Jazz, blues and nostalgia. Today: Lee Morse.
During the 20s and 30s this singer made a lasting impression on everybody who saw her perform, but nowadays she has dissolved in oblivion. Born a reverend’s daughter, Lee Morse from Kooskia had what they called ‘country’ in her voice. She was an irresistibable beauty with full lips and dreamy bedroom eyes. These eyes alone drove men into ecstacy, what made her really famous was her voice. A voice with whoops, yips and yodels’ – with a phenomenal range. Magazine Variety stated: ‘She looks like a male impersonator: she yodels sweetly and sings the blues songs better than most others’. Her backing band included musicians like Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Red Nichols. Her artistic success (with songs like ‘Wasting my love on you’, ‘I’m an unemployed sweetheart’, ‘Blue turning grey over you’, ’Nobody cares if I am blue’ and ’Something in the night’) was accompanied by a bad temper and a vicious alcohol problem. A clear path to destruction. After her last partner had traded her for a young striptease dancer she died, unexpectedly, when visiting the neighbor. An anti-climax death after a turbulent life.
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