Description
Following the great success of P J Proby's CD album of demo recordings, Bear Family Records releases more elaborately produced demos recorded exclusively for Elvis. Randy Starr, born in 1930, successfully completed his dental studies at Columbia College in 1954. Around the same time, he wrote songs that were recorded by Jackie Wilson, Connie Francis, the Kingston Trio and Kay Starr, among others. In 1957 he appeared on the American Bandstand for the first time with his hit After School, and in 1959 he entered the Billboard charts with The Enchanted Sea as the singer of The Islanders, reaching number 15.
His greatest successes as a songwriter, however, came with a total of 12 compositions personally selected by Elvis Presley, which became part of the soundtracks of Elvis movies. To give Elvis an accurate picture of the songs, Randy Starr produced highly professional recordings in top studios in New York with hand-picked musicians and often himself as the singer.
In order to achieve the high sound quality Bear Family Records is known for, we commissioned an experienced sound engineer to master the original sources. The result sounds brilliant!
The British Elvis collector and expert Trevor Simpson was in close contact with Randy Starr for many years. We owe him the extremely competent liner notes, which are based on many interviews conducted with Randy Starr. Unfortunately, Trevor passed away in January 2024 and did not live to see the release of these albums.
We dedicate the Randy Starr CDs to this extraordinary man and expert.