Lee Maye

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Lee May.
Lee Maye
Runs batted in
419
Teams

Arthur Lee Maye (December 11, 1934 – July 17, 2002) was an American

Washington Senators (1969–1970), and Chicago White Sox
(1970–1971).

Maye was also well known as a

rhythm & blues singer. He was the lead singer of the Los Angeles–based doo-wop
group Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns in the 1950s.

Career overview

Baseball

In a 13-year Major League Baseball career Maye played for the Milwaukee Braves, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and the Chicago White Sox. From 1961 to 1966, and again in 1969, he started in more than half of his team's games, with a high of 133 games started in 1964. Maye was also used quite often as a

pinch-hitter
during his 13-season career.

In 1964, playing for the

Milwaukee Braves, Maye had personal career-highs in almost every category; including 153 games played, 74 RBI, and a .304 batting average. He also led the National League with 44 doubles
.

Other career highlights include:

Maye's career totals include 1,288 games played, 1,109 hits, 94 home runs, 419 RBI, and a lifetime batting average of .274.

Music

Maye sang in a tenor and falsetto. Music journalist and critic Phil Milstein called his singing "deft" and "authoritative.".

Jerry Butler, Billy Stewart, and Barbara Mason.[1] Maye told Milstein, "I am the best singing athlete that ever lived. I am not bragging. It's just a fact."[2]

Early baseball and music careers

Arthur Lee Maye's dual career began at Los Angeles' Jefferson High School. Here he sang with Jesse Belvin and future members of the Platters, the Penguins, and the Coasters. Maye starred in baseball for both Jefferson High and local semi-pro teams. Milwaukee Braves scout Johnny Moore not only saw his potential as a hitter with line drive power but clocked him in the 100-yard dash at under 10-seconds.[3] Moore convinced the Braves to draft and sign him. Arthur Lee Maye later explained, "Baseball was my first love. I could always sing at fifty, but I couldn’t play baseball at fifty."[2] He began his professional baseball career in 1954 with a Milwaukee Braves Pioneer League farm team in Boise, Idaho. At this time he also started his professional recording career. He joined Richard Berry and recorded "The Fine One" b/w "Please Please Baby" as the "5" Hearts on the Flair label (the company put the "5" in quotes as only three sang on the record). They next released "Sweet Thing b/w "Rock Bottom" under the name "Rams." Maye also sang the "di-di-di's" behind Richard Berry on the original "Louie Louie."[2]

Minor League Baseball career and the Crowns

Maye played for the Braves minor league teams in Boise, Eau Claire, Yakima, Evansville, Jacksonville, Wichita, Austin, and Louisville. He also formed the musical group The Crowns. The Crowns had back to back LA area hits on the Modern label with "Truly" and "Love Me Always." On the Specialty label in 1956, they sang their best known record, "Gloria." They also had an important 1956 record on the DIG label titled "This is the Night for Love." Maye said of his cross country stops, "I'd watch all of them, any entertainer when I was in a town. You learn from each other. My stage presence wasn't polished, so I'd go to learn how to get my stage presence from the other top guys who did it for a living".[2] In 1959 he batted .339 with 17 home runs for the Braves top Louisville farm team and broke into the Major Leagues.

Major League Baseball career

Maye hit over .300 in his first two seasons of Major League Baseball.

MLB career was during baseball's second deadball era.[10] Lee Maye said, "The greatest thrill is not getting to the major leagues. It's staying there. I played 13 seasons when they had only 16 teams and I think that was a great accomplishment for me." [11]

Baseball and music conflict

Arthur Lee Maye's baseball and music career often conflicted. He sang under the name Arthur Lee Maye but played baseball under Lee Maye. Another Lee May (Lee Andrew May) broke into Major League Baseball in 1965 and soon put up bigger home run and RBI numbers.[12] Only one record credits his dual career. A 1959 release "Will You Be Mine" on CASH had Lee Maye of the Milwaukee Braves on the label.[13] Playing baseball full-time created a time lag problem. Maye said, "When I was playing baseball all the requisite hours, I was a year behind in music, and I never got a chance to catch up with the music trend that I should have been with. I truly was behind the time, and I acknowledge that. Baseball and singing collided".[8] He also knew that baseball prevented his going on tour to promote his songs. "When you're playing baseball and singing it's a very tough career for both of those, because you have to be at both places at the same time of the year, and you can't do that".[8]

Post-baseball career

Lee Maye tried for ten years after his playing career to find a job in organized baseball.[3] He failed, as few non-playing baseball jobs existed for blacks at the time.[3] His outspoken views on racism in baseball angered its owners.[3] And Maye's artistic temperament sometimes clashed with teammates and coaches.[3] Maye later worked with Amtrak until his retirement.

Music career revival

In the mid-1980s, Maye returned to the recording studio with Dave Antrel and his Antrel Records, recording "Moonlight" b/w "Happy and In Love." "Moonlight" captured the later, early 1960s New York street corner sound.[14] Arthur Lee Maye was very proud of "Moonlight."[15] "Moonlight" made several compilation CDs, played a role in the novel '64 Intruder, and gets airplay on doo-wop radio programs. Maye had a European tour planned when he became stricken with liver cancer.

Death

Maye died at the age of 67 in Riverside, California, of pancreatic cancer and is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Arthur Lee Maye". Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  2. ^ a b c d "Maye". Spectropop.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "SABR Baseball Biography Project | SABR". Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  4. ^ a b [1] [dead link]
  5. ^ [2] [dead link]
  6. ^ "Arthur Lee Maye". Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  7. ^ [3] [dead link]
  8. ^ a b c "Arthur Lee Maye". Spectropop.com.
  9. ^ [4] [dead link]
  10. ^ [5] [dead link]
  11. ^ [6] [dead link]
  12. ^ "Lee May Stats". Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  13. ^ [7] [dead link]
  14. ^ [8] [dead link]
  15. ^ "The Doo-Wop Society of Southern California: Arthur Lee Maye (1934-2002)". Electricearl.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.

Further reading

External links

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