Lee Wiley
| Lee Wiley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
October 9, 1908 Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | December 11, 1975 (aged 67) New York City |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
Lee Wiley (October 9, 1908 – December 11, 1975) was an American jazz singer popular in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. At fifteen, she left home to pursue a singing career. Her career was interrupted by a fall while horseback riding. She suffered temporary blindness but recovered, and at the age of 19 was with the Leo Reisman Orchestra, with whom in 1931 she recorded three songs: "Take It From Me," "Time On My Hands," and her own composition, "Got the South in My Soul." She sang with Paul Whiteman and later, the Casa Loma Orchestra. A collaboration with composer Victor Young resulted in several songs for which Wiley wrote the lyrics, including "Got the South in My Soul" and "Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere."
During the early 1930s, Wiley recorded very little, and many sides were rejected:
(There were multiple takes of many of the unissued sides.)
In 1939, Wiley recorded eight Gershwin songs on 78s with a small group for Liberty Music Shop Records. The set sold well and was followed by 78s dedicated to the music of Cole Porter (1940) and Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart (1940 and 1954), Harold Arlen (1943), and 10" LPs dedicated to the music of Vincent Youmans and Irving Berlin (1951). The players on these recordings included Bunny Berigan, Bud Freeman, Max Kaminsky, Fats Waller, Billy Butterfield, Bobby Hackett, Eddie Condon, Stan Freeman, Cy Walter, and the bandleader Jess Stacy, to whom Wiley was married for a number of years. These influential albums launched the concept of a "songbook" (often featuring lesser-known songs), which was later widely imitated by other singers.
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