Were Little Richard and Jimmie Dale influences on E. A. Markham's early career ambitions?

According to his Peepal Tree Press profile here, when E.A. (Archie) Markham moved to London in 1956 from his native Montserrat, his ambitions were to make it as a writer or pop singer, and at the same time, fulfill family expectations to become a scholar and academic. Unfortunately young Archie’s attempts to combine elements of Little Richard and the now forgotten Jim Dale never found the success he was convinced they deserved...More here.

Markham's early ambitions appear to have been influenced in part by American pop culture even before he set foot outside of the Caribbean.  And I wonder how many current Caribbean writers/poets/artists living in the Caribbean acknowledge the influencing role (good or bad) of American pop culture on their work.

As I mentioned before, I'm currently reading Markham's last collection of short stories (The Three Suitors of Fred Belair), but before I review it, I'd like to read his autobiography titled, Against the Grain: A 1950s Memoir.  He seems to have been quite a fascinating man.

And here's Nicholas Laughlin's review of Markham's collection of poems, A Rough Climate (2004).

[Coming in May: My review of Markham's The Three Suitors of Fred Belair]