Ella Mae Morse

Ella Mae Morse
Ella Mae Morse in 1944.
Background information
Born	(1924-09-12)September 12, 1924 Mansfield, Texas, U.S.
Died	October 16, 1999(1999-10-16) (aged 75) Bullhead City, Arizona, U.S.
Genres	Popular music, jump blues
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1940s–1990s
Labels	Various

Ella Mae Morse (September 12, 1924 – October 16, 1999) was an American popular singer.

Morse was born in Mansfield, Texas, United States. She was hired by Jimmy Dorsey when she was 14 years old. In 1942, at the age of 17, she joined Freddie Slack's band, with whom in the same year she recorded "Cow Cow Boogie", the first gold record by Capitol Records. "Mr. Five by Five" was also recorded by Morse with Slack, and they had a hit recording with the song in 1942 (Capitol 115). She also originated the wartime hit "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet", which was later popularized by Nancy Walker in the film, Broadway Rhythm.

In 1943, Morse began to record solo. She reached #1 in the R&B chart with "Shoo-Shoo Baby" in December for two weeks. In the same year she performed "Cow Cow Boogie" in the film Reveille with Beverly and starred in Universal's South of Dixie and The Ghost Catchers with Olsen and Johnson and How Do You Dooo? with radio's Mad Russian, Bert Gordon. She sang in a wide variety of styles, and she had hits on both the U.S. pop and rhythm and blues charts. However, she never received the popularity of a major star because her versatility prevented her from being placed into any one category of music.