Biography
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Born
30 November 1897
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Born In
Cove, Union County, Oregon, United States
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Died
16 December 1954 (aged 57)
Lee Morse was an American jazz singer best known for her trademark yodeling. She was born Lena Corinne Taylor on November 30, 1897 in Cove, Oregon to Pleasant John and Olive Taylor. She was the tenth of thirteen children, and the second girl. Her younger brother Glen H. Taylor was a country-western singer who served one term as a U.S. Senator from Idaho.
She began her professional singing career in a local movie house in 1918. In 1920 she sang in a musical at the Democratic Convention held in San Francisco. There she was hired by musical comedy producer Will King for his California company. In 1924 Lee began her prolific recording career by signing a contract with Pathé-Perfect. She was given a generous amount of artistic freedom to experiment with both vocal expression and songwriting. Her career continued in recording, musicals and vaudeville until 1935 when she came down with strep throat. After her recovery she opened her own club in Texas. Later the club burned down and she moved to Rochester, NY in 1939.
In 1930, Lee was featured in three short subject films, "Song Service" (Paramount), "A Million Me's" (Paramount) and "The Music Racket" (Vitaphone).
During her recording career from 1924 to 1938 she recorded nearly 200 songs. Over 50 of these songs were composed by Lee herself. She also made a brief comeback in 1950.
On December 16, 1954, Lee died.
Lee Morse, Echoes of a Songbird
http://www.LeeMorse.com
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