Tribute to Kay Starr (Rare Live Performances + Perry Como Duet)

Kay Starr's death has prompted us to put together some of her performances as a tribute. There are various flaws in the video and audio of these clips, but I hope you will still find them entertaining.
Addition to credits: Perry and Anne Bancroft sing "Funiculi Funicula". An Italian pop song from 1880! It was covered many times - Mario Lanza, Connie Francis, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli and even an English version from Annette Funicello called "Dream Boy".
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:08 C'est Magnifique
1:36 Rag Doll
4:07 Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine
6:36 Kraft Commercial
8:04 You're My Sugar Perry Como
11:53 Wheel of Fortune
13:44 "Funiculi Funicula" Ann Bancroft
14:16 That's Entertainment
14:56 Credits
Kay's mistake:
The lyrics she forgot were
Kay
Well, I knitted you some golf socks
With fancy heels and soles
Perry:
I guess they call ‘em golf socks
‘Cause they both have 18 holes
#YoureMySugar #WheelofFortune #GladRag

[@MostlyBrenda]

Song Menu has been replaced by "Chapters". This feature allow you to hover over the progress bar and select the song you want. Click on the chapter name below the bar, C'est Magnifique, for instance, and you will get a playlist on the right side of the screen.

[@Johnnycdrums]

Nice, how do you set that up? I want to know, please.

[@MostlyBrenda]

@@Johnnycdrums List the times and chapter names in the description. (See the description for this video as an example) You must have a 0:00 entry for it to work.

[@Johnnycdrums]

@@MostlyBrenda; Thank You.

[@jeanmarierock4603]

Who is still listening to Ms. Kay Starr in 2024❤🎵🎶

[@MostlyBrenda]

Anyone who recognizes good singing.

[@user-gx4mp7nn9u]

Remember my older brother buying wheel of fortune it was my favourite record of the time I was 8 years old I still love to hear it a month of 80.

[@champ419]

I certainly am.

[@johngalvin3124]

A woman owning it back then was very rare, no matter how good her voice. Kay had it all, talent and the determination of a tigress. She went all the way to the top, where she deserved to be with that sensational voice.

[@xenophonicus]

She was so stunning, what a voice

[@ItsTreen]

Can't believe I'm just learning about Ms Starr today. She was magnificent 💖

[@markgaitens9022]

Genuinely pretty and graceful.

[@MikeysGayToday]

THANK YOU FOR THIS!! I had no idea she passed LAST NOVEMBER!!!!!!! UGH!! What a voice and soo beautiful!! We will never have talent like this again. Keely Smith is 89. I love her as well!~

[@MostlyBrenda]

Keely passed on December 16, 2017. No, sorry, I have no clips for Keely Smith.

[@joerhoden4919]

Mostly Brenda,I do hope you have some Keely Smith clips now (LOL!!!). Keely's birthday was yesterday March 9. Keely inspired me to start singing publicly 5 years ago at age 49. Not great but am improving right along. Didn't know Keely existed until 2012. Ain't that pitiful?!!!!!! Thank you for these wonderful Kay Starr clips. Richard from Alabama (ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!)

[@fredwallin815]

5 years to old for rock, 10 years to young for swing. Great singer.

[@Spumini75]

Fantastic Kay

[@murph3001]

A soul singer and a great one

[@jamespercival5371]

😍

[@Johnnycdrums]

Wow, the horn intro and whole tune basically of "Wheel Of Fortune" is "legato" here. I love it, swings nicely, and Kay is so happy, you got to love her, you just do. it's great, the studio version too, now I have both very good and wonderful arrangements.

[@MostlyBrenda]

Glad you like it!

[@irenemccann7032]

Saw her live in New Jersey many years ago, and she was magnificent.

[@louisenickell9892]

The women of music today can't compare to Kay Starr

[@tholu67]

Thanks so much for sharing! She truly was one of the Best! RIP, Dear Katherine Laverne Starks.

[@MostlyBrenda]

You're very welcome! May have some more, but it will take some time.

[@misterpeppercorn3078]

These were the day's pre-Elvis. I thought of these songs as R&R! They ushered in R&R. ♥

[@MostlyBrenda]

The songs did not have a Rock beat, but she did them in an emotional, soulful style that reminds me of jazz and blues singers. Blues and rhythm and blues were rock's predecessors.

[@darthvater190]

That's gotta be the best version of Glad Rag Doll I've ever heard

[@MostlyBrenda]

Credits go to the Mitchell Ayres Orch and the Ray Charles singers for the arrangement. The guitarist finds some lovely lines on Glad Rag.

[@fuzzy123238]

I said the same!

[@stevenholquin2127]

Sensational Miss. Kay Star ⭐️ And She Has a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame….Right in Front Of Capitol Records on 1750 North Vine

[@kentjenkins6557]

Loved her , the lady had some pipes

[@Johnnycdrums]

Wow, the start of "Cest' Magnifica" exactly like "Around The World".

[@prp22]

Super video, and an outstanding vocal and orchestral accompaniment! I like 'Once more' too!

[@MostlyBrenda]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johannarocho3040]

Talent!

[@jamespercival5371]

Wonderul

[@SWDetboy]

That was Great! thank you

[@MostlyBrenda]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sanfordpress7648]

so wonderful thanks

[@MostlyBrenda]

You are most welcome.

[@ipaddress305]

Thanks so much for uploading this footage. Kay had such beautiful smile. Totsiens Kay.

[@MostlyBrenda]

Her goof during the duet has her both laughing and embarrassed at the same time. It was, after all, her original song with Tennessee Ernie. For the record, the lyrics are supposed to go: Kay: Well, I knitted you some golf socks With fancy heels and soles Perry: I guess they call ‘em golf socks ‘Cause they both have 18 holes

[@mikehudson8884]

Aw I noticed that too but they got out of it OK. Thanks for sharing these wonderful clips, your channel is wonderful.

[@themirrorsofmymind]

*Fantastic!*

[@MostlyBrenda]

Glad you like it!

[@bobomoreno9395]

Such skill and ease. Kinda like Brenda Lee and Dinah Washington wrapped into one. Been a fan of this kind of music for ever, but only now I come across Starr. Is that the Mills Brs. at the end?

[@MostlyBrenda]

Yes! Bert Lahr, the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz, Anne Bancroft and the Mills Brothers form the front line. And I have two Brenda/Kay videos because I think Kay's approach to singing is the most similar to Brenda's among the pre-rock vocalists. They want to express the emotion of the lyric deeply so that the listener will feel something, That's the aim of Blues singers too, of course.

[@bobomoreno9395]

Oh I didn’t pick up on the (Mostly)Brenda refference. I made a video of an event in 2007 that features Brenda Lee. She’s an MC here so no actual singing. She comes on about half way in kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYfGgWV5atVnZ9k PS Great that you left that recipe for the sandwich spread in there. I might make that some day :-)

[@machpodfan]

Even Judy Garland complimented her!

[@josephkane829]

Ooh la la. Magnifiqua

[@sitarart7449]

What a voice wow!

[@paulgreen6302]

Singing live just wing it.

[@jillfriendship1054]

Very many thanks, wasn't she wonderful.

[@MostlyBrenda]

I think of her as a forerunner of modern singing. More emotional and and not a "crooner".

[@paulgreen6302]

Good footage.

[@MostlyBrenda]

Thanks 👍

[@pietsmit7371]

😍😍👍👍

[@pietsmit7371]

Wil of fortune

[@stepno]

Thanks for putting more of Kay Starr out there. Have you ever seen a TV clip of her doing "Blue Christmas"? I don't think she ever recorded on a single or album, but I think Jay Johnson, co-author of the song, once told me he preferred her version to Elvis's.

[@MostlyBrenda]

Interesting, well, Elvis did become more of a crooner in the sixties with progressively bigger and overproduced numbers. I haven't seen or heard Kay's "Blue Christmas", but Brenda Lee recorded it and I like it better than Presley's. I imagine that Kay delivered the emotion in a similar way.

[@MostlyBrenda]

Brenda's version is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnOZe4SwdtVoqMU

[@MostlyBrenda]

11:23 Kay asks Perry "Want to do it again?". Como's hour show - he had many shorter versions before that - was broadcast live on Saturday night from 1955 to 1959. When it was switched to Wednesday for the 59-60 season, they video taped the show the previous weekend. On Fridays, I believe. It was "Live on tape", so it would be possible to correct Kay's goof, but apparently Como didn't think it necessary. Now, decades later, her mistake just makes the clip more fun!

[@KajiVocals]

The similarity between her and Dinah Washington's tones is incredible.

[@johnbrowneyes7534]

Was with a friend at a restaurant and there was music playing, he said “Oh isn’t this Dinah Washington?” It was Kay Starr.

[@wsegen]

Boy, the early fifties really got bland. Kay Starr bridged the gap between the pedestrian and the existential....so to speak:) Didn't she do a set or three with Les Paul at the Iridium? Thanks for this great compilation.

[@MostlyBrenda]

You're welcome. I think so. There is a video of Kay in her 80s and Paul probably in his 90s. Search for "KAY STARR & LES PAUL - Exactly Like You (Live)" on KZbin. Starr and the Les Paul Trio recorded some tracks in 1949.

[@wsegen]

Thanks for all your prompts. It also impressed me that on the '49 tracks the venerable joe venuti was given some good solo space. He always went well with guitar, vis a vis his nighthawks duo with bucky pizzarelli. Best 2 U.

[@MostlyBrenda]

The Uncollected Vol 2 playlist is kzbin.info/aero/PLRRCsLyl7z6tkzISpYXQOk5d1LvxeE7mR

[@wsegen]

You did a great job. The playlist is teriffic. I had only found a couple of tunes including the V disc. You got it all.:) Her performances really hold up. Do you happen to know who is on piano?

[@MostlyBrenda]

No, I don't know the piano player. The album cover lists only Venuti and Billy Butterfield, but that, of course, would be violin and trumpet.

[@wsegen]

The Starr cd is very nice. lots of depth. You prolly listened to june christy as well. A danish company, storyville-records, doing jazz since '52, made a cd in 2002 of june and the johnny gurarnieri quintette, from 1949. June does some slight introducing, but it doesn't sound like a radio show. The cd is OOP but the site says can be had via iTunes. Did not work for me (?) but after 3 years the hard copy appeared on amazon. Somebody in georgia had it for very reasonable, and in great shape. 29 tunes. June at the top of her game. after the big band and before the big productions. nice, nice.

[@MostlyBrenda]

Thanks for the update. I have heard June Christy and like her voice. She veers a bit too far into the "cool" jazz category for my taste and don't own anything by her.

[@davidtuttle6367]

Was this from a 1960 broadcast?

[@MostlyBrenda]

1960, but it is more than one episode.

[@victorireland8913]

Wheel of fortune.

[@johnesposito671]

Did she record the Hucklebuck for the Honeymooners?

[@MostlyBrenda]

It sounds like Kay, but the rumour is that it is really Connie Francis doing a special version meant to sound like Starr. The arrangement is slightly different from the Starr record.

[@johnesposito671]

@@MostlyBrenda ,,,, I have an email into Connie...lol I asked her straight up if she sang the hucklebuck for the honeymooners....no reply yet..lol sent a week ago

[@MostlyBrenda]

@@johnesposito671 In a way it sort of fits. She did Tuesday Weld 's singing in one of those Alan Freed "epics". On the other hand, it's weird that after 65 years she hasn't said. Well, let us know...

[@johnesposito671]

@@MostlyBrenda She is only 81. I am surprised she did not get back to me . I will follow up next week , I am sure it's not a priority but lots of Honeymooners fans and Connie's fans would love to know one way or another. When she's gone the secret will be gone also . :( I still think it's Kay Starr. hehe

[@MostlyBrenda]

@@johnesposito671 I don't know, but I will say that it is a common trick to use a cover band and a sound alike vocalist. This avoids any fees due the original artist and the record label. They only have to pay the music publisher.

[@danb4900]

What year was this episode?

[@MostlyBrenda]

1960, but it is more than one episode.

[@paulstud]

who's the attractive brunette who shows up for the finale? It looks like Anne Bancroft -- but it's not she - is it?

[@MostlyBrenda]

Yes, it is the late Anna Italiano from da Bronx singng a little Italian with Pierino Como. There is a little backstage story about this show and Ann, but I gotta run. Will post it tomorrow. How's that for a teaser?

[@paulstud]

who knew she sang so well? Maybe she could have done Funny Girl after all…

[@MostlyBrenda]

The backstage story is that Mel Brooks was in the midst of a divorce about this time. He went to see "The Miracle Worker" and was smitten with Anne. Mel was already a well known writer for Sid Caesar and used his show biz connections to visit the Como rehearsals and meet Bancroft. They married in 1964 and remained wed until her death in 2005. Disclaimer: I don't know if this is the show or if she was on Como another time.

[@MisterUptempo]

This should be the right show, which aired on February 24, 1960. The story of Brooks courting Bancroft describes Brooks first meeting her in early 1960. Bancroft again appeared with Como on Kraft Music Hall much later in 1960, on a program that aired November 30th of that year. There is footage on KZbin from this second program of Bancroft singing "Volare" with Como. From the information I was able to gather, Bancroft appeared with Como on Kraft Music Hall at least 7 times from 1960 thru 1964.

[@MostlyBrenda]

MisterUptempo, Thanks for confirming the date of the show. I saw a 1962 Como show with Bancroft. She sang "Up a Lazy River", but I don't remember a duet.

[@johannarocho3040]

That was Ann Bancroft!

[@irenemccann7032]

No it isn’t it’s Kay Starr.

[@nobody_gtk]

I wish the screen was Mostly the Singer instead of Mostly Brenda's watermark

[@JK-br1mu]

You know in 1953 you would have been all over that.

[@jochenstossberg5427]

This is really awful. Why the hell didn't someone give her the right pronunciation of the French lyrics to C'est Magnifique? It's embarrassing. In the film version of Can Can Frank Sinatra didn't bother either. How hard is it??

[@amanandhismusic]

It isn’t that serious. She’s still a magnificent singer despite that. She and Frank were both signed to Capitol records around this time so maybe they didn’t provide them with the right pronunciations. It isn’t the singers fault and even it was they never mean disrespect by it.

[@MostlyBrenda]

My guess is that Sinatra ignored whatever they told him or gave him, then rushed through the recording session, as he usually wanted a minimum number of takes. Unfortunately, American singers like Kay followed Frank's version. BTW, what we are talking about, mainly, is the French Mah vs Mag in Magnifique. You can hear Chevalier or Patachou kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoarkJacitt0oLM on the Sullivan channel for comparison. IMHO, it is not a disaster, but singers should try to get right if they sing in a language different from their native one.