BIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY

 

 
 
 
Primarily a trumpeter for Johnny Otis in the early 1950’s Graves got a chance to provide some additional vocals on one of Otis’s releases from late 1950 before cutting his own session as a singer for Mercury Records the next year where he proved himself to be a surprisingly good vocalist with a versatile tone and good command of the nuances of the material.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LEE GRAVES DISCOGRAPHY (Records Reviewed To Date On Spontaneous Lunacy):

WEDDING BOOGIE
(Savoy 764; October, 1950)
Graves’ role as a drunken preacher is poorly written and while he ably stays in character throughout, he’s not very good, nor is the song which was a far better idea, or visual performance, than a record. (3)

PAPA SAID YES, MAMA SAID NO, NO, NO
(Mercury 8214; February, 1951)
Despite very questionable content involving Graves wanting to marry a 15 year old over her mother’s objections, both he and the song are pretty good, helped by his farcical delivery to take the edge off and a great music track to distract you from the moral implications. (6)