Kay Starr (Katherine Laverne Starks, July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016) was … Read Full Bio ↴Kay Starr (Katherine Laverne Starks, July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016) was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 1950s.

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.

Friends
Kay Starr Lyrics

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I fear I don′t appeal to you
In an old magic way
So, when we meet, I try to act
Just casual and gay

He always laughs can come alive
And friendly as can be
But you have no idea

Just how much you mean to me

Dear friends {friends}
Friends, {friends}, friends
And that's where the story ends

It′s you I'm dying for
I wish we could be more than
Friends, {friends}, friends, friends

And when you're near
I want you more
Than you can ever guess
I′m sick with love, my stubborn pride
Will not let me confess

Oh darling can′t you realize
I only play a part
My friendship is a poor disguise
To hide my aching heart
Dear friends, {friends}
Friends, {friends}, friends

And that's where the story ends
It′s you I'm fighting for
I wish we could be more than
Friends, {friends}

Friends, {friends}, friends
More than Friends, {friends}, friends

Overall Meaning

The song "Friends" by Kay Starr talks about unrequited love and the struggle to express one's true feelings to a friend. The singer in the song confesses that they fear they don't appeal to the person they're in love with in an old magic way, implying that they feel like they're not enough for their friend. As a result, they try to act casual and gay when they meet, but they can't help but think about how much their friend means to them.

The singer goes on to describe how much they want to be more than just friends with the person they're in love with. They want to be able to express their true feelings, but their stubborn pride won't let them confess. The song ends with the singer expressing their desire to be more than just friends and hoping that their friend will realize their true feelings.

Overall, the song's lyrics are emotional and relatable to anyone who has ever been in love with someone they can't have. The struggle to express one's true feelings to someone who perceives you as just a friend is a common theme in many love songs.

FriendsKay Starr Lyrics

Friends
Kay Starr Lyrics