Henry Earl Sinks (January 1, 1940 – May 13, 2017), known professionally as Earl Sinks, was an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

singer-songwriter and actor. Sinks' career in music and acting spanned the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his brief tenure as a member and occasional lead singer of

The Crickets The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Top ...

from 1958 to 1960, and for his acting roles in numerous low-budget movies and TV shows in the 1960s. He recorded under the names Earl Sinks, Sinx Mitchell, Earl Richards, and Earl "Snake" Richards. He wrote songs for various other artists, including Sue Thompson,

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...

, The Newbeats, Ernie Ashworth,

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

, and

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

. He also played guitar and sang

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

for sessions with artists such as Mel Tillis,

Del Reeves Franklin Delano Reeves (July 14, 1932 – January 1, 2007) was an American country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American ...

Mel Street King Malachi "Mel" Street (October 21, 1933 – October 21, 1978) was an American country music singer who had 13 top-20 hits on the Billboard country charts. Biography Street was born near Grundy, Virginia, United States.Nelson, Dick (August ...

, and Charlie Pride.

Music career

Sinks performed with

Bob Wills James Robert "Bob" Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade C ...

at the age of twelve; he created his first recordings as a solo artist in 1958 (aged eighteen) at Norman Petty Studios. Under the alias of "Earl Henry", he recorded 2 singles: "I Am The Man/Whatcha Gonna Do?" and "My Suzanne/Believe A Traveler" with

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In its early years, Dot sp ...

. After

split with

near the end of 1958, Sinks was brought in as his replacement by manager

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, and radio station owner. He is considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. With Vi Ann Petty—his wife and vocalist—he ...

. He recorded and performed with The Crickets after Holly's death in 1959, contributing to the album '' In Style With the Crickets'', singing on songs such as "

I Fought the Law "I Fought the Law" is a song written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets and popularized by a cover by the Bobby Fuller Four, becoming a top-ten hit for the band in 1966. Their version of the song was ranked No. 175 on the ''Rolling Stone'' li ...

," " Love's Made a Fool of You", "Deborah", and " When You Ask About Love". Sinks' association with The Crickets ended in February 1960, citing a personal disagreement. David Box was later brought in to finish recording and fulfil the band's contract with

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head ...

. Sinks later moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, where he continued to release records. He recorded for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, in addition to Hickory, Capitol, Coral, Brunswick, United Artist,

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, and Ace of Hearts Records. He and Norro Wilson, along with Bill Fernez, recorded as the country band The Omegas. In October 1958, Tommy Allsup rejoined The Crickets for the "Biggest Show of Stars: Autumn Edition” after Buddy split from

Jerry Allison Jerry Ivan Allison (August 31, 1939 – August 22, 2022) was an American musician. He was best known as the drummer for the Crickets and co-writer of their hits "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue", recorded with Buddy Holly. His only solo cha ...

and Joe Mauldin. The Roses, a vocal backup group, also performed on the tour. To form a new band for the planned “Winter Dance Party Tour”, Buddy asked his friend

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

to play bass, with Tommy Allsup on guitar and Allsup's friend Carl Bunch to play drums. Tommy and Sinks remained in New York following the end of the “Winter Dance Party Tour” for promotional pictures with J.I. and Joe B. as The Crickets. Sinks had recorded earlier with the Crickets, along with Sonny Curtis, and sang lead on their version of "I Fought the Law,” “Someone Someone,” and “Love's Made A Fool of You." In 1959, he came to Nashville with Bob Montgomery, where they worked together as songwriters with Acuff-Rose.

Acting

In the mid-1960s,

filmmaker Ron Ormond sought a leading actor for his low-budget films. He consulted Smiley Wilson, an artist and booking agent, who recommended his son-in-law, Earl Sinks. At this time, Earl was recording for the

record label as well as appearing in some of the Warner Brothers' television shows, such as ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'', '' Sugarfoot'', and '' Surfside Six''. In his debut film with Ron Ormond, '' The Girl From Tobacco Row'', Earl Sinks acquired a new nickname, "Snake Richards". During an interview with Ken Beck of the Tennessean newspaper, Sinks revealed: “Ron gave me that name.” From then on, deejays began referring to him as Snake Richards. Along with ''The Girl From Tobacco Row'', Ormond's film '' White Lightnin' Road'' also included Earl as "Snake" and also later in the

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

film by Richard Ball '' That Tennessee Beat''.

Later life

By the 1970s, Sinks was focused on music production and business, running Ace of Hearts Records and acting as a producer. Over the years he produced for artists such as John Anderson, Faron Young, Joyce Cobb, Jimmy Dickens,

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Por ...

, Mark Dinning, The Remingtons,

Bobby Lewis Robert Alan Lewis (February 17, 1933 – April 28, 2020) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1961 hit singles "Tossin' and Turnin'" and "One Track Mind". Biography Lewis was born in Indianapolis, Indian ...

, and many more. According to the ''Nashville Tennessean'', Sinks lived with his wife, who was once known as Little Rita Faye on the Grand Ole Opry and was the daughter of country stars Smiley and Kitty Wilson. They were married for over 50 years and lived in Goodlettsville, where Rita and their son, Brandon Earl Sinks, still reside. Earl Sinks died at his home on May 13, 2017.

Discography

Solo

Studio Albums *''The Sun Is Shining (On Everybody But Me)'' (1970) ⁵ Singles *"Whatcha Gonna Do?" / "I Am The Man" (1958) ¹ *"My Suzanne" / "Believe A Traveller" (1958) ¹ *"Look For Me (I'll Be There)" / "SuperMarket" (1961) ² *"Little Susie Parker" / "Superstitious" (1961) ² *"Be Good" / "A Little Bit Of Heaven" (1962) ³ *"Looking For Love" / "Raining On My Side of Town" (1963) ³ *"Love Is All I'm Asking For" / "This Weird Sensation" (1964) ⁴ *"The Language Of Love" / "Return To Thunder Road" (1965) ³ *"Maggie" / "Shake 'Em Up And Let 'Em Roll" (1968) ⁵ *"The House Of Blue Lights" / "Hard Times A Comin'" (1969) ⁵ *"Corrine, Corrina" / "Climbing A Mountain" (1969) ⁵ *"What You Gonna Do, Leroy?" / "Can't Live Down The Lovin'" (1970) ⁵ *"Sunshine" / "San Francisco Mabel Joy" (1970) ⁵ *"Baby I Need Your Lovin" / "Our House On Paper" (1971) ⁵ *"You Were Crying" / "You Drove Her Right Into My Arms" (1971) ⁵ *"Down Along The Cove" / "Let It Be" (1972) ⁵ *"Margie, Who's Watching The Baby?" / "My Land" (1972) ⁵ *"Things Are Kinda Slow At The House" / "Do My Playing At Home" (1973) ⁵ *"The Sun Is Shining (On Everybody But Me)" / "Mother Nature's Daughter" (1973) ⁵ *"How Can I Tell Her" / "Walkin' In Teardrops" (1973) ⁵ *"Julianne" / "House of Blue Lights" (1977) ⁵ Compilations *''Earl Richards'' (1976) ⁵ *''House of Blue Lights'' (1977) ⁵ *''The Man With 1000 Names'' a.k.a. ''After School Sessions'' ³

The Crickets

Studio Albums *'' In Style With the Crickets'' (1960) Singles / EP's *" Love's Made a Fool of You" / " Someone, Someone" (1959) *" When You Ask About Love" / "Deborah" (1959) *''The Crickets'' (1960) *"A Sweet Love" / "

" (1961)

The Omegas

Singles *"Froze" / "When You Touch Me" (1959) *"Study Hall" / " So How Come (No One Loves Me)" (1960) *"Falling in Love" / "No One Will Ever Know" (1960)

The Mar-Vels

Singles *"Then I'll Cry" / "Lookin' At The Ceiling" (1966)

Other appearances

*''Rockin' Rollin' High School Vol. 1'' (1980) *''Rockin' Rollin' High School Vol. 2'' (1980) *''The Clovis Sessions – Vol. 1'' (1984) *''Study Hall'' (2013) ¹ Released as Earl Henry.
² Released as Earl Sink.
³ Released as Earl Sinks.
⁴ Released as Sinx Mitchell.
⁵ Released as Earl Richards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinks, Earl 1940 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American singer-songwriters American male film actors People from Hockley County, Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas People from Goodlettsville, Tennessee