Lee Morse

Popular female singer of the 1920s and early 1930s (born 30 November 1897 in Cove, Oregon, USA – died 16 December 1954 in Rochester, New York, USA) Born in a small village in Oregon's Grand Ronde Valley, Lee Morse began performing in public at an early age. Later she joined Pantages vaudeville circuit, appeared at the Palace Theatre in New York City, and performed in the musical revues "Hitchy-Koo" and "Artists and Models". In 1924, she landed a contract with the Pathé Phonograph & Radio Corp. and began to release records on the Pathé and Perfect (3) labels. In 1927, she switched to the Columbia label. In 1933, she briefly recorded for RCA Victor, with releases on RCA's low-budget labels Bluebird (3) and Montgomery Ward, but her career waned. She tried two comebacks, in 1938, when she recorded a few titles for Decca, and in 1950. Lee Morse performed blues, ballads, and minstrel songs, often accompanying herself on her guitar. About a third of her repertoire was written by herself. One of her hits was the depression-era song "I've Got Five Dollars." In 1930, she was featured in three short films, "Song Service," "A Million Me's," and "The Music Racket." Today, Lee Morse is best remembered for the backing bands that were assembled for her recording sessions under the name of the Bluegrass Boys. The bands featured many of the best White jazz musicians of the 1920s. Presumably, the band was called the Bluegrass Boys to make it sound as if they were from the South (Kentucky is called the Bluegrass State). Lee Morse's family had Southern roots but she grew up in Oregon and Idaho; few if any of the excellent Jazz musicians who played on these records were from the South. The band's music has nothing to do with the string band style of music called Bluegrass that arose in the 1940s.