Bobby Lee

Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Bobby lived on a small cotton farm with his family. His father was a professional fiddle player before he married, and his mother played the organ at church. As a youngster, he was encouraged to sing by his parents and would avidly tune the family wireless to the Grand Ole Opry to listen to Hank Williams. He would often sneak out other nights to listen and watch the worshippers at the local black Pentecostal church as they sang and danced.

By fourteen, he was singing country songs at school and dreaming of stardom on The Opry. It was after he sang on stage with Carl Perkins at the Nettleton high School Auditorium, that he was invited to Sun Records in Memphis. Although the meeting with Sam Phillips was encouraging, he was asked to come back later for further talks. Bobby was not prepared to wait so he headed off to California to seek his fortune. There he worked for the Ford Motor Company during the day and on Saturday nights he was drawing large numbers of kids into the Jubilee Ballroom.

His wild antics on stage were also gaining the attention of several show business moguls who were looking for their own chart-busting Elvis Presley clones. He was offered a contract with Fabor Records and in November 1957 they released his first record, Shirley Lee . The record was nearly a big hit except that the label did not have the financial muscle to support a major hit. It was leased to ABC Paramount and relaunched selling a reported quarter million copies. The song was also covered by Ricky Nelson.

His follow-ups in 1958 were You Mostest Girl and My Susie J – My Susie Jane, both of which failed to sell. The pattern seemed set for Bobby to remain no more than a local act. He continued to record with various labels over the next couple of decades with some success on the country charts. Bobby was known for his wild and frantic stage act and was considered to be much wilder than either Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard.