Log Cabin Stories: Elaine Gay

Miss Miami Juke Box
The Story of Elaine Gay (Rouse)

Elaine Gay made a couple of noteworthy recordings during the mid 1950s for Syd Nathan's DeLuxe label, a subsidiary of his King Records imprint. A blend of country music, pop, and rhythm and blues, Gay was a talented singer and astonishingly versatile considering the fact that she was an offspring of the famous Rouse family.

She was born Elaine Eloise Rouse in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina, on August 10, 1935. The daughter of Jack Rouse, she was born into a musical inclined family. Jack's brothers were Earl, Gordon, and the most famous of them all, Ervin Rouse. Together, they performed as the Rouse Brothers and made various recordings in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, including the famous and influential "Orange Blossom Special".

By the end of the 1930s, some of the Rouse Brothers had moved to Miami, Florida, including Elaine's family. She attended high school, where she took part in plays and operettas. Around 1952, when she was sixteen years old, she made her first public appearance at the Village Inn in Washington, D.C. It was her father Jack who encouraged her to start a career in music. By 1954, she appeared regularly on local WITV in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Billboard January 22, 1955

Miami music entrepreneur and head of DeLuxe's Miami office Henry Stone had already called her uncles into a recording studio in the early 1950s and he discovered that young a Elaine was a talent in her own right. A recording session for her was set up on February 20, 1954, in Miami, and four songs where recorded with accompaniment by Jerry Vaughn's orchestra. From this session, the two originals "Love" and "Deep Secret" were chosen for her debut single on DeLuxe #2021 the same year. Henry Stone, who had become her manager by then, made a deal with the AMOA (Amusement Machine Operators' Association) of Miami, containing a sponsorship of the association and promotion in Dade Country's jukeboxes. For that purpose, Elaine Gay was dubbed "Miss Miami Juke Box".

A second disc was released directly afterwards. The top side was a duet with her father Jack, a cover of the Wanda Jackson-Billy Gray hit "You Can't Have My Love", and the flip was a song co-written with sometimes-Miami-performer Buddy Starcher and country songwriter Mary Jean Shurtz entitled "Am I the One to Blame". Her recordings were not classic country style; her debut single was pure pop, while her second outing were

Two more records followed on DeLuxe - one in late 1954 or early 1955 featuring Elaine's cover of "Rock Love" (a hit for the Fontaine Sisters and written by King executive Henry Glover) and her last for the label, again featuring covers ("Blueberry Hill" and "Polly Wolly Doodle O-Day"). It was a usual strategy of King/DeLuxe label head Syd Nathan to let his country artists cover his R&B hits and vice-versa. This way, Nathan was guaranteed to keep money in-house.

Sheet music for "Rock Love" as recorded by Elaine Gay,
1954 or 1955

Charts success eluded her singles and no more sessions followed. Some of her discs were released in the UK on Parlophone, though DeLuxe dropped her from its roster.

Afterwards, her trail grows cold. If anyone has more information about Elaine Gay, please feel free to leave a comment or sent an e-mail!

Discography

DeLuxe 2021: Love / Deep Secret (1954)
Parlophone MSP 6140: Love / Instantly (1954)
DeLuxe 2022: Elaine Gay and Jack - You Can't Have My Love / Elaine Gay - Am I the One to Blame (1954)
DeLuxe 2027: My Dearest Darling / A Little Bit of Love
DeLuxe 2029: Ebony Eyes / Rock Love (1955)
DeLuxe 2037: Blueberry Hill / Polly Wolly Doodle O-Day (1955)