Leon Starr

Leon Starr - Back in the USA (Stomper Time unissued)
Memphis pianist Leon Starr recorded steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s, though he managed to leave behind no trace. My attempt to gain some more knowledge about his live through Findagrave.com and Ancestry.com was unsuccessful. However, it is Dave Travis who has some information for us in his booklet to his Stomper Time Records CD reissue.

Leon Starr

Leon Starr became a member of Eddie Bond's Stompers in 1958 or 1959. At the same time, Bond established his own Stomper Time record label (after his two-year term with Mercury and a short stint with Pappy Daily's D label). Starr was the pianist of the band but also a versatile singer. Bond gave him the chance to cut a few covers of rock'n'roll songs: "Back in the USA", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", "My Baby Left Me", and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On". No info concerning the recording date, location, and line-up has survived, although it seems probable that Starr is playing piano on those tracks with backing by the Stompers. Although fine recordings, Bond did not release them at the time.

Starr left the Stompers around 1962 or 1963 but remained associated with Bond. He held down a steady gig at Bond's Western Lounge in Memphis and recorded for his Millionaire label in 1966. By then, Starr played country music. He continued to release solo singles in the years to come for small Memphis labels: a country single for Style Wooten's Allandale Records (1968), a fuzz garage guitar gem with the Fire Birds on Clyde Leoppard's VU Records (1968), country duets on John Cook's Blake Records with a female performer named "Little Sis" (1974), and more country music on the Bachelor and III label.

There are also two tracks by Starr that found its way onto a 2015 Stomper Time CD, "Memphis Country Favorites and Rarities, Vol. 4". The tracks are "Last Date" (an instrumental probably featuring Starr's piano playing) and a cover of Faron Young's 1950s hit "Alone with You". However, I have no release and label information on these tracks. What happened to Starr afterwards is a mystery. If someone can point me towards more information, please feel free to contact me.

Discography

Millionaire MM-120
Leon Starr
Honey Child (B. Huskey; J. Surber) / Have I Wasted My Time (A. Kyle; R. Needham)
1966

Allandale 3684

Leon Starr

Just Like That (Joe B. Cartwright) / That Kind of Living (Joe B. Cartwright)

W4KM-0883 / W4KM-0884 (RCA)

1968

"Producers: Style Wooten & Sam Neil"

VU 45-101

Leon Starr and the Fire Birds / The Fire Birds

Little Live Wire (Arthur Kyle) / Endless Dream (A. Kyle; H. Hunton)
1968

Blake 2-276

Leon Starr & Little Sis / Little Sis

Common Law Wife (A. Chipman) / The Lord Knows You're Drinking (A. Chipman)
1974

Blake 2-276
Little Sis / Leon Starr
Red Rover (N. Cooper) / The Town of Love (D. Cooper, Jr.)
1974

Bachelor and III 1101

Leon Starr

My Name's Trouble (Don Miller) / I Can't See My Way (to Go On Living) (Don Miller)
"Produced by Nonconnah"

Recommended reading
• Some Local Loser

See also
• That Million Dollar Memphis Sound

Sources
• Discogs
• 45cat entry
• Dave Travis: "Memphis Rockabillies, Hillbillies & Honky Tonkers: The Stomper Time Records Story" (2001), liner notes, Stomper Time Records