Kay Starr

Kay Starr (born Catherine Laverne Starks; July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016) was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multiple genres, such as pop, jazz, and country, but her roots were in jazz. Her 1952 song "Wheel of Fortune" was a smash hit, and later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Additionally, she had big hits with "Allez-Vous-En" (from the Broadway show CAN-CAN) and "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" in 1953 and 1954, respectively.

Catherine Laverne Starks was born in Dougherty, Oklahoma, to Annie and Harry Starks. Her mother's ancestors were Irish-American, while her father was a Native American Iroquois. She later claimed to be both Cherokee and Choctaw descent. When she was three years old, the Starks family moved to Dallas, Texas, where her father obtained a job installing building sprinklers. Her mother raised chickens to support the family as well. Catherine began singing during early childhood, often performing to the chickens that her mother was raising. She sang frequently around the house, which caught the attention of her aunt, with whose help she took part in a local talent contest and won at the age of seven.

Young Catherine continued to enter talent contests, and eventually landed a spot performing on Dallas's WRR radio station. She performed twice a week and earned three dollars a performance. The Starks family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when she was 15 and was given her own "Starr Segment" on Memphis's WREC station. Due to many people incorrectly saying her last name, she adapted the stage name of "Kay Starr". During high school, she worked with various country music bands. She was discovered by jazz violinist Joe Venuti, who had obtained a contract to perform at the Peabody Hotel in the summer of 1937. Starr's parents accepted the performance opportunity, as long as she was home by their midnight curfew. Venuti did not tell the hotel her real age, and fibbed about Starr's mother being her sister. For the next two summers, Starr performed alongside Venuti.

Starr's singing attracted the attention of Bob Crosby's manager and had her join Crosby on the road. She went to New York City and played with Crosby's band for two weeks until she was dismissed by the show's sponsor for being considered "too earthy". Despite being let go, she caught the attention of Glenn Miller, who needed a substitute female performer while his regular performer (Marion Hutton) was ill. For two weeks, Starr performed at the Glen Island Casino alongside Miller's orchestra. At age 16, Starr recorded her first tracks with Miller's orchestra: "Baby Me" and "Love with a Capital 'You'". The songs failed to become a success. This was in part because the band played in a key that, while appropriate for Hutton, did not suit Kay. Starr later recalled that she sounded like "a jazzed up Alfalfa" since they were not in her range.

Starr and her mother then returned to Memphis, where she completed high school in 1940. She then moved to Los Angeles and worked alongside Venuti until 1941.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.