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.
On the Street Where You Live
Kay Starr Lyrics
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But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before
All at once am I several stories high
Knowing I'm on the street where you live
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town?
Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?
Does enchantment pour out of every door?
And oh, the towering feeling just to know somehow you are near
The overpowering feeling that any second you may suddenly appear
People stop and stare, they don't bother me
For there's nowhere else on earth that I would rather be
Let the time go by, I won't care if I
Can be here on the street where you live
Kay Starr's song On The Street Where You Live is a tribute to a certain place where she desires to be, solely because the person she loves is there. The song's opening lyrics reveal that Starr is familiar with this street, having walked down it many times before. However, she suddenly feels elevated when she is on this street, and it feels totally different from every other time she has been there. The reason for this sudden change is because the person she loves exists here. The song revolves around sensations of love, wonder, and delight, and how the world around the person residing on this street appears to have an otherworldly presence, because their emotions have become heightened since they have their beloved near.
In the song's second verse, Starr poses a series of questions. She asks if there are lilac trees in the heart of town, whether a lark can be heard in any other part of town, and whether every door on this street conceals enchantment. She answers these questions with a resounding "no," because none of these things she is searching for exist anywhere else but here. The chorus of the song talks about the soaring sensation that she experiences when she knows that the person she desires to be with is around the corner. Every passerby on this street can sense the charm and awe of love in the air, as evidenced by the fact that those who observe the singer do not bother her.
Line by Line Meaning
I have often walked down this street before
I have walked on this street before many times
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before
However, I never felt the special connection with this street that I feel now
All at once am I several stories high
Due to the thrill and excitement that I am experiencing, it feels like I am soaring through the sky
Knowing I'm on the street where you live
Feeling the delight that comes from knowing that you live on this very street
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town?
Do lilac trees exist in the centre of the city?
Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?
Is it possible to hear a lark in any other area of the city?
Does enchantment pour out of every door?
Is it possible that a spell of magic comes from every door on this street?
No, it's just on the street where you live
The enchanting feeling is only found on this street due to your existence
And oh, the towering feeling just to know somehow you are near
The immense feeling of elation that arises from knowing that you are near
The overpowering feeling that any second you may suddenly appear
The overwhelming feeling of anticipation that at any moment you could emerge
People stop and stare, they don't bother me
I don't mind when people stop and stare at me because I don't care what they think
For there's nowhere else on earth that I would rather be
There is no other place on this planet that I would rather be
Let the time go by, I won't care if I
Time can pass by and I will not mind if I
Can be here on the street where you live
I am able to stay on this street where you live
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind