Gene Terry was born Terry Gene DeRouen in Lafayette, LA, but raised in Port Arthur, TX, where his main musical influence growing up was his father and grandfather performing Cajun songs. He formed his first band, the Kool Kats, in the mid-'50s, doing country & western songs -- they gravitated toward rock & roll and changed their name to the Downbeats, and some of their early sides came out on Savoy Records. After a brief foray into rockabilly through Starday Records with "This Woman I Love" in 1957, his later sides showed up on Goldband Records. His most successful record was "Cindy Lou." ~ Bruce Eder