Highway named for music legend

MALDEN — Over 100 people were in attendance at the Malden Community Center Friday afternoon to honor and celebrate rockabilly legend Narvel Felts.

A portion of Highway 25 in Stoddard and Dunklin counties was renamed in honor of the Malden resident.

Signs designating Highway 25, from one mile north to one mile south of the Stoddard/Dunklin county line, as Narvel Felts Highway will be placed by The Missouri Department of Transportation.

Former state Rep. Steve Cookson successfully proposed legislation in 2017 to have the roadway renamed. The bill passed in April 2017.

Felts, who has been a frequent performer at the Rodgers Theatre in Poplar Bluff, is known for the soul classic “Reconsider Me.” The song was the second-biggest country hit in 1975.

Felts has previously been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, singing everything from 1957 rockabilly to 1970s pure country, according to his website.

Born in 1938, Felts says he acquired his first guitar by trading a BB gun. The instrument was held together with wire.

He worked in the cotton fields at Bernie, where he was raised, to save the $15 for his second guitar, according to Felts, who went on to win a high school talent contest by singing Carl Perkin’s “Blue Suede Shoes.”

Later that evening a local DJ broadcast a message, “If Narvel Felts is listening, please contact KDEX immediately.” Felts said his father drove him to a phone eight miles away to call the station.

Roy Orbison got Felts his first recording deal with Sun Records, according to Felts website. Sun Records, which also represented Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, released his first single, “Kiss-a Me Baby” when he was 18.

Felts’ continues to tour and is next scheduled to perform Feb. 13 at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.