Name Lee Gaines | Role Singer | |
Died July 15, 1987, Helsinki, Finland Albums Radio, Gimme Some Jive (Performances 1941-1945) Music group The Delta Rhythm Boys (1934 – 1987) People also search for Kelsey Pharr, Traverse Crawford | ||
April 21, 1914 Lee Gaines "Snoquatomie Jo Jo" The Delta Rhythm Boys
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.
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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 at Helsinki (Section 39, lot 109). Gaines was married to Mabel Gaines, a calypso singer and former Cotton Club dancer.
Songs
Dry Bones
Flickorna i Smaland
Alouette
Tula tullalla
Domaredansen
Give Me Some Skin
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
Det ar kvinnan bakom allt
For Sentimental Reasons
Cry You Out of My Heart
Take the 'A' Train
Sixteen Tons
Cent mille etoiles
Presto Presto - Bing - Bang - Bong
I Dreamt I Dwelt in Harlem
Gloria
Moon River
Gimme Some Skin
Please Come Back
Noel des petits oiseaux
If You Are But A Dream
Little Small Town
Little Lize
El Hombre de la Isla
Eh ! Ben
St James Infirmary
Sentimental Journey
Endlessly
You Are My Love Song
Raunchy Ropey
Moore Blues
Great Gettin' up Mornin'