Jerry Lott
Marty Jerry Lott (January 30, 1938 – September 4, 1983) was an American country music artist based in Mississippi,[1] best known for writing and recording the 1958 rockabilly songs "Love Me" and "Whisper Your Love." The songs were released by Dot Records in 1960 as the A-side and B-side of the single, Love Me.[2][3]
Early life
[edit | edit source]Marty Jerry Lott was born on January 30, 1938 in Prichard, Alabama. He moved with his parents to Leakesville, Mississippi as an infant.[4][5] He and Billie Faye Starling married on November 8, 1958, in George County, Mississippi.[6] He began performing country music locally as a teenager, and upon seeing Elvis Presley perform on the Louisiana Hayride in 1956, Lott was inspired to incorporate rock and roll into his music and perform rockabilly.[2][7]
Recordings
[edit | edit source]In June 1958, Lott recorded "Love Me" and "Whisper Your Love" at Gulf Coast Studios in Mobile, Alabama, backed by session musicians: guitarist Frank Holmes, bassist-pianist William Yates, and drummer Hugo Brooks. Dot Records issued the songs as the A-side and B-side of the single, Love Me, in January 1960, crediting “M. Lott” as the songwriter; it is classified by Discogs within the rockabilly music genre.[8]
Later accounts suggest that Pat Boone encouraged Lott him to adopt a more distinctive stage persona, leading to his use of the stage name The Phantom, after the comic strip character.[9][5][6]
Injury and paralysis, 1980 interview, and final years
[edit | edit source]In 1966, Lott was injured in a car crash in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and became paraplegic.[5]
Lott was interviewed in 1980 by Derek Glenister for New Commotion magazine. After seeing Elvis Presley perform with Louisiana Hayride, Lott as the main influence that, as soon as Lott heard his music in 1956, immediately "turned [his] head around" and felt compelled to play heavier, louder, and faster music in line with his "inner self".[7] Accordingly, Lott began using his given name as a stage name to represent his stylistic change.[9][6] Upon the release of the single, Love Me, Jerry "The Phantom" Lott was billed on concert tour as "The Gulf Coast Fireball."[2][7]
In the same interview, He stated that he went into the studio after working for months on "Whisper Your Love" but without a song for the other side of the record, and "someone suggested I wrote something like Elvis ... 'See if you spark rock 'n' roll a little bit'".[6][10] On the second take, the one that was used, he "blew one of the controls off the wall".[6] "Love Me" was also covered by The Cramps, a psychobilly group, and The Bananamen, a side project of British rockabilly band The Sting-rays.[2]
He died in his hometown of Leakesville, Mississippi, on September 5, 1983, aged 45.
References
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- ^ Michael Dregni, Rockabilly: The Twang Heard 'Round the World: The Illustrated History, Minneapolis: Voyageur, 2011, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., WwC&pg=PA116 pp. 116–17.
External links
[edit | edit source]- "Phantom" at Rockin' Country Style
- Photo gallery of Marty Lott including his personalized acoustic guitar and promotional photography and album art
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