Customer Reviews

Sings the Songs of Rodgers & Hart and Harold Arlen

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These recordings were the first I heard of Lee Wiley way back in my teen years in the 1950s. They were made way before then but Lee Wiley is the kind of singer who defies time. These performances are wise, witty, moody and thoroughly intelligent. She is an artist for the ages and these recordings will always sound contempoary. Don't miss this wonderful collection.

The recordings in this collection are magnificent performances; unfortunately, they were transferred at the wrong pitch many years ago, and this error is carried through on this set. However, you may obtain the most recent and far superior transfers on the "Lee Wiley Completists' Collection" available on the "Devil's Music" (Ted Ono's Baldwin Street Music spinoff) label. If not avaialble on Amazon, it's worth searching for the complete series.

Have had quite a few tracks only over the years as a backing singer to various bands/groups. Now I'm gobsmacked at just how lovely & versatile this lady's vocal repertoire is. No matter who she has backing her, the style & voice comes through superbly. Have now obtained 3 separate CD's & find it hard to try & say which is best, she is amazing.

Her voice could be as cool and languid as a mint julep on a warm afternoon. Her voice could be as warm and amused as a confident lover. She could sing sad or happy, sometimes with a smile, often with a shrug. She was Lee Wiley from Oklahoma, blonde and slim, who moved to New York City and never really left. She had effortless style and an impeccable ear for great songs, well known or unknown, and an ability to place you in small, smoke-filled jazz clubs, with cigarettes and highballs, just by listening to her records. Lee Wiley was one of the best of the Thirties, Forties and early Fifties jazz singers. She picked the best jazzmen to back her and had no trouble recruiting them. Jazz musicians who accompanied her included Bunny Berigan, Fats Waller, Billy Butterfield, Bobby Hackett, Eddie Condon, Cy Walter and Jess Stacy.

I suppose she's largely forgotten now except for those jazz fans who have her records. Count me at the head of the line. But times changed during the Fifties and educated tastes dulled. By the end of the Fifties her brand of cool excellence was finding a smaller and smaller audience. She died at 68 of cancer in 1975.

Some of her best albums still are available. I particularly like Sings Harold Arlen, West of the Moon, Night in Manhattan, A Touch of the Blues, Sings Cole Porter, and Time on My Hands. In my book she is the best of the Arlen interpreters.

Have I got a crush on Lee? Oh, yes. We're walking down a dark New York street at 2 a.m. The sidewalk is wet with mist. We stop at a closed club where some musicians have gathered to make after-hours music just for themselves. They've been waiting for Lee. She drops her fur coat at a table and I sit down. A couple of soft spots come on while she ambles to the bandstand. I recognize Eddie, Billy and Bunny. A waiter comes over and asks if I want a drink. "Bourbon and water," I say, "tall." I hear the club owner whisper, "Who is that guy?" "I don't know," the waiter says, "but if he's good enough for Lee he's good enough." The musicians start playing and Lee Wiley stands among them. She looks right at me while she sings with that hint of a drawl...

Let's fall in love

Why shouldn't we fall in love?

Our hearts are made of it

Let's take a chance

Why be afraid of it

Let's close our eyes and make our own paradise

Little we know of it, still we can try

To make a go of it

We might have been meant for each other

To be or not to be

Let our hearts discover

Let's fall in love

Why shouldn't we fall in love

Now is the time for it, while we are young

Let's fall in love.