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.
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Kay Starr Lyrics
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It's just a void and empty space
When you are not in my embrace
Oh, there's a lull In my life
The moment that you go away
There is no night, there is no day
The clock stops ticking
The world stops turning
That keeps burning, burning
Oh, oh, oh
There's a lull In my life
No matter how I may pretend
I know that you alone can end
The lyrics of Kay Starr's song "There's a Lull in My Life" capture the feeling of emptiness and longing that comes with the absence of a loved one. The singer describes the void in her life as an "empty space" and a "lull," indicating that something essential is missing when her lover is not around. This absence also affects her perception of time and the world around her: the clock stops ticking, and the world stops turning, leaving only the flame of her love burning bright.
The singer acknowledges that no matter how hard she tries to pretend otherwise, her lover is the only one who can fill this void and bring an end to the lull in her life. Through her melancholy lyrics, Starr expresses the pain and sorrow of being separated from someone she loves, highlighting the importance of human connection in our lives.
"There's a Lull in My Life" was first recorded by Ethel Waters in 1937 and then became a hit for many other artists in subsequent years, including Kay Starr, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. The song was written by the famed songwriting team of Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, who were responsible for many other popular songs of the era.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, there's a lull in my life
I'm experiencing a period of dullness and boredom in my life
It's just a void and empty space
There's a sense of missing something important, like a void or emptiness
When you are not in my embrace
This feeling is due to being apart from someone I love, specifically the feeling of not having you in my arms
Oh, there's a lull In my life
The repetition of the first line emphasizes the magnitude of this feeling
The moment that you go away
This feeling is triggered by your absence
There is no night, there is no day
Time loses its meaning and everything feels monotonous without you
The clock stops ticking
The rhythm of time feels disrupted and out of sync
The world stops turning
Even the world seems to come to a standstill without you
Everything stops but the flame in my heart
Only the love and longing for you remains alive and burning
That keeps burning, burning
The repetition of the word 'burning' emphasizes the intensity of this love
Oh, oh, oh
This serves as an emotional interlude, expressing the depth of my feelings
There's a lull In my life
Bringing the song's focus back to the main feeling of boredom and emptiness
No matter how I may pretend
Despite my attempts to hide or ignore this feeling, it remains strong
I know that you alone can end
Only you have the power to fill this void and bring joy back into my life
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY REVEL, MACK GORDON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jednagales4680
The wheel of fortune
Goes spinning around
Will the arrow point my way?
Will this be my day?
Oh, wheel of fortune
Please don't pass me by
Let me know the magic of
A kiss and a sigh
While the wheel is spinning, spinning, spinning
I'll not dream of winning, fortune or even fame
While the wheel is turning, turning, turning
I'll be yearning, yearning
For love's precious flame
Oh, wheel of fortune
I'm hoping somehow
If you ever smile on me
Please let it be now
While the wheel is spinning, spinning, spinning
I'll not dream of winning, fortune or even fame
While the wheel is turning, turning, turning
I'll be yearning, yearning
For love's precious flame
Oh, wheel of fortune
I'm hoping sometime
If you ever smile on me
Please let it be now
@fabianpuga5953
La rueda de la fortuna
va dando vueltas
¿La flecha señalará mi camino?
¿Será este mi día?
Oh, rueda de la fortuna
por favor no me pases
Déjame saber la magia de
un beso y un suspiro
Mientras la rueda gira, gira, gira
No soñaré con ganar, fortuna o incluso fama
Mientras la rueda gira, gira, gira
Estaré anhelando, anhelando
Por la llama preciosa del amor
Oh, rueda de la fortuna
Estoy esperando de alguna manera
Si alguna vez me sonríes
Por favor déjalo ser ahora
Mientras la rueda gira, gira, gira
No soñaré con ganar, fortuna o incluso fama
Mientras la rueda gira, gira, gira
Estaré anhelando, anhelando
Por la llama preciosa del amor
Oh, rueda de la fortuna
espero alguna vez
Si alguna vez me sonríes
Por favor déjalo ser ahora.
@ilovemusicmovies
The wheel of fortune
Goes spinning around
Will the arrow point my way
Will this be my day
Oh, wheel of fortune
Please don't pass me by
Let me know the magic
Of a kiss and a sigh
While the wheel is spinning
Spinning, spinning, spinning
I'll not dream of winning
Winning fortune or fame
While the wheel is turning
Turning, turning, turning
I'll be ever yearning, yearning
For love's precious flame
Oh, wheel of fortune
I'm hoping somehow
If you ever smile on me
Please let it be now
@sauquoit13456
In the March 29th, 1952 issue of Billboard Magazine, "Wheel of Fortune" by Kay Starr reached #1 on the magazine's Most Played Juke Box Records chart, and for the next thirty-five consecutive weeks the #1 spot was held by a female artist:
"Wheel of Fortune" by Kay Starr {for 10 weeks*}
"I Went To Your Wedding" by Patti Page {for 10 weeks}
"Kiss of Fire" by Georgia Gibbs {for 6 weeks}
"Half As Much" by Rosemary Clooney {for 4 weeks*}
"Auf Wiedershe'n" by Vera Lynn {for 4 weeks}
"Guy Is A Guy" by Doris Day {for 1 week}
"You Belong To Me" by Jo Stafford {for 1 week}
* Denotes non-consecutive weeks at #1...
@johnathanhardin3989
My grandfather played this on a jukebox at a restaurant and asked my grandmother to dance with him to this song. They married a year later. That’s all it took.
@griffonsarcade
that's adorable
@robinmiller3296
Ohh, that's beautiful 😍 ❤
@karlwithak.
Dang she was an easy woman.
@darkelectrick
@@karlwithak. atleast its not like now where you need to 6figures be 6 ft and crap tons of things that make it difficult just to get one lame ass girl who probably isnt worth it nowadays
@ishents1
Grandad was a playa with damn good taste.
@geoffm9944
Kay Starr made this an unforgettable and memorable song of the 1950’s! She had a powerful and very distinctive voice! It brings back memories of a decade when there was a galaxy of superb female singers.
@nevittwoods1730
and good night clubs up west
@waynedecarlo8538
I agree with you , she is one of the best.
@CZECHMATE650
The greatest generation