Biography
Arthur Lee Maye stands alone as the sole individual who maintained active careers at the same time as both a major-league baseball player and a recording vocalist. He appeared on the diamond under the names Lee Maye and Lee May while issuing records as the front man of Arthur Lee Maye & the Crowns.
Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1934, Maye relocated with his family to Los Angeles during childhood. At Jefferson High he first performed with the Carmels, whose lineup featured Eugene Taylor on lead, Maye on tenor, Delmar Wilburn on tenor, Norman Manley on baritone, and Charles Holmes on bass; the association continued through graduation. In 1954 he teamed with two former Debonairs, Richard Berry (tenor and baritone) and Johnny Coleman (bass). The trio rehearsed at the homes of Maye or Berry, having already known each other from hallway singing sessions at Jefferson High. Berry, who had cut sides with the Hollywood Blue Jays the previous year, escorted the singers to an audition for the Bihari Brothers, owners of several labels, and secured a contract. That same year Maye launched his professional baseball career in Boise, Idaho, within the Pioneer League.
The group’s debut single, “The Fine One” backed with “Please Please Baby,” appeared on the Biharis’ roster credited to the “5” Hearts, quotation marks added because only three voices were present. Their follow-up, “Sweet Thing” coupled with “Rock Bottom,” came out under the name the Rams; neither disc attracted attention, and Maye’s attention remained divided between baseball and assembling the Crowns. The Crowns—Richard Berry on lead, Maye on tenor, Charles Colbert on tenor, Joe Moore on baritone, and Johnny Coleman on bass—first surfaced on disc uncredited, supporting Berry on “Please Tell Me.” Berry simultaneously performed with the Flairs (the renamed Debonairs), the Crowns, the Dreamers, and as a solo act. Following the 1954 baseball season the Crowns cut “Set My Heart Free” for Modern Records; Johnny Morris joined on tenor and Randolph Jones, formerly of the Penguins and other Los Angeles ensembles, replaced Coleman on bass. Additional Modern sides earned only modest advances, never royalties. After departing the label the group moved to RPM Records, where three releases received local Los Angeles airplay yet failed to chart nationally.
In 1955 Maye belonged to the Milwaukee Braves organization and posted a .320 average. Late that year the Crowns recorded “Gloria” backed with “Oh Ruby Lee” (printed on the Specialty label as “Oh- Rooba-Lee”), their strongest seller to that point although circulation stayed largely regional. The following season Maye batted .330 with twenty-four home runs and ninety-nine RBIs at Evansville, Indiana, but remained in the minors. Returning to Los Angeles in autumn 1956, he began cutting material for Johnny Otis’s Dig label and toured with Otis’s band as one of the Jayos alongside Mel Williams, Harold Lewis, and Sonny Moore. The Jayos’ Dig sides employed shifting combinations of the four Jayos plus Berry and Jesse Belvin, yet Maye supplied lead vocals on the re-recordings of classic doo-wop numbers. He also produced Crown recordings for Dig; by then Berry had withdrawn from group work, Holmes assumed bass duties, and Coleman shifted to baritone. Only Maye’s name appeared on the label.
Maye spent 1957 in Jacksonville, Florida, where he hit .264. That fall the Crowns issued “Cause You’re Mine Alone” and “Hey Pretty Girl” on Flip Records, again credited solely to Maye. Later the same year the group recorded “Will You Be Mine” and “Honey Honey” for Cash Records, released as by Lee Maye of the Milwaukee Braves; Maye’s brother Eugene replaced Colbert on tenor. In 1959 Maye hit .318 at Louisville before joining the Braves’ major-league roster, where he stayed through 1965.
Maye’s continued baseball commitments gradually dissolved the Crowns. During his absences the remaining members accepted background work when available. Maye relocated first to Milwaukee then to Houston, reducing his involvement with the group. In the early 1960s the Crowns recorded without him as Henry Strogin & the Crowns, marking their final sessions. Maye himself issued solo singles, chiefly from the mid-1960s onward, through 1986 on Lenox, Jamie, Tower, Pacemaker, ABC-Paramount, Unrel, Buddah, Happy Fox, and Antrell; his longest tenure was with Jamie, which released four of his records.
Although Maye persistently sought recording success, baseball took precedence and yielded greater rewards. The Crowns’ most notable tracks were “Gloria” and “Love Me Always,” while Maye’s strongest solo entry, “Have Love Will Travel,” enjoyed multiple covers; neither the group nor Maye alone achieved a national hit. After the Braves, Maye played for the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and Chicago White Sox. His twelve major-league seasons stretched from 1959 to 1971, preceded by five years in the minors. Across 4,048 at-bats he compiled a .274 average, ninety-four home runs, 419 RBIs, and fifty-nine stolen bases. Following retirement Maye returned to Los Angeles and performed occasional dates with the Crowns.
Colbert later owned a cleaning business, Coleman worked at a veterans hospital, Moore passed away, and Morris’s whereabouts remain unknown. Berry continued residing in south-central Los Angeles until undergoing surgery for a heart aneurysm in December 1994; he died in his sleep on January 23, 1997. His chief legacy rests on writing the rock standard “Louie Louie,” which he first recorded for Flip Records. Maye continued appearing in local clubs and joined a Doo Wop Society of Southern California concert on February 8, 1997, sharing the bill with Marvin & Johnny, the Pharaohs, the Millionaires, Big Jay McNeely, the Calvanes, the Storytellers/Hitmakers, and Jewell Aikens.
Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1934, Maye relocated with his family to Los Angeles during childhood. At Jefferson High he first performed with the Carmels, whose lineup featured Eugene Taylor on lead, Maye on tenor, Delmar Wilburn on tenor, Norman Manley on baritone, and Charles Holmes on bass; the association continued through graduation. In 1954 he teamed with two former Debonairs, Richard Berry (tenor and baritone) and Johnny Coleman (bass). The trio rehearsed at the homes of Maye or Berry, having already known each other from hallway singing sessions at Jefferson High. Berry, who had cut sides with the Hollywood Blue Jays the previous year, escorted the singers to an audition for the Bihari Brothers, owners of several labels, and secured a contract. That same year Maye launched his professional baseball career in Boise, Idaho, within the Pioneer League.
The group’s debut single, “The Fine One” backed with “Please Please Baby,” appeared on the Biharis’ roster credited to the “5” Hearts, quotation marks added because only three voices were present. Their follow-up, “Sweet Thing” coupled with “Rock Bottom,” came out under the name the Rams; neither disc attracted attention, and Maye’s attention remained divided between baseball and assembling the Crowns. The Crowns—Richard Berry on lead, Maye on tenor, Charles Colbert on tenor, Joe Moore on baritone, and Johnny Coleman on bass—first surfaced on disc uncredited, supporting Berry on “Please Tell Me.” Berry simultaneously performed with the Flairs (the renamed Debonairs), the Crowns, the Dreamers, and as a solo act. Following the 1954 baseball season the Crowns cut “Set My Heart Free” for Modern Records; Johnny Morris joined on tenor and Randolph Jones, formerly of the Penguins and other Los Angeles ensembles, replaced Coleman on bass. Additional Modern sides earned only modest advances, never royalties. After departing the label the group moved to RPM Records, where three releases received local Los Angeles airplay yet failed to chart nationally.
In 1955 Maye belonged to the Milwaukee Braves organization and posted a .320 average. Late that year the Crowns recorded “Gloria” backed with “Oh Ruby Lee” (printed on the Specialty label as “Oh- Rooba-Lee”), their strongest seller to that point although circulation stayed largely regional. The following season Maye batted .330 with twenty-four home runs and ninety-nine RBIs at Evansville, Indiana, but remained in the minors. Returning to Los Angeles in autumn 1956, he began cutting material for Johnny Otis’s Dig label and toured with Otis’s band as one of the Jayos alongside Mel Williams, Harold Lewis, and Sonny Moore. The Jayos’ Dig sides employed shifting combinations of the four Jayos plus Berry and Jesse Belvin, yet Maye supplied lead vocals on the re-recordings of classic doo-wop numbers. He also produced Crown recordings for Dig; by then Berry had withdrawn from group work, Holmes assumed bass duties, and Coleman shifted to baritone. Only Maye’s name appeared on the label.
Maye spent 1957 in Jacksonville, Florida, where he hit .264. That fall the Crowns issued “Cause You’re Mine Alone” and “Hey Pretty Girl” on Flip Records, again credited solely to Maye. Later the same year the group recorded “Will You Be Mine” and “Honey Honey” for Cash Records, released as by Lee Maye of the Milwaukee Braves; Maye’s brother Eugene replaced Colbert on tenor. In 1959 Maye hit .318 at Louisville before joining the Braves’ major-league roster, where he stayed through 1965.
Maye’s continued baseball commitments gradually dissolved the Crowns. During his absences the remaining members accepted background work when available. Maye relocated first to Milwaukee then to Houston, reducing his involvement with the group. In the early 1960s the Crowns recorded without him as Henry Strogin & the Crowns, marking their final sessions. Maye himself issued solo singles, chiefly from the mid-1960s onward, through 1986 on Lenox, Jamie, Tower, Pacemaker, ABC-Paramount, Unrel, Buddah, Happy Fox, and Antrell; his longest tenure was with Jamie, which released four of his records.
Although Maye persistently sought recording success, baseball took precedence and yielded greater rewards. The Crowns’ most notable tracks were “Gloria” and “Love Me Always,” while Maye’s strongest solo entry, “Have Love Will Travel,” enjoyed multiple covers; neither the group nor Maye alone achieved a national hit. After the Braves, Maye played for the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and Chicago White Sox. His twelve major-league seasons stretched from 1959 to 1971, preceded by five years in the minors. Across 4,048 at-bats he compiled a .274 average, ninety-four home runs, 419 RBIs, and fifty-nine stolen bases. Following retirement Maye returned to Los Angeles and performed occasional dates with the Crowns.
Colbert later owned a cleaning business, Coleman worked at a veterans hospital, Moore passed away, and Morris’s whereabouts remain unknown. Berry continued residing in south-central Los Angeles until undergoing surgery for a heart aneurysm in December 1994; he died in his sleep on January 23, 1997. His chief legacy rests on writing the rock standard “Louie Louie,” which he first recorded for Flip Records. Maye continued appearing in local clubs and joined a Doo Wop Society of Southern California concert on February 8, 1997, sharing the bill with Marvin & Johnny, the Pharaohs, the Millionaires, Big Jay McNeely, the Calvanes, the Storytellers/Hitmakers, and Jewell Aikens.
Albums