date & photographer unknown
Kay Starr (Catherine Laverne Starks) was born on this date in 1922. I enjoyed
listening to her sing for decades. She had a voice that thrilled
me to the core. She could belt out a tune from any musical genre
whether it was pop, blues, jazz, or country. Her voice captivated listeners for over forty years.
She was born on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma. Her father, Harry, was an Iroquois native American; her mother, Annie, was of mixed Irish and Native American heritage. I did not know any of these facts until I researched for this article.
She was born on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma. Her father, Harry, was an Iroquois native American; her mother, Annie, was of mixed Irish and Native American heritage. I did not know any of these facts until I researched for this article.
When the family moved to Dallas. Her mother raised chickens that Starr
serenaded in their coop. Her aunt Nora was impressed by her 7-year-old
niece's singing and arranged for her to sing on a Dallas radio station, WRR.
Starr finishing 3rd one week in a talent contest and placed first every
week thereafter. She was given a 15-minute radio show. She sang pop and
country songs with a piano accompaniment. By age 10 she was making $3 a
night, good pay during the Great Depression.
When the family moved again, to Memphis, she continued performing on the radio. She sang Western swing
music, still mostly a mix of country and pop. While working for Memphis
radio station WMPS, misspellings in her fan mail inspired her and her
parents to change her name to "Kay Starr".
In 1939, she worked with Bob Crosby and Glenn Miller, who hired her to replace Marion Hutton who was ill. With Miller she recorded Baby Me and Love with a Capital You. The songs were not a great success, in part because the band played in a key that, while appropriate for Hutton, did not suit Kay's vocal range.
She moved to Los Angeles and signed with the Wingy Manone band. From 1943 to 1945 she sang with the Charlie Barnet ensemble, retiring for a year after contracting pneumonia and later developing nodes on her vocal cords as a result of fatigue and overwork.
In 1946 Starr became a soloist and a year later signed a contract with Capitol Records. The label had a number of female singers signed up, including Peggy Lee, Ella Mae Morse, Jo Stafford, and Margaret Whiting, so it was hard to find her a niche of her own. In 1948 when the American Federation of Musicians was threatening a strike, Capitol wanted to have each of its singers record a back list for future release. Being junior to all these other artists meant that every song Starr wanted to sing was taken by her rivals on the label, leaving her a list of old songs which nobody else wanted to record.
In 1950 she returned home to Dougherty, Oklahoma, and heard a fiddle recording of Bonaparte's Retreat by Pee Wee King. She liked it so much that she wanted to record it. She contacted the publishing house for Roy Acuff in Nashville and spoke to Acuff directly. He was happy to let her record it, but it took a while for her to make clear that she was a singer, not a fiddler, and therefore needed to have some lyrics written. Acuff came up with a new lyric, and Bonaparte's Retreat became her biggest hit up to that point, with close to a million sales.
In 1955, she signed with RCA Victor Records, however, at that time, rock-and-roll was displacing the existing forms
of pop music and Kay had only two hits, the aforementioned, which is
sometimes considered her attempt to sing rock and roll, and sometimes as
a song poking fun at it, The Rock and Roll Waltz. She stayed at RCA until 1959, hitting the top ten with My Heart Reminds Me, then returned to Capitol.
Most of Starr's songs had jazz influences. Like those of Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray, they were sung in a style that anticipated rock and roll songs. These included her hits Wheel of Fortune (her biggest hit, No. 1 for 10 weeks), Side by Side, The Man Upstairs, and Rock and Roll Waltz. One of her biggest hits was her version of (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man with the Bag, a Christmas song that became a holiday favorite.
After leaving Capitol for a second time in 1966, Starr continued touring
in the US and the UK. She recorded several jazz and country albums on
small independent labels, including How About This, a 1968 album with Count Basie.
In the late 1980s she performed in the revue 3 Girls with Helen O'Connell and Margaret Whiting, and in 1993 she toured the United Kingdom as part of the Pat Boone April Love Tour. Her first live album, Live at Freddy's, was released in 1997. She sang with Tony Bennett on his album Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues (2001). Two of her songs, Powder Your Face with Sunshine and It's a Good Day, appeared in the 2007 movie Fido.
Starr was married six times, including a brief marriage to bandleader Vic Schoen who later married Marion Hutton.
Kay Starr - 2006
Fred Prouser/Reuters
Kay Starr died from complications of Alzheimer's disease on November 3, 2016 in Los Angeles at the age of 94.
date & photographer unknown
In 1939, she worked with Bob Crosby and Glenn Miller, who hired her to replace Marion Hutton who was ill. With Miller she recorded Baby Me and Love with a Capital You. The songs were not a great success, in part because the band played in a key that, while appropriate for Hutton, did not suit Kay's vocal range.
She moved to Los Angeles and signed with the Wingy Manone band. From 1943 to 1945 she sang with the Charlie Barnet ensemble, retiring for a year after contracting pneumonia and later developing nodes on her vocal cords as a result of fatigue and overwork.
Kay Starr - 1946
photo Metronome Getty Images
photo Metronome Getty Images
In 1946 Starr became a soloist and a year later signed a contract with Capitol Records. The label had a number of female singers signed up, including Peggy Lee, Ella Mae Morse, Jo Stafford, and Margaret Whiting, so it was hard to find her a niche of her own. In 1948 when the American Federation of Musicians was threatening a strike, Capitol wanted to have each of its singers record a back list for future release. Being junior to all these other artists meant that every song Starr wanted to sing was taken by her rivals on the label, leaving her a list of old songs which nobody else wanted to record.
Kay Starr - 1946
photographer unknown
In 1950 she returned home to Dougherty, Oklahoma, and heard a fiddle recording of Bonaparte's Retreat by Pee Wee King. She liked it so much that she wanted to record it. She contacted the publishing house for Roy Acuff in Nashville and spoke to Acuff directly. He was happy to let her record it, but it took a while for her to make clear that she was a singer, not a fiddler, and therefore needed to have some lyrics written. Acuff came up with a new lyric, and Bonaparte's Retreat became her biggest hit up to that point, with close to a million sales.
date & photographer unknown
Kay Starr -1956
Evertt Collection
date & photographer unknown
Frank Carroll/NBCU Photo
In the late 1980s she performed in the revue 3 Girls with Helen O'Connell and Margaret Whiting, and in 1993 she toured the United Kingdom as part of the Pat Boone April Love Tour. Her first live album, Live at Freddy's, was released in 1997. She sang with Tony Bennett on his album Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues (2001). Two of her songs, Powder Your Face with Sunshine and It's a Good Day, appeared in the 2007 movie Fido.
date & photographer unknown
In her later years, she sang a duet with Tony Bennett for his 2001 album Playin’ With My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues.
vinyl LP front cover
Starr was married six times, including a brief marriage to bandleader Vic Schoen who later married Marion Hutton.
Fred Prouser/Reuters
Kay Starr died from complications of Alzheimer's disease on November 3, 2016 in Los Angeles at the age of 94.
On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Starr among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire (links below).
Viewfinder links:
Roy Acuff
Allez-Vous-En & Half a Photograph
Count Basie
Tony Bennett
Pat Boone
Bob Crosby
Marion Hutton
Frankie Laine
Peggy Lee
Glenn Miller
Johnnie Ray
Frank Sinatra
Kay Starr
Roy Acuff
Allez-Vous-En & Half a Photograph
Count Basie
Tony Bennett
Pat Boone
Bob Crosby
Marion Hutton
Frankie Laine
Peggy Lee
Glenn Miller
Johnnie Ray
Frank Sinatra
Kay Starr
Net links:
Afterglow ~ Swingin’ With Kay Starr
Billboard ~ Universal Fire Destroyed 500,000 Iconic Master Recordings
Express UK ~ Kay Starr 1922 -2016: The ‘hillbilly’ who could sing it all
LA Times ~ Kay Starr, who lit up 1950s pop radio dies at 94
Afterglow ~ Swingin’ With Kay Starr
Billboard ~ Universal Fire Destroyed 500,000 Iconic Master Recordings
Express UK ~ Kay Starr 1922 -2016: The ‘hillbilly’ who could sing it all
LA Times ~ Kay Starr, who lit up 1950s pop radio dies at 94
Memphis Hall of Fame ~ Kay Starr
NBC News ~ What did we lose in the Universal Music fire?
NPR ~ From Chuck Berry To Tupac Shakur: The 2008 Universal Fire
NY Times ~ Kay Starr, Hillbilly Singer With Crossover Appeal, Dies at 94
Oklahoma Hall of Fame ~ Starr, Kay | 1988
NBC News ~ What did we lose in the Universal Music fire?
NPR ~ From Chuck Berry To Tupac Shakur: The 2008 Universal Fire
NY Times ~ Kay Starr, Hillbilly Singer With Crossover Appeal, Dies at 94
Oklahoma Hall of Fame ~ Starr, Kay | 1988
Kay Starr Discography
YouTube links:
KTLA ~ 2008 Universal fire: 500,000 Master Recordings Lost
Perry Como Show Guest Kay Starr (video) (1952)
Kay Starr
Interview (1993)
The Rock And Roll Waltz, Rockin' Chair (video) (1952)
KTLA ~ 2008 Universal fire: 500,000 Master Recordings Lost
Perry Como Show Guest Kay Starr (video) (1952)
Kay Starr
Interview (1993)
The Rock And Roll Waltz, Rockin' Chair (video) (1952)
Tribute to Kay Starr (video) (1952)
Wheel Of Fortune (1951)
Wheel Of Fortune (video) (1952)
TV Hit Medley Kay Starr, Tyrone Power (video) (1955)
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Wheel Of Fortune (1951)
Wheel Of Fortune (video) (1952)
TV Hit Medley Kay Starr, Tyrone Power (video) (1955)
“ . . . the only white woman who could sing the blues.”
~ Billie Holiday
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, July 21, 2020
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