20 Facts About Lee Morse

Lena Corinne "Lee" Morse was an American jazz and blues singer-songwriter, composer, guitarist, and actress.

Lee Morse was known for her strong, deep singing voice and vocal range, which often belied her petite frame.

Lee Morse possessed a contralto vocal range, and one of her trademarks was her unique style of yodeling.

Lee Morse was moderately successful as an actress on the Broadway stage.

Lee Morse was born Lena Corinne Taylor on November 30,1897, in Cove, Oregon, a small town in the Grande Ronde Valley.

Lee Morse was the ninth of twelve children of Pleasant John Taylor, a local pastor from Texas, and his wife Olive Higgins Fleming.

Lee Morse had learned to sing by the time she was three years old by impersonating her brothers, which accounts for her later ability to master deeper registers in her vocal range.

Lee Morse's family was involved in politics as well as music.

Lee Morse accompanied her father to San Francisco and, while there, performed in a convention at the Hotel St Francis.

Lee Morse seized the opportunity for a career in the vaudeville of the West Coast.

In 1921, Lee Morse began working in musical revues under Kolb and Dill.

In 1923, Lee Morse won a role in the touring version of the revue Hitchy Koo.

Lee Morse next performed in the Shubert revue Artists and Models, which opened on Broadway on August 20,1923.

In 1924, Lee Morse began her recording career with a contract with the Pathe label.

In October 1926, Elmer Lee Morse died of scarlet fever in Spokane, Washington, aged 35.

In 1927, with other prominent Pathe and Perfect vocalists, Lee Morse moved to the Columbia label.

Everything would have been fine except that Miss Lee Morse had had a few too many and couldn't remember the words or the music.

Lee Morse became her accompanist on stage and companion in life, and the two booked international shows together, including a tour of the United Kingdom that concluded with a show at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, England.

Lee Morse attempted a comeback with the song "Don't Even Change a Picture on the Wall" that was written in the 1940s for World War II soldiers and recorded in 1951.

Lee Morse died on December 16,1954, in Rochester while visiting a neighbor.