About this project

Kay Kemble (1911-1989) is a character invented for this project. Kay sang on radio commercials as a child and went on to lead Big Bands and swing ensembles in the 30's and 40's. She worked at Scott Air Field as a WAAC enlistee and a civilian. She produced war bond rallies, and her all-female band promoted a popular shampoo brand. In the 80's there was renewed interest in Kay's musical career.

Kay informally adopted the orphaned niece and nephew of her partner Wilmetta "Teeny" Stockton, and in the early 70's the family moved from St. Louis to New Orleans. After Kay and Teeny's deaths, family members remained in New Orleans until displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 2014, I arranged to archive, organize, and restore Kay's memorabilia. Most items were damaged due to age, hurried packing , and lack of funds for formal archiving.

I've "become" Kay in reproduction radio broadcasts, and created artifacts to represent damaged or destroyed items in the collection.



Monday, March 1, 2021

Hit Song Kay Really Dsiliked #342 -- Doris Day & Johnnie Ray duet

From the era when country music was still "country and western." There a cowboy/Western boom in music and entertainment in the early 50s and Kay felt that this stuff was replacing jazz, blues, and the kind of authentic country music The Carter Family sang. 

 

The 1953 record "Let's Walk That-A-Way" sounded a bit like something from "Oklahoma," which had opened on Broadway ten years earlier. 




 

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