CALIFORNIA - RALPH Joseph 'Jody' Reynolds, the rockabilly singer and songwriter whose lone hit Endless Sleep in the 1950s ushered in a wave of tragic teen pop songs, died Nov 7. He was 75.

Reynolds, who was inducted into Nashville's Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1999, died in Palm Desert, said his musician friend Alan Clark, who toured with Reynolds in the 1980s.

Endless Sleep, which sold more than a million copies in 1958, kicked off the melodramatic teen tragedy genre, including Mark Dinning's Teen Angel, Ray Peterson's Tell Laura I Love Her, Dickey Lee's Patches and the Shangri-Las' Leader of the Pack.

Reynolds continued to write and record his songs while supporting his family by running a Palm Springs music store and eventually selling desert real estate. He also occasionally toured the rock oldies circuit. -- AP