Larry Collins

by Richie UnterbergerWith his sister Lorrie, guitarist and singer Larry Collins was part of the brother-sister duo the Collins Kids, who cut some of the best rockabilly of the 1950s. Playing a double-neck guitar, Collins was a brilliant guitar prodigy, and took time to cut some hot instrumental duets with mentor Joe Maphis, a country guitarist 20 years his senior. The Collins Kids broke up when Lorrie married, and Larry cut some undistinguished diluted rockabilly-pop before drifting back, like so many early rockabilly singers, to country music. As a songwriter, his most famous credit is co-penning "Delta Dawn."