The follow-up to "Party Doll," "Rock Your Little Baby to Sleep" - credited to "Lieutenant" Buddy Knox, a nod to the singer's then-ongoing six-month stint in the U.S. Roulette split the original Petty session into two separate releases, with Bowen's new "Everlovin'" backing "I'm Stickin' With You" on Roulette (4001) and "My Baby's Gone" appended to "Party Doll" (Roulette 4002) while the former reached the Top 20, selling in excess of a million copies, "Party Doll" proved far more successful, remaining on the best-seller list for 23 weeks and topping radio play lists coast-to-coast following a memorable rendition on television's Ed Sullivan Show.įrom that point forward, Knox and Bowen pursued simultaneous solo careers for Roulette, although both continued employing the Rhythm Orchids as their backing unit. Lanier's sister, a fashion model living in New York City, then passed a copy to music publisher Phil Kahl, and with partner Morris Levy, Kahl licensed the single for national release via the newly formed Roulette label. After handing Petty their $60.00 studio fee, the Rhythm Orchids returned to West Texas with acetates in hand Blue Moon Records owner Chester Oliver soon pressed 500 copies, and when the initial run sold out - thanks in large part to heavy airplay from Amarillo radio personality Dean Kelly - the band founded its own label, Triple D, to issue 2500 more. Mills opted to return to school, so the remaining trio recruited drummer Dave Alldred to play on two Petty-produced tracks: "Party Doll" - written by Knox at the age of 12 - and "I'm Stickin' With You," the latter featuring Bowen on lead vocals. With the addition of drummer Don Mills, who first joined the Rhythm Orchids on-stage with nothing more than a pair of brushes and a cardboard box, the group's melancholy country covers acquired a swinging backbeat approximating something close to rock & roll, much to the delight of the assembled barroom patrons.įollowing a local gig, the Rhythm Orchids met Sun Records star Roy Orbison, who recommended they travel to Clovis, New Mexico to record with producer Norman Petty (better known for his subsequent work that other famous Texan rock & roller, the aforementioned Buddy Holly). After high school Knox attended West Texas State College, earning a business administration degree while moonlighting in an amateur vocal group called the Serenaders that also included double bassist Jimmy Bowen and guitarist Donny Lanier in 1955, the trio rechristened themselves the Rhythm Orchids, so named after their purple shirts they wore on-stage. Wayne Knox was born Jon a farm just outside the tiny West Texas town of Happy - during World War II, his mother Gladys performed with her siblings as part of a family gospel group, although his love of country music first inspired him to pick up the guitar. Buddy Knox was the first artist of the rock & roll era to write and record his own number one hit, 1957's million-selling classic "Party Doll" - a pioneer of the Lone Star State rockabilly sound that would later earn the name "Tex-Mex," the arc of his career anticipated that of fellow Texan Buddy Holly, yet while Holly is now enshrined in the pantheon of rock's true immortals, Knox's contributions remain sadly underappreciated.
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