Morse was first exposed to blues style guitar in her native Paris, Texas when she heard a local blues player, "Uncle Joe," practicing in the back of the local grocery store. Uncle Joe as well as her music loving mother encouraged her natural talent for the blues. She soon got a spot singing on a local radio station. In 1939 she and her mother moved to Dallas, Texas where she got another radio gig after winning a talent contest.
In 1938, Morse auditioned for Jimmy Dorsey who hired her on the spot. Morse had told him she was 19 but when the Dallas School Board informed him he would be responsible for his 14 year old singer's education she was fired. She was remembered by Dorsey's pianist at the time, Freddy Slack, and when Morse and her mother moved to San Diego, Slack offered her a job with his new band.
In 1942 at the age of 17, Morse had her first hit with Slack's band, "Cow-Cow Boogie". It was the first hit Record for Capitol Records as well. "Mr. Five by Five" came next . A year later in 1943, Morse began recording solo, making a splash with "Shoo-Shoo Baby" which reached number one on the R&B charts. In 1946 Morse and Slack had another big hit with "House of Blue Lights" and in 1952 her version of "Love Me Or Leave Me" featured her biggest hit, "Blacksmith Blues" on the flip side, selling over a million copies and earning her a gold record.
Morse stopped recording in 1956 but she kept working until the early 90's, performing at Michael's Pub in New York and several venues in Los Angeles including Disney Land on a regular basis. She died in 1999 at the age of 75.
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