Kay Starr (21st July Birthday)

[john poole]

Katherine Laverne Starks - born 21st July, 1922 (Dougherty, Oklahoma) - 90 today; one of the most popular singers in the first half of the 1950s, before rock'n'roll took hold, and still performing this year according to wikipedia.

'I'll Never Be Free' (1950) - the first of several singles she recorded with Tennessee Ernie Ford (they were both with Capitol Records)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En19IIYmvmQ
Jimmy Bryant - guitar; Speedy West - steel guitar

1952 appearance on the "Colgate Comedy Hour" with (from 2:00) one of her biggest hits - 'Wheel of Fortune'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HMvn9czn7Q
alternatively, "all in the best possible taste" as Kenny Everett would have said, there's a Scopitone film of the song, presumably from the early 60s. I wonder if the artists concerned ever watched these films after they were finished
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_XFqjWjADY

Wikipedia also informs that Billie Holiday said Kay was "the only white woman who could sing the blues"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Starr