Wiley, Lee

Wiley, Lee, jazz singer, composer; b. Fort Gibson, Okla., Oct. 9, 1915; d. N.Y., Dec. 11,1975. She studied in Tulsa, Okla., and later moved to N.Y. where she sang in the Paramount Show (c. 1930) and joined Leo Reisman at the Central Park Casino (c. 1931). Wiley began regular radio work with Reisman and continued with radio series after leaving Reisman in 1933; later Wiley did radio shows with Paul Whiteman, Willard Robison, and others. Wiley recorded with Johnny Green, The Casa Loma Band, and Victor Young; she co-composed several numbers with Young by writing the lyrics to “Got the South in My Soul/’ “Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere/’ and “Eerie Moan/⁷ During the late 1930s and early 1940s did a series of recordings (with all-star accompaniment) featuring compositions by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodger s and Hart, and Harold Arien. In June 1943 married Jess Stacy; their marriage lasted for five years. During the mid-1940s, Lee sang with Stacy’s short-lived big band. Subsequently, she worked as a solo artist and made occasional television and radio appearances. One of her early compositions, “Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere/’ became a hit single through the Joe Morris-Laurie Tate recording; in 1963 a semi-biographical film of Lee’s life was given world-wide television showings. Her last public engagement was at Newport Festival in N.Y., 1972.

Discography

Complete Young Lee Wiley (1931-33); I’ve Got You Under My Skin (1931); On the Air, Vol. 1 (1932); On the Air, Vol. 2 (1944); Night in Manhattan (1950); Duologue (1954); As Time Goes By (1956); West of the Moon (1956); Touch of the Blues (1957); Back Home Again (1971); Lee Wiley Sings George Gershwin (1972).

Bibliography

Claude Schlouch, Love-Lee, Lee Wiley: A Discography (Marseille, France, 1983).

—John Chilton/Lewis Porter