Judy Martin | |
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| Birth name | Eva Alaine Overstake |
| Also known as | Eva Foley |
| Born | July 23, 1917 Decatur, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | 17 November 1951 (aged 34) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1931-1951 |
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Eva Alaine Overstake (July 23, 1917 - November 17, 1951), professionally known as Judy Martin, was an American country music singer, performing from the early 1930s to the late 40s on the WLS-AM's National Barn Dance in Chicago. She was the second wife of Country Music Hall of Fame member Red Foley and is the grandmother of Christian country music singer Debby Boone.
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Overstake was born in Decatur, Illinois, the third of six children of Herschel Jewel Overstake (1894-1936) and Helen Elizabeth Nalefski (1897-1988). When Eva was 12 years old her father arranged for her and her two older sisters, Evelyn and Lucille to sing three-part harmonies for The Salvation Army on street corners in Decatur. Before long the Overstake sisters were performing on local radio stations WJBL, WDZ and WTAX.
In the fall of 1931 Herschel Overstake took his three daughters to Chicago to audition for radio station WLS. The program director was so impressed with their performance in the audition he immediately scheduled them for a guest appearance the following Saturday on the WLS National Barn Dance . The girls were an immediate hit with the WLS listeners and they were hired for regular Saturday night appearances on the show to begin in January 1932.
WLS station management renamed them the Three Little Maids and they were on their way to fame and fortune. [1]
By the time of the audition, the oldest sister, Evelyn, then 17, was married and had a child. Lucille was one year younger and Eva was just 14. Herschel Overstake moved his wife and children to Chicago and became their manager. The girls continued to perform and record their music and became acquainted with other regular WLS performers such as Gene Autry, George Gobel, The Hoosier Hot Shots, Red Foley, and others. Foley took an interest in young Eva. In 1933, six months after his first wife Pauline died in childbirth, he married Eva Overstake. The "Three Little Maids" continued to perform and record as a trio and by 1933 had their own daily radio show on WLS in addition to regular performances on the National Barn Dance. On October 13, 1933 they drew an audience of 10,000 at the Chicago World's Fair. [2]
By the end of 1933, with two of the "Three Little Maids" married, differing personal and professional goals caused the Overstate sisters to dissolve their act. At the end of 1933 Eva was expecting her first child and needed to diminish her musical performances. Evelyn continued to perform as a solo act at WLS. Lucille continued to perform and write songs and eventually became very successful under the name of Jenny Lou Carson. For a brief period Eva Foley formed a duo named the Play Party Girls with Jean Harris, wife of Karl Davis (one half of the Karl & Harty duo). She also sang occasionally with her sister Lucille at farm meetings throughout the Midwest and with her husband Red Foley. In March 1940 Eva and Red returned to WLS after a 31-month absence. Eva remained a regular on the WLS National Barn Dance until 1947.[ citation needed ]
On August 9, 1933, less than three weeks after her sixteenth birthday, Eva Alaine Overstake married twenty-three-year-old Clyde Julian "Red" Foley, a widower with a baby daughter in Waukegan, Illinois. They kept the marriage secret for a brief period of time. [3] On April 24, 1934, she gave birth to a daughter; Shirley Lee Foley. Their second child, Julie Ann, was born on April 18, 1938. On May 30, 1940, their third daughter, Jenny Lou, was born. On Saturday, November 17, 1951, Eva Foley age 34, died at her Nashville, Tennessee home from an overdose of sleeping pills. She left a note explaining the reasons for her suicide, but the facts have never been made public. [3] Shirley wed actor-singer Pat Boone in 1953. Their daughters are Cheryl Lynn, Linda Lee, Laura Gene and country and Christian music singer Debby Boone.
National Barn Dance, broadcast by WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the Grand Ole Opry.
Rubye Rose Blevins, known professionally as Patsy Montana, was an American country music singer, songwriter and actress. Montana was the first female country performer to have a million-selling single with her signature song "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart", and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Clyde Julian "Red" Foley was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II.
The DeZurik Sisters were a country-music duo. They were two of the first women to become stars on both the National Barn Dance and the Grand Ole Opry, largely a result of their original yodeling style.
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The Merry Macs were an American close-harmony pop music quartet active from the 1920s till the 1960s and best known for the hits "Mairzy Doats", "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" and "Sentimental Journey". The group also sang on recordings with Bing Crosby.
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Herschel "Tex" Evans was an American tenor saxophonist who was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. He also worked with Lionel Hampton and Buck Clayton. He is also known for starting his cousin Joe McQueen's interest in the saxophone. Joe McQueen, living until 2019 at age 100, may well have been the last surviving person to have known Herschel during his lifetime.
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Jenny Lou Carson,, born Virginia Lucille Overstake, was an American country music singer-songwriter and the first woman to write a No. 1 country music hit. From 1945 to 1955 she was one of the most prolific songwriters in country music.
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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1934.
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Donald Francis "Red" Blanchard was an American radio showman, comedian, and country musician.
The Dinning Sisters were an American sisters singing group, active from the late 1930s to 1955. They made a handful of film appearances and had several hit records at the height of their popularity in the late 1940s.
Zeke Clements was an American country musician often dressed in a Western outfit. He was known as "The Dixie Yodeler."
Harry Lawrence "Tiny" Hill was an American band leader of the Big Band era. During the height of his career Hill was billed as “America’s Biggest Bandleader” because of his weight of over 365 lb (166 kg). His signature song was "Angry", which he first recorded in 1939 on Columbia Records' Vocalion label. He used sandpaper blocks and a güiro to generate a double shuffle "beat that makes the listener itch to dance".
Marjorie Lynn (Lynne) was a singer who gained fame from WLS-AM radio in Chicago and the National Barn Dance, the precursor to the Grand Ole Opry. She began as a country-western singer and then transitioned to the swing style when she and her trio joined the United Service Organizations (USO) tour.
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