Rock and Roll Waltz · Kay Starr · 1956

  Play the song.  

It was the first number one single by a female singer in the rock era, the first to have “rock and roll” in the title, and the first number one single for RCA Records. Source: The Billboard Book of #1 Hits

It was Kay Starr’s first recording for the RCA label. (She previously had been signed to Capitol Records.) “Rock and Roll Waltz” topped the Billboard™ singles charts in February, 1956: (Juke Box - 6 weeks, Top 100 - 4 weeks, Best Seller - 1 week, and Jockey - 1 week.)

But I was only five years old at the time, and didn’t really take notice of it then. But almost two years later, on Christmas day in 1957, I received, as a gift from Santa, a child’s record player and some records. There were some seven inch Disney discs that played at 78rpm and a few 45s including Mitch Miller’s “Yellow Rose of Texas” and a Ricky Nelson EP with the tunes “Honeycomb“, “Boppin’ The Blues“, “Be-Bop Baby” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You“.

So, by that time I was aware of rock and roll music, as was the rest of America. But I still hadn’t heard Kay Starr’s “Rock and Roll Waltz” on vinyl.

The fact is, I remember the song because my mother sang it to me along with her version of Elvis’ “Old Shep“. I’m sure she sung it around the house because she had listened to it many times on the radio.

Songs By Kay Starr

I guess we pick up a lot of our tastes for pop music from the songs we hear in our early formative years, including the stuff we hear our parents sing as they go about their chores. It brings to mind another of my favorites: a song that B.J. Thomas recorded in 1972: “Rock and Roll Lullaby“.

  Rock And Roll Lullaby

B.J. Thomas - Greatest Hits