From:   "Dik de Heer"
Date:  Sat Jul 20, 2002  6:55 pm
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Kay Starr
 
KAY STARR

Born Katherine LaVerne Starks, 21 July 1922, Dougherty, Oklahoma

While she was still a child, Starr's family moved to Dallas, Texas, where
she made her professional debut on local radio before she had left school.
In 1939 she was hired briefly by Glenn Miller when his regular singer, Marion
Hutton, was sick. Starr made records with Miller, but was soon on the move.
She spent brief spells with the bands of Bob Crosby and Joe Venuti, and
attracted most attention during her mid-'40s stint with Charlie Barnet.
Among the records she made with Barnet was Share Croppin' Blues, which
was a minor hit. The record sold well enough to interest Capitol Records,
and, from 1948-54, she charted 27 hits on that label, including So Tired,
Hoop-Dee-Doo, Bonaparte's Retreat, I'll Never Be Free, Oh, Babe!, Come
On-A My House, Wheel Of Fortune (US # 1, 1952), Comes A-Long A-Love
(UK # 1, 1952), Side By Side, Half a Photograph, Changing Partners, The
Man Upstairs and If You Love Me (all Top 10). In 1955 she switched to RCA,
and went straight to the top of the charts in the US and UK with Rock And
Roll Waltz. Her last Top 10 hit was My Heart Reminds Me (1957).
Starr sang with controlled power and a strong emotional undertow, which
made her an appealing in-person performer. In the '60s she became a regular
attraction at venues such as Harrah's, Reno, and, as recently as the late '80s,
she returned there, and played New York clubs as a solo attraction and as
part of nostalgia packages such as 3 Girls 3 (with Helen O'Connell and
Margaret Whiting), and 4 Girls 4 (add Kaye Ballard). In the spring of 1993,
she joined another popular '50s singer, Pat Boone, on The April Love Tour
of the UK.

Homepage: http://members.tripod.com/~Kay_Starr/main.html
Collector's Choice has just released "Definitive Kay Starr on Capitol"
(2 CD-set, 49 tracks). A single CD alternative is the Kay Starr CD in the
Capitol Collectors Series.