Lucille Marie Raymonde Savoie (May 13, 1938September 4, 2020), known professionally as Lucille Starr, was a Canadian singer, songwriter, and
yodeler
Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from t ...
originally from
Saint Boniface, Manitoba
St. Boniface (or Saint Boniface) is a Ward (electoral subdivision), city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest Francophone Canadian, francophone community in Wes ...
. She was best known for her 1964
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...
single, "The French Song" ("''Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes''", When the sun says hello to the mountains).
Early life
Starr was born in the
Franco-Manitoban
Franco-Manitobans () are French Canadians or Francophone Canadians, Canadian francophones living in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 40,975 residents of the province stated that ...
community of
Saint Boniface
Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...
to a musical family. During her childhood years in Saint Boniface, she first sang in church. When Starr was seven the family moved to
Maillardville
Maillardville is a community on the south slope of the city of Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.
History
In 1889, Frank Ross and James McLaren opened what would become Maillardville, a $350,000 (), modern lumber mill on the north bank of the ...
, a
Francophone
The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
community in
Coquitlam
Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with an estimated population of 174,248 in 2024, and one of th ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, where she learned to play guitar, bass and mandolin.
Career
Savoie started her musical career with the local group Les Hirondelles. She met and married country singer Bob Regan (born Robert Frederickson), and, using the stage name Lucille Starr, she began performing with him as a country singing duo called "Bob & Lucille". Between 1958 and 1963 they released several 45 rpm records that were mainly covers of an eclectic mix of fashionable
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
,
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Pop music, a musical genre
Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop! (British group), a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Album ...
,
rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...
and
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
songs of people such as
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...
to
Connie Francis
Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...
. Their records met with modest success on the North American West Coast and in 1963 they were signed by
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...
in Los Angeles, California, with which they began recording as " The Canadian Sweethearts".
At A&M Records, Starr recorded a song called "The French Song" that was produced by
Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...
. This name was chosen because Alpert could not pronounce the original French title "Quand le soleil dit bonjour aux montagnes" (When the sun says Good day to the mountains). It was recorded in a bilingual version with French lyrics in the first half followed by the English translation in the second half. In 1964, at a time when
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
dominated the music charts, "The French Song" was an international success that made Starr the first Canadian artist to have a record sell over a million copies. The popularity of the song led to a tour of the United States and appearing on the
Louisiana Hayride
''Louisiana Hayride'' is a radio and later television country music show that was broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana; during its heyday from 1948 to 1960, it helped to launch the careers of some ...
radio show and on Chicago radio station
WLS (AM)
WLS (890 kHz) is a commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS studios are in the NBC Tower on North Columbus D ...
popular
National Barn Dance
''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS (AM), WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''.
''National Barn Dance'' also set the stag ...
. Starr also sang on American television musical variety shows such as ''
Shindig!
''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Hullabaloo'', followed by tours of
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire.
List ...
countries, Australia, South Africa, and across Europe where she became a particular favorite in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. The song sold over one million copies, and it was awarded a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
.
In 1967, Starr and her Canadian Sweethearts duo signed a recording contract with
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. Divorced from her first husband, their musical collaboration ended in 1977. Although she never again had a hit of the magnitude of "The French Song", Starr enjoyed a long and prosperous career recording primarily in English but also in French and Spanish. For the most part she sang
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
, becoming the first female inducted into the
Canadian Country Music Association
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3, 1973, when a gr ...
’s "Hall of Honor" in 1987. A capable yodeler, she was hired to do the yodeling for the "Cousin Pearl" character on several segments of the hit TV series, ''
The Beverly Hillbillies
''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...
''.
''Back to You: the Life and Music of Lucille Starr'', a
jukebox musical
A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical.
Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while ...
with a script by Tracey Power, was performed at the
Prairie Theatre Exchange
Prairie Theatre Exchange (PTE) is a professional theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is located on the third floor of Portage Place mall in downtown Winnipeg. By the end of the 2016–17 season, PTE had presented 340 plays on its thrust s ...
in Winnipeg in November 2010.
In her honour, a street in the city of Coquitlam was named "Lucille Starr Way".
Death
Starr died in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the early morning hours of September 4, 2020. The announcement of her death was made on Facebook by fellow Canadian artist, Joyce Smith."Manitoba-born country music queen Lucille Starr dies at 82" CBC.ca
Lucille's second husband Bryan Cunningham died October 2, 2023. She is survived by her son Robert Frederickson, stepdaughter Shannon Cunningham and stepson David Cunningham.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
* ''Canadian Records: A Discography & Price Guide of Canadian 45's & LP's from 1955 to 1975'', Andre Gibeault, 1987 (OOP)