Miss Lee Morse-Mailman Blues~1924

Born 1897 in Portland, Oregon, Lena Taylor aka Lee Morse grew up in Idaho. She was a singer with a unique voice and had to be billed in her early days as "Miss" so the public would not confuse her as being a male singer. She sang blues, jazz, and had a yodel like lilt in her phrasing that was her trademark. Her singing career began at age 3 when the family was traveling trough Colorado in the early 1900s and ran out of money. Her Dad, PJ, a Baptist preacher and mother Olive, had taught their kids how to sing hymns so they arranged a show for the local gold miners and it was not a religious show. Lena was billed as The Little Girl With The Big Voice, even as early as age 3. Her solo was the final act and when the stage natural 3 year old coquette sang "Hello Central, Give Me Heaven for My Mamas There" the tough miners were reduced to tears and a small fortune in gold was showered on the stage and a star was born. When the little coquette bent over to pick up the gold coins exposing her petticoat, even more gold coins rained down. In two weeks of performing in the Colorado gold fields, enough money was raised to buy a ranch in Oregon. Mailman Blues was a very early work of Lee's being only the second song she composed and only the fourth recording in her prolific recording, stage, composing, Broadway and acting career. The song was a favorite of Lee's for she featured it in two soundies she made in 1930. She was America's most popular recording artist in 1926 but is all but unknown today. Lee recorded almost exclusively for Columbia but this early recording was a Pathe Actuelle recorded October 27, 1924 in New York Pathe later became a part of the Columbia family.