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On July 21, 1922, Kay Starr was born.
Kay Starr
Birth name: Catherine Laverne Starks
Born: July 21, 1922; Dougherty, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died: November 3, 2016 (aged 94); Los Angeles, California
Catherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr was successful in every field of music she tried (jazz, pop, and country), but her roots were in jazz.
{snip}
Life and career
Kay Starr was born Catherine Laverne Starks 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. When her father got a job installing water sprinkler systems for the Automatic Sprinkler Company, the family moved to Dallas. Her mother raised chickens, whom Starr serenaded in the 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, generous pay during the Great Depression.
{snip}
In 1950 she returned home to Dougherty 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 Roy Acuff's publishing house 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.
{snip}
Birth name: Catherine Laverne Starks
Born: July 21, 1922; Dougherty, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died: November 3, 2016 (aged 94); Los Angeles, California
Catherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr was successful in every field of music she tried (jazz, pop, and country), but her roots were in jazz.
{snip}
Life and career
Kay Starr was born Catherine Laverne Starks 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. When her father got a job installing water sprinkler systems for the Automatic Sprinkler Company, the family moved to Dallas. Her mother raised chickens, whom Starr serenaded in the 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, generous pay during the Great Depression.
{snip}
In 1950 she returned home to Dougherty 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 Roy Acuff's publishing house 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.
{snip}
#YoureMySugar #WheelofFortune #GladRag
Tribute to Kay Starr (Rare Live Performances + Perry Como Duet)
12,457 views • Nov 18, 2016
Mostly Brenda
17.5K subscribers
Kay Starr's death has prompted us to put together some of her performances as a tribute. There are various flaws in the video and audio of these clips, but I hope you will still find them entertaining.
Tribute to Kay Starr (Rare Live Performances + Perry Como Duet)
12,457 views • Nov 18, 2016
Mostly Brenda
17.5K subscribers
Kay Starr's death has prompted us to put together some of her performances as a tribute. There are various flaws in the video and audio of these clips, but I hope you will still find them entertaining.
Kay Starr - "Wheel Of Fortune" (1952)
26,306 views • Nov 23, 2015
vintage video clips
23K subscribers
Kay Starr performing "Wheel Of Fortune" (1952)
26,306 views • Nov 23, 2015
vintage video clips
23K subscribers
Kay Starr performing "Wheel Of Fortune" (1952)
This is not how I usually think of this song.
Bonaparte's Retreat ~ Kay Starr (1950)
53 views • Dec 22, 2019
MrRJDB1969
64.4K subscribers
Bonaparte's Retreat ~ Kay Starr (1950) Capitol # F936 -
The flip side of, Someday Sweetheart
Words & Music by : Pee Wee King
53 views • Dec 22, 2019
MrRJDB1969
64.4K subscribers
Bonaparte's Retreat ~ Kay Starr (1950) Capitol # F936 -
The flip side of, Someday Sweetheart
Words & Music by : Pee Wee King
This is how I usually think of this song.
Roy Clark & Tommy Williams - Bonaparte's Retreat
1,981 views • Dec 18, 2017
James Stiltner
45.8K subscribers
Leon Rhodes on guitar.
1,981 views • Dec 18, 2017
James Stiltner
45.8K subscribers
Leon Rhodes on guitar.
Tue Feb 18, 2025: On this day, February 18, 1914, Pee Wee King was born.
Fri Jul 21, 2023: On this day, July 21, 1922, Kay Starr was born.
Tue Jul 21, 2020: On this day, July 21, 1922, Kay Starr was born.