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Mary Lee (singer)
Mary Lee (born Mary Ann McDevitt; 13 August 1921 – 13 March 2022) was a Scottish singer, variety performer and broadcaster whose career spanned the 1930s to the 1990s. She achieved early recognition whilst still a teenager as a vocalist with Roy Fox's dance band, which was one of Britain's most popular in the interwar period. At the time of her death, Lee was the last surviving singer who had been active with the British dance bands in the 1930s, the heyday of their popularity. She later became known in Scottish variety through performing with her husband, comedian Jack Milroy, and presented an award-winning programme on Radio Clyde in the 1990s.
Mary Ann McDevitt was born into a working-class family on 13 August 1921, in a second floor Glasgow tenement flat on Scotland Road in Kinning Park. She was the first child of Isabella and Willie McDevitt; her mother was a housewife, and her father was a lorry driver for Shell-Mex & BP. McDevitt's younger brother Eddie was born three and a half years later. As a child, she sang along to the bands on the radio at home. She attended Scotland Street Primary School and Lambhill Street School, originally planning to be a hairdresser. Aged ten, she began singing on Saturday nights at a church hall. There were no microphones, so she sang with a megaphone.
She began singing at concerts locally, also doing impressions of popular stars like Gracie Fields and Maurice Chevalier. At 13, she read an advert in the local newspaper seeking a girl singer for a competition, and went to the auditions at the Pettigrew & Stephens department store, with the famous dance band leader Roy Fox in charge. She sang "My Kid's a Crooner", and when asked how old she was, claimed to be 14, the age requirement for the contest. At the final, held in the Glasgow Empire Theatre, McDevitt won, being given a prize of five guineas. The orchestra manager asked her to join them on a permanent basis, to which her father responded that she would not be available until her upcoming fourteenth birthday in August 1935.
McDevitt left school that June, and got a job in a slaters' office, before being sent a telegram asking her to join Fox's orchestra at the Streatham Locarno in London. She travelled down to London with a chaperone, and began singing with Fox's band. It was at this time that she began to be known as Mary Lee, with Fox announcing her as Little Mary Lee, which became her trademark. The members of the band were told not to swear in front of her or tell "unsavoury" stories. She joined Fox and his band on tour, returning to her hometown of Glasgow to perform at the Empire. Whilst with the band, she was groomed in speech, dress and manners.
She first recorded with Fox in London on 27 September 1935, aged 14. Lee sang "Mickey's Son And Daughter" and "Truckin'", but both titles were rejected by the record label, Decca. On 14 October, Lee recorded the songs with the band again, and this time, they were released. "Truckin'" had first been introduced by Cora LaRedd at the Cotton Club in New York City; as was the custom of the day, dance bands would record cover versions of popular contemporary songs.
Lee was regularly used as a featured vocalist on the band's recordings, billed on the label as "with Vocal Refrain by Mary Lee". In 1936, Fox began recording for His Master's Voice, and at his first session for the label, Lee sang "(If I Had) Rhythm In My Nursery Rhymes". The following year, by now aged 15, she recorded a duet with one of the band's male singers, Denny Dennis. They covered George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off", from the contemporary film Shall We Dance, in which it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In June, Lee recorded vocals for Fox's version of "This Year's Kisses", a song by Irving Berlin from the musical film On the Avenue, in which it was introduced by Alice Faye.
She turned 16 in August 1937, and continued working with Fox. In October, she featured on a medley recorded by Fox, "Hit Tunes of the Years 1928-1937", in which she duetted with Sam Browne on "Let's Put Out the Lights and Go to Sleep" and sang "Stormy Weather" as a solo. That year, she was voted by readers of Melody Maker magazine as their "Best Girl Singer", with Vera Lynn in second place behind her. She appeared on BBC Television in its early days, broadcasting from Alexandra Palace, but the primary medium of the day was radio, which Lee also worked in, recording shows with the band for Radio Luxembourg.
In March 1938, Lee recorded vocals for the Fox band's version of "Whistle While You Work", from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; however, the recording was rejected by HMV, and not issued. The same year, Lee was with Fox when he recorded a number of titles for commercial radio, for a show sponsored by Reckitt's Bath Cubes. At these sessions, Lee recorded several titles, including "The Gypsy in My Soul".
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Mary Lee (singer)
Mary Lee (born Mary Ann McDevitt; 13 August 1921 – 13 March 2022) was a Scottish singer, variety performer and broadcaster whose career spanned the 1930s to the 1990s. She achieved early recognition whilst still a teenager as a vocalist with Roy Fox's dance band, which was one of Britain's most popular in the interwar period. At the time of her death, Lee was the last surviving singer who had been active with the British dance bands in the 1930s, the heyday of their popularity. She later became known in Scottish variety through performing with her husband, comedian Jack Milroy, and presented an award-winning programme on Radio Clyde in the 1990s.
Mary Ann McDevitt was born into a working-class family on 13 August 1921, in a second floor Glasgow tenement flat on Scotland Road in Kinning Park. She was the first child of Isabella and Willie McDevitt; her mother was a housewife, and her father was a lorry driver for Shell-Mex & BP. McDevitt's younger brother Eddie was born three and a half years later. As a child, she sang along to the bands on the radio at home. She attended Scotland Street Primary School and Lambhill Street School, originally planning to be a hairdresser. Aged ten, she began singing on Saturday nights at a church hall. There were no microphones, so she sang with a megaphone.
She began singing at concerts locally, also doing impressions of popular stars like Gracie Fields and Maurice Chevalier. At 13, she read an advert in the local newspaper seeking a girl singer for a competition, and went to the auditions at the Pettigrew & Stephens department store, with the famous dance band leader Roy Fox in charge. She sang "My Kid's a Crooner", and when asked how old she was, claimed to be 14, the age requirement for the contest. At the final, held in the Glasgow Empire Theatre, McDevitt won, being given a prize of five guineas. The orchestra manager asked her to join them on a permanent basis, to which her father responded that she would not be available until her upcoming fourteenth birthday in August 1935.
McDevitt left school that June, and got a job in a slaters' office, before being sent a telegram asking her to join Fox's orchestra at the Streatham Locarno in London. She travelled down to London with a chaperone, and began singing with Fox's band. It was at this time that she began to be known as Mary Lee, with Fox announcing her as Little Mary Lee, which became her trademark. The members of the band were told not to swear in front of her or tell "unsavoury" stories. She joined Fox and his band on tour, returning to her hometown of Glasgow to perform at the Empire. Whilst with the band, she was groomed in speech, dress and manners.
She first recorded with Fox in London on 27 September 1935, aged 14. Lee sang "Mickey's Son And Daughter" and "Truckin'", but both titles were rejected by the record label, Decca. On 14 October, Lee recorded the songs with the band again, and this time, they were released. "Truckin'" had first been introduced by Cora LaRedd at the Cotton Club in New York City; as was the custom of the day, dance bands would record cover versions of popular contemporary songs.
Lee was regularly used as a featured vocalist on the band's recordings, billed on the label as "with Vocal Refrain by Mary Lee". In 1936, Fox began recording for His Master's Voice, and at his first session for the label, Lee sang "(If I Had) Rhythm In My Nursery Rhymes". The following year, by now aged 15, she recorded a duet with one of the band's male singers, Denny Dennis. They covered George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin's "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off", from the contemporary film Shall We Dance, in which it was introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In June, Lee recorded vocals for Fox's version of "This Year's Kisses", a song by Irving Berlin from the musical film On the Avenue, in which it was introduced by Alice Faye.
She turned 16 in August 1937, and continued working with Fox. In October, she featured on a medley recorded by Fox, "Hit Tunes of the Years 1928-1937", in which she duetted with Sam Browne on "Let's Put Out the Lights and Go to Sleep" and sang "Stormy Weather" as a solo. That year, she was voted by readers of Melody Maker magazine as their "Best Girl Singer", with Vera Lynn in second place behind her. She appeared on BBC Television in its early days, broadcasting from Alexandra Palace, but the primary medium of the day was radio, which Lee also worked in, recording shows with the band for Radio Luxembourg.
In March 1938, Lee recorded vocals for the Fox band's version of "Whistle While You Work", from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; however, the recording was rejected by HMV, and not issued. The same year, Lee was with Fox when he recorded a number of titles for commercial radio, for a show sponsored by Reckitt's Bath Cubes. At these sessions, Lee recorded several titles, including "The Gypsy in My Soul".