Lee Morse

She possessed a contralto vocal range, and one of her trademarks was her unique style of yodeling. Recording over 200 songs over her career, Morse was one of the most recorded female singers of the 1920s. She was also moderately successful as an actress on the Broadway stage. Her life and career, however, were marred by alcoholism. Morse's group the Blue Grass Boys had no relation either Bill Monroe's later band of the same name nor to the bluegrass genre. In 2014, Morse's rendition of "If You Want the Rainbow" was used in an episode of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

• Name — Lee Morse • Birth Name — Lena Corinne Taylor • Born — 30 November 1897 • Birthplace — Cove, Oregon, U.S. • Died — 16 December 1954 • Place of death — Rochester, New York, U.S. • Occupation — * Singer • musician • actress • Relatives — Glen Taylor (brother) • Resting Place — Riverside Cemetery, Rochester, New York, U.S.

Morse was born Lena Corinne Taylor on November 30, 1897, in Cove, Oregon, a small town in the Grande Ronde Valley. Some sources list Morse's birthplace as Portland, Oregon, though this is disputed by her death certificate, which lists her birthplace as Union County, Oregon. She was the ninth of twelve children (and the third daughter) of Pleasant John Taylor, a local pastor from Texas, and his wife Olive Higgins Fleming. Morse's younger brother was Glen H. Taylor, a country singer and Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate from Idaho, and also ran for the Vice-President of the United States with Henry Wallace. Morse's other siblings included six other brothers: Robert, Davis, Jackson, Ephraim, Ruford, and Paul; two half-sisters, Elinor and Carrie; and two half-brothers, Lemuel and Pleasant. The Taylor family was musical and prior to Lena's birth had toured Idaho by covered wagon as the Taylor Family Concert Company, affording them enough money to purchase a ranch in La Grande, Oregon. After their ranch was foreclosed on, the family relocated to the small town of Kooskia, Idaho, where Lena spent her early years. She had learned to sing by the time she was three years old by impersonating her brothers, which accounts for her later ability to master deeper registers in her vocal range. In 1908 the Taylors moved to Clearwater Valley, three miles east of Kooskia. The family had little money, and father John Taylor spent time as a traveling preacher in Colorado and across Oregon. Lena Taylor would often be heard singing on her way to school. On May 2, 1915, Lena married Elmer Morse, a local woodworker from Wallace, Idaho. She gave birth to a son, Jack, in 1916. Lena, however, had a desire for a career as a singer and separated from Morse in 1920.

• Illustration — Morse in an early publicity headshot Her first professional notice came around 1918, when she performed under the name "Mrs. Elmer Morse" at a local silent movie house. During the next few years she played shows largely in small Pacific Northwestern towns such as Spokane, Washington, and Chewelah, accompanying herself on guitar. Lee Morse's family was involved in politics as well as music. In 1920 her father was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Morse accompanied her father to San Francisco and, while there, performed in a convention at the Hotel St. Francis. As a result, she was noticed by Will King, a famous vaudeville producer of the day, who subsequently signed her to a contract. Morse seized the opportunity for a career in the vaudeville of the West Coast. She left Kooskia—and her husband Elmer—behind for good. Her brother Glen later observed, "she left home when we were barefoot and had the best suite in a Portland hotel when I saw her again." In 1921, Morse began working in musical revues under Kolb and Dill. In 1922, she joined the Pantages circuit with a 15-minute act titled Do You Remember One Small Girl a Whole Quartet. One reviewer observed "she sings a baritone 'Silver Moon,' then swings into a bass with 'Asleep in the Deep' and finishes in a soprano with 'Just a Song of Twilight.'" In November 1922 the reviewer for Variety noted "She gives the impression of a male impersonator, yodels rather sweetly, sings the 'blues' number better than the majority." In 1923, Morse won a role in the touring version of the revue Hitchy Koo. The cast included star Raymond Hitchcock, as well as Marion Green, Irene Delroy, Al Sexton, Busby Berkeley, and Ruth Urban. She next performed in the Shubert revue Artists and Models, which opened on Broadway on August 20, 1923.

• Illustration — Morse's final record, "Don't Even Change A Picture On The Wall". After her relationship with Bob Downey ended in the late 1930s, Morse weathered a rocky period that left those closest to her worried for her health. In April 1930 she had an affliction in her throat while in Indianapolis. Life improved when she met Ray Farese, whom she married in 1946. Farese helped her revitalize her career by getting her a radio show in Rochester and securing local club dates. She attempted a comeback with the song "Don't Even Change a Picture on the Wall" that was written in the 1940s for World War II soldiers and recorded in 1950. Although the song enjoyed local success, it failed to return her to past success.

Morse died on December 16, 1954, in Rochester while visiting a neighbor. She was 57 years old. She is interred at the Riverside Cemetery. After her death, her husband, Ray Farese, turned her photos and scrapbook over to journalist Howard Hosmer, who apparently produced a career retrospective for a local station. Farese died before Hosmer could return Lee's mementos. Hosmer died in 1986.

• Year — Title — Studio — Notes — Reference • 1930 — A Million Me's — Paramount — Short film • 1930 — The Music Racket — Warner Bros. — Short film • 1930 — Song Service — Paramount — Short film

• Year — Title — Role — Location — Notes — Reference • 1922 — Hitchy-Koo — Performer — National tour • 1923 — Artists and Models — Performer — Winter Garden Theater (Broadway) • 1930 — Simple Simon — Sal — Ziegfeld Theatre (Broadway) — Dropped out of production