Starr, Kay (1922—)

views updated

Starr, Kay (1922—)

Popular American singer. Born Katherine LaVerne Starks on July 21, 1922, in Dougherty, Oklahoma; daughter of Harry Starks (a laborer and full-blooded Iroquois) and Annie Starks (of Irish descent).

One of a cadre of popular female singers of the 1940s and 1950s, Kay Starr was born Katherine LaVerne Starks in 1922 in Dougherty, Oklahoma, but as a child lived in Dallas and then in Memphis. There she had her own radio show, "Starr Time," on WREC and was a featured singer on the station's popular "Saturday Night Jamboree." In 1937, she got her first major break when bandleader-violinist Joe Venuti came to Memphis and invited her to sing with his band during their three-week gig at a local hotel. After the engagement, Starr continued to perform with Venuti's group each summer for the next two years. In addition, she sang with the orchestras of Bob Crosby, Glenn Miller, and Charlie Barnet. While with Barnet, she made her first recordings, most notable among them a blues rendition of "Share Croppin' Blues," which brought her some recognition. Her tenure with Barnet came to an abrupt end, however, in 1945, when she contracted pneumonia and collapsed during an Army camp show. Upon recovery, she realized she had lost her voice. Starr preferred bed rest, treatments, and not speaking for six months to the alternative: surgery. Though her voice eventually improved, she was left with a deeper and huskier sound, a sound that would become her trademark.

Following her hiatus, Starr moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in nightclubs and recorded. In 1947, she signed a contract with Capitol, whose roster of stars at the time included Peggy Lee , Jo Stafford , and Margaret Whiting . In competition with such talent, Starr experienced some difficulty in finding the right material; it was not until her cover of Russ Morgan's "So Tired," in January 1949, that she hit the top ten charts for the first time. Her performing and recording career flourished through the 1950s and encompassed such hits as "Hoop-Dee-Doo," "Bonaparte's Retreat" (her first major hit), "I'm the Lonesomest Gal in Town," "Side by Side," "Angry," "I'll Never Be Free" (with Tennessee Ernie Ford), "Changing Partners," and "Wheel of Fortune," which earned her her first gold record and was the #2 top-selling single of 1952. During the peak years of her career, Starr also recorded several theme or "concept" albums, beginning with Movin' (1959), an uptempo jazz album, and including Losers, Weepers … (1960), I Cry By Night (1962), and Just Plain Country (1962).

Like that of so many other popular vocalists of the era, Starr's popularity waned in the '60s with the advent of rock 'n' roll. She continued to

sing in concert and nightclub venues in the United States and England, although she cut back on performances during the 1970s to devote more time to her family. In the late 1980s, she was featured in the revue 4 Girls 4, interchangeably with Helen O'Connell , Rosemary Clooney , Rose Marie , and Margaret Whiting; in 1993, Starr was in London appearing with Pat Boone's April Love Tour. Her album Live at Freddy's was released in 1997.