Curtis Edwin Lee (October 28, 1939 – January 8, 2015) was an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

of the early 1960s, who was twice a beneficiary of

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

's productions in 1961. These were " Pretty Little Angel Eyes" ( US #7) and " Under the Moon of Love" (U.S. #46).

Career

Born in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

, Lee began his recording career in 1959. He traveled to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1960 to cut a demo for Dunes Records. He wrote some songs with Tommy Boyce, in this period. Lee's first three singles were "Special Love", "Pledge of Love", and "Pretty Little Angel Eyes". In the UK, "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" was a minor

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record ...

, peaking at No. 47 in 1961. "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

by Zombina and the Skeletones and Showaddywaddy. Without Spector's influence, Lee's

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

dried up. He went into the

construction industry Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and co ...

with his father in 1969. He died from cancer on January 8, 2015, in Yuma, Arizona, aged 75.

Singles

References

External links

Curtis Lee discography at the Rockin' Country Style website

* Curtis Lee biographyat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Curtis 1939 births 2015 deaths American male singer-songwriters People from Yuma, Arizona Singer-songwriters from Arizona