Lee Gaines
Otho Lee Gaines (April 21, 1914 – July 15, 1987) was an American jazz singer and lyricist. Gaines wrote the lyrics for "Take the "A" Train" and "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'", two jazz standards by Billy Strayhorn. From Buena Vista, Mississippi, and began singing as a bass in high school, he formed a vocal quartet at Langston University in 1933, and returned to the United States in 1937 having toured South America.
Also recorded as Otho Lee Gaines
Lee Gaines
- Name
- Lee Gaines
- Birth Name
- Otho Lee Gaines
- Born
- April 21, 1914
- Birthplace
- Buena Vista, Mississippi, U.S.
- Died
- 15 July 1987
- Place of death
- Helsinki, Finland
- Occupation
- Jazz musician
- Nationality
- United States
- Education
- Langston University
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Otho Lee Gaines (April 21, 1914 – July 15, 1987) was an American jazz singer and lyricist. Gaines wrote the lyrics for "Take the "A" Train" and "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'", two jazz standards by Billy Strayhorn. From Buena Vista, Mississippi, and began singing as a bass in high school, he formed a vocal quartet at Langston University in 1933, and returned to the United States in 1937 having toured South America.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Lee Gaines. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5749587 · wikipedia · Lee Gaines
In this article
Biography
Biography
Gaines was a founding member of the Delta Rhythm Boys who achieved their peak popularity in the 1940s and 50's, having recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Jimmy Lunceford, Charlie Barnet, Fred Astaire, Ruth Brown and Les Paul. The Delta Rhythm Boys moved to Europe in the 1950s. Gaines had lived in Finland for a year at the time of his death from cancer in 1987 and he is buried in Maunulan uurnalehto, an urn cemetery at Helsinki (section 39, lot 109). Gaines was married to Muriel Gaines, a calypso singer and former Cotton Club dancer.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Lee Gaines • Birth Name — Otho Lee Gaines • Born — April 21, 1914 • Birthplace — Buena Vista, Mississippi, U.S. • Died — 15 July 1987 • Place of death — Helsinki, Finland • Occupation — Jazz musician • Associated Acts — Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Jimmy Lunceford, Charlie Barnet, Fred Astaire, Ruth Brown, Les Paul
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Houston.
Birth place
Helsinki.
Death place
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Lee Dong-haePerson
- Lee DormanPerson
- Lee DorseyPerson
- Lee EvansPerson
- Lee GarrettPerson
- Lee Gi-kwangPerson
- Lee HazlewoodPerson
- Lee HoldridgePerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Lee Gaines?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.