Biography of Lee Wiley (1908–1975)
Lee Wiley was an influential American jazz singer whose intimate, smoky voice and understated phrasing made her one of the most distinctive interpreters of the American popular song. She is particularly important in jazz history for pioneering the “songbook” album—recording a collection of songs associated with a single composer or songwriting team, a format that later became central to vocal jazz.
Early life
Wiley was born October 9, 1908, in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, although she frequently gave a later birth year during her lifetime. Even her early biography became part of the mythology surrounding her. She grew up in Oklahoma and studied music in Tulsa, where she began singing on local radio.
As a teenager, Wiley became fascinated by African-American blues and jazz singers, particularly Ethel Waters, Mildred Bailey, and Bessie Smith. She eventually left Oklahoma for New York, determined to make a career as a singer.
Rise in New York
In New York, Wiley attracted the attention of bandleader Leo Reisman and became a featured singer with his orchestra at the Central Park Casino. She also worked extensively in radio during the early 1930s, appearing with performers and bandleaders including Paul Whiteman, Victor Young, and Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra.
Her voice was unusual for its time. Rather than emphasizing vocal power or virtuosity, Wiley cultivated a low, husky, intimate sound, often singing slightly behind the beat. Her performances could feel almost conversational—as though she were singing privately to the listener rather than performing for an audience.
Songwriter as well as singer
Wiley was also a lyricist and songwriter. Working with composer and arranger Victor Young, she contributed lyrics to songs including “Got the South in My Soul,” “Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere,” and “Eerie Moan.”
Her songwriting was respected within the jazz community even though she became much better known as a vocalist.
Pioneer of the “songbook” album
Perhaps Wiley's greatest historical contribution was her approach to recording.
Beginning in the late 1930s and early 1940s, she made recordings devoted to the work of individual composers and songwriting teams. Her repertoire included songs by:
- George and Ira Gershwin
- Cole Porter
- Rodgers and Hart
- Harold Arlen
- Irving Berlin
- Vincent Youmans
This was an important innovation. Rather than simply producing collections of unrelated popular songs, Wiley created coherent portraits of particular composers, treating their catalogs as bodies of work. The concept eventually became enormously influential, particularly in the era of the LP, when singers such as Frank Sinatra made the “songbook” album a major artistic format.
The musicians around her
Wiley had an extraordinary ability to attract first-rate jazz musicians. Her recordings included collaborations with figures such as Fats Waller, Bud Freeman, Billy Butterfield, Eddie Condon, Bobby Hackett, and Joe Bushkin.
The small-combo settings were particularly important to her sound. Instead of overwhelming her relatively quiet voice with a large orchestra, the arrangements left room for her phrasing and allowed the instrumentalists to interact with her.
Marriage to Jess Stacy
In 1943, Wiley married pianist and bandleader Jess Stacy. She subsequently sang with his orchestra, although their marriage ended after several years.
She continued working as a singer through the 1940s and 1950s, although her recording career was never as commercially prominent as those of some of her contemporaries.
The great recordings
Among the albums most closely associated with Wiley are Night in Manhattan, Duologue, West of the Moon, and A Touch of the Blues. Her 1956 album West of the Moon, for example, featured arrangements by Ralph Burns, while A Touch of the Blues followed in 1957.
Her recordings have endured because they capture something different from conventional big-band singing: intimacy, melancholy, sophistication and restraint.
Later years and death
Wiley gradually withdrew from performing during the 1960s. A 1963 television film about her life helped renew interest in her career, and she eventually returned to the stage. Her final major public appearances came in the early 1970s, including a performance connected with the Newport-New York Jazz Festival in 1972.
She died in New York City on December 11, 1975, at the age of 67 according to the now generally accepted 1908 birth date.
Legacy
Lee Wiley occupies an unusual place in jazz history. She was never a commercial superstar on the scale of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, or Peggy Lee, but her influence on how sophisticated popular songs could be interpreted and recorded was considerable.
Her greatest strength was not vocal display. It was interpretation. She could take a familiar song and make it sound private, nocturnal and emotionally ambiguous. Her phrasing, particularly her willingness to sing softly and slightly behind the beat, became an important model for later jazz and cabaret singers.
In that sense, Wiley was ahead of her time: she helped establish the idea that an album of great American songs could be a unified artistic statement rather than simply a collection of hits.
Good starting recordings:Night in Manhattan, West of the Moon, A Touch of the Blues, and her Gershwin recordings.
