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KAY STARR

The Rock And Roll Waltz

written by Shorty Allen and Roy Alfred

I’m making this page July 21st, 2021, which would’ve been the...

you ready for this?... the 99th birthday of Catherine Laverne Starks,

who went professionally in the record biz by Kay Starr, and made

herself known with her notable version of this song. She actually

passed but a relatively short time ago, in the year 2016, having

made it to an impressive 94. Happy Posthumous Birthday, KS.

Catherine “Kay” was born in Dougherty, Oklahoma, on an Indian reservation. (They were called Indian reservations in 1922; don’t @ me.) Her aunt heard something promising in her singing voice at the tender age of 6 or 7, and got young Catherine a regular gig singing on a Dallas, Texas radio station. After she entered double digits, she began receiving invitations left and right to sing with other acts. Around 24, she got a deal with the rather young Capitol Records. As most singers were performing standards and there were a limited number of songs to go around, artists with seniority were given priority as regards the most popular or desired songs to sing. Being the newbie in the camp at the time, Kay was to sing what was left over for her.

Kay had roots in jazz music, but also explored country and later rock and roll. As the latter was emerging from the proverbial woodwork around the mid-’50s, Kay signed her next recording deal with RCA Victor, and shortly after dropped this single, “Rock And Roll Waltz.” It’s sort of a semi-novelty piece, a more durable genre in a decade like the ’50s, full of charmingly ridiculous little ditties with congruently absurd and silly titles. At the same time, novelty music was considered a realm filled with one-hit wonders destined to amuse the world with a single humorous hit, and then fizzle into obscurity.

In Kay’s case, she had the advantage of... well, for one, again, of it being the 1950s, and also that she had been singing and recording whimsical and light-hearted tunes since the late ’40s. She’d had #1s before, but “Rock And Roll Waltz” was her only song that hit the absolute apex of the US, Cash Box and UK charts. In the grand tradition of waltzes, the song is written and played in a 3/4 time signature. And though Kay performs it with some jazz influence in the music, her version more or less officially belongs to the domain of rock and roll. It was an enormous hit in its day, and wasn’t Kay’s last successful song. She went on recording through the ’60s, releasing a few final singles up to the mid-’70s. She continued singing up to the opening of the 21st century. 15 years later, she died from Alzheimer’s.

RIP Kay, 7/21/22 to 11/3/16.

Have notes to add? Let me know!

YT:

full version

 

1956

Lyrics

One night I was late, came home from a date Slipped out of my shoes at the door Then from the front room, I heard a jump tune I looked in, and here’s what I saw! There in the night, was a wonderful scene Mom was dancing with Dad, to my record machine And while they danced, only one thing was wrong... They were trying to waltz... to a rock and roll song! A-one, two, and then rock One, two, and then roll They did the rock and roll waltz Rock, two, three, roll, two, three, it looked so cute to me! I love the rock and roll waltz! One, two, and then rock One, two, and then roll One, two, and then jump It’s good for your soul! It’s old, but it’s new Let’s do the rock and roll waltz! x1 x1 Let’s do the rock and roll waltz!

first release: The Rock And Roll Waltz (single) (1955/12)

audio treated sample

This page was originally made on July 21st, 2021 and last edited on July 28th, 2021

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