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. Lee Gaines was from Buena Vista, in 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. 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. |
Birth and Death Data: Born 1915 (Houston), Died 1997
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1935 - 1955
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, lyricist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 51-60 of 60 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Decca | L 4116 | 4/11/1946 | Just a-sittin' and a-rockin' | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4117 | 3/11/1946 | No pad to be had | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4125 | 3/19/1946 | Just a-sittin' and a-rockin' | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4131 | 3/21/1946 | Hello, goodbye, forget it | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4132 | 3/21/1946 | Just squeeze me | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4187 | 5/17/1946 | But she's my buddy's chick | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4188 | 5/17/1946 | walk it off | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4193 | 5/22/1946 | A one-sided affair | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | |||
Decca | L 4194 | 10-in. | 5/22/1946 | What would it take? | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist | ||
Decca | L 4320 | 10/17/1946 | Just squeeze me | Delta Rhythm Boys | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Gaines, Lee," accessed November 9, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/316806.
Gaines, Lee. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 9, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/316806.
"Gaines, Lee." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 9 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Gaines, Lee, 1914-1987 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2009064031
Wikidata: Lee Gaines - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5749587
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