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.
Mississippi
Kay Starr Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
About a M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Humpback, humpback, I Mississippi
Flowin' down to New Orleans
And it flows right by my Tennessee home
Where history was made by steamboat Bill
A way down yonder in the land of cotton
Folks like mine are near-forgotten
What a wonderful thrill, It is to be, down in Memphis, Tennessee
About a M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Humpback, humpback, I Mississippi
Flowin' down to New Orleans
By the M, I, crooked letter, I
Crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Humpback, humpback, I Mississippi
Flowin' down to New Orleans
Watch it flow and ride along
Where history was made by steamboat Bill
M-E-M-P-H-I-S, Memphis is the town I mean
A way down yonder in the land of cotton
Folks like mine are near-forgotten
What a wonderful thrill, It is to be down in Memphis, Tennessee
About a M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Humpback, humpback, I Mississippi
Flowin', down to New Orleans
The song "Mississippi" by Kay Starr is a tribute to the Mississippi River and the places it flows through, particularly Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans. The opening line "Mississippi river I'm goin' down to New Orleans" sets the stage for a journey along the river, with the singer excitedly anticipating the trip ahead. The chorus, with its repeated phrase "about a M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I", is a nod to the way that children in the southern United States typically learn to spell Mississippi, and helps to reinforce the connection between the river and the region.
The verse that mentions Memphis is particularly poignant, as it references the historic role that the city played in the development of the riverboat industry. The line "where history was made by steamboat Bill" is a reference to the popular song "Steamboat Bill" from the 1910s, which romanticized the life of the riverboat men who navigated the Mississippi. The fact that the singer's Tennessee home is located "right by" the river adds another layer of personal connection to the song, and highlights the way in which the Mississippi has been a vital part of life and culture in the southern United States for centuries.
Overall, "Mississippi" is a celebration of a region and a way of life that are uniquely American, and the Mississippi River serves as a powerful symbolic representation of that heritage.
Line by Line Meaning
Mississippi river I'm goin' down to New Orleans
I am traveling down the Mississippi river to New Orleans
About a M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Referring to the spelling of Mississippi, with its unique letter sequence
Crooked letter, crooked letter, I
Another reference to the spelling, this time emphasizing the shape of the letters
Humpback, humpback, I Mississippi
A playful description of the river's shape, with its curves resembling a humpback whale's profile
Flowin' down to New Orleans
Continuing the initial statement that the singer is traveling down the river
And it flows right by my Tennessee home
The singer's Tennessee home is situated along the Mississippi river
Where history was made by steamboat Bill
A nod to the river's importance in transportation and commerce, with a reference to the iconic steamboat era
M-E-M-P-H-I-S, Memphis is the town I mean
The city of Memphis, Tennessee is the singer's intended destination
A way down yonder in the land of cotton
A reference to the southern United States, where cotton was a dominant crop and culture
Folks like mine are near-forgotten
Acknowledging the struggles and discrimination faced by African Americans in the South
What a wonderful thrill, It is to be down in Memphis, Tennessee
Describing the excitement and joy that comes with visiting a beloved city
Watch it flow and ride along
Continuing the description of a journey down the Mississippi river
Writer(s): Curley Williams, Billy Simmons
Contributed by Alice B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.