Margaret Lewis

Who is Margaret Lewis?

Margaret Lewis Warwick, known for much of her career as Margaret Lewis is a country music/rockabilly singer/songwriter and music entrepreneur.

Lewis' name at birth was Margaret Ann Lewis. Lewis' family moved early in her life to Levelland, Texas, where she grew up singing in the Baptist church choir and listening to rockabilly and r&b. In high school she formed a band, the Thunderbolts, and they took second place in a talent show in Lubbock in 1957. After some guest appearances on the Louisiana Hayride radio program, she joined the cast in 1958. In Shreveport where the show was based she met Mira Ann Smith, a local guitarist and aspiring songwriter who had her own record label, Ram Records. Through Smith, Lewis and her sister Rose went on to tour with local artist Dale Hawkins and sang backup vocals on some of his Chess Records recordings.

Lewis continued to record on Smith's Ram Records for several years, until the label was closed down in the early 1960s. Lewis and Smith then decided to concentrate on songwriting, and their first big success was "Mountain of Love", a country hit for David Houston in 1963.