their names inlayed into the necks of their respective guitars.”
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