Kay Starr was successful in every field of music she tried, jazz, country and pop. But her roots were in jazz, Billie Holiday, considered by many the greatest jazz singer of all time, called Starr "the only white woman who could sing the blues."
She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz".
Kay Starr was born on a reservation in Dougherty, Oklahoma. Her father, Harry, was a full-blooded Iroquois Indian; her mother, Annie, was of mixed Irish and American Indian heritage. When her father got a job installing water sprinkler systems, the family moved to Dallas, Texas.
While her father worked for the Automatic Sprinkler Company, her mother raised chickens, and Kay used to sing to the chickens in the coop. As a result of the fact that her aunt, Nora, was impressed by her singing, she began to sing at the age of seven on a Dallas radio station, WRR, first in a talent competition where she finished third one week and won every week thereafter, then with her own weekly fifteen minute show. She sang pop and "hillbilly" songs with a piano accompaniment. By the age of ten, she was making $3 a night, a lot of money in the Depression days.
As a result of her father's changing jobs, her family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and she continued performing on the radio, singing "Western swing music," still mostly a mix of country and pop. It was while she was on the Memphis radio station WMPS that, as a result of misspellings in her fan mail, she and her parents decided to give her the name "Kay Starr". At the age of fifteen, she was chosen to sing with the Joe Venuti orchestra. Venuti had a contract to play in the Peabody Hotel in Memphis which called for his band to feature a girl singer, which he did not have; Venuti's road manager heard her on the radio, and suggested her to Venuti. Because she was still in junior high school, her parents insisted that Venuti take her home no later than midnight.
Although she had brief stints in 1939 with Bob Crosby and Glenn Miller (who hired her in July of that year when his regular singer, Marion Hutton, was sick), she spent most of her next few years with Venuti, until he dissolved his band in 1942. It was, however, with Miller that she cut her first record: "Baby Me"/"Love with a Capital You." It was not a great success, in part because the band played in a key more appropriate for Marion Hutton, which was less suited for Kay's vocal range.
Crazy Rhythm
Kay Starr Lyrics
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I'll go my way, you'll go your way,
Crazy rhythm, from now on we're through!
Here is where we have a showdown,
I'm too high hat, you're too lowdown,
Crazy rhythm, here's goodbye to you!
Walking along Broadway,
Soon the highbrow, he has no brow;
Ain't it a shame, and you're to blame!
What's the use of prohibition?
You produce the same condition,
Crazy rhythm, I've gone crazy too!
The song 'Crazy Rhythm' by Kay Starr is a lively and fast-paced number that is jam-packed with metaphors and idioms that bring to life the message of the song. In the first two lines, the singer implies that the 'crazy rhythm' is a doorway, which is the entry point to a new phase in life. Her decision is timely, and she believes it is for the best, which means both of them must go their separate ways from that moment onward.
The third line suggests that this decision might have been long overdue, and this is where they have to confront each other with the finality of their decision. She then goes ahead to explain that their problems come from an imbalance in their backgrounds, which causes friction between them. This difference in background, like a show-stopper, creates a deadlock between the two.
The lyrics then go on to sarcastically question the usefulness of prohibition, which prohibits certain activities. The singer suggests that prohibition may not always lead to the desired effect, as it may only reinforce the problem it sought to eliminate. The final line of the song shows that the 'crazy rhythm' has affected both of them, and the singer has also 'gone crazy' at that point.
Line by Line Meaning
Crazy rhythm, here's the doorway,
Starting now, this is the end of the line for our relationship.
I'll go my way, you'll go your way,
We both have different paths to take for our future.
Crazy rhythm, from now on we're through!
The syncopated beats we once shared, it is time to bid adieu.
Here is where we have a showdown,
This is where we reach a climax in our tale.
I'm too high hat, you're too lowdown,
I'm too formal and you're not sophisticated enough.
Crazy rhythm, here's goodbye to you!
The music has ended for us, and I must say goodbye to you.
They say that when a highbrow meets a lowbrow
It is said that when two people from diverse backgrounds meet,
Walking along Broadway,
As they walk down a busy street in a city,
Soon the highbrow, he has no brow;
The highbrow person loses their haughtiness and sophistication.
Ain't it a shame, and you're to blame!
It's a disgrace, and you are accountable for it!
What's the use of prohibition?
Why bother trying to stop something?
You produce the same condition,
Ultimately same effect results from trying to restrict it.
Crazy rhythm, I've gone crazy too!
The inconsistent pace we tried to keep up has led me to insanity too.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: IRVING CAESAR, JOSEPH MEYER, ROGER WOLFE KAHN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind