Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee

in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)
Background information
Birth name Norma Deloris Egstrom
Born May 26, 1920(1920-05-26)
Jamestown, North Dakota
Died January 21, 2002(2002-01-21) (aged 81)
Bel Air, Los Angeles, California
Genres Traditional pop, jazz
Occupations Singer, actress, songwriter
Years active 1941–2000
Labels Decca Records
Capitol Records

Peggy Lee (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002) was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and performer. She wrote music for films, acted, and created conceptual record albums—encompassing poetry, jazz, chamber pop, and art songs.

Contents

Early life

Lee was born Norma Deloris Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, the seventh of eight children of Marvin Olof Egstrom, a station agent for the Midland Continental Railroad. Her mother, Selma Amelia (Anderson), died when Lee was four years old.[1] Her father was Swedish American and her mother was Norwegian American.[2]

Lee first sang professionally over KOVC radio in Valley City, North Dakota. She later had her own series on a radio show sponsored by a local restaurant that paid her a "salary" in food. Both during and after her high school years, Lee sang for paltry sums on local radio stations. Radio personality Ken Kennedy, of WDAY in Fargo, North Dakota (the most widely heard station in North Dakota), changed her name from Norma to Peggy Lee.[citation needed] Thereafter, Lee left home and traveled to Los Angeles at the age of 17.

She returned to North Dakota for a tonsillectomy, and later made her way to Chicago for a gig at The Buttery Room, a nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel East. There, she was noticed by bandleader Benny Goodman. According to Lee, "Benny's then-fiancée, Lady Alice Duckworth, came into The Buttery, and she was very impressed. So the next evening she brought Benny in, because they were looking for a replacement for Helen Forrest. And although I didn't know, I was it. He was looking at me strangely, I thought, but it was just his preoccupied way of looking. I thought that he didn't like me at first, but it just was that he was preoccupied with what he was hearing." She joined his band in 1941 and stayed for two years.

Recording career

In 1942 Lee had her first #1 hit, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place", followed by 1943's "Why Don't You Do Right?" (originally sung by Lil Green), which sold over a million copies and made her famous. She sang with Goodman's orchestra in two 1943 films, Stage Door Canteen and The Powers Girl.

In March 1943 Lee married Dave Barbour, a guitarist in Goodman's band. Peggy said, "David joined Benny's band and there was a ruling that no one should fraternize with the girl singer. But I fell in love with David the first time I heard him play, and so I married him. Benny then fired David, so I quit, too. Benny and I made up, although David didn't play with him anymore. Benny stuck to his rule. I think that's not too bad a rule, but you can't help falling in love with somebody."

When Lee and Barbour left the band, the idea was that he would work in the studios and she would keep house and raise their daughter, Nicki. But she drifted back to songwriting and occasional recording sessions for the fledgling Capitol Records in 1947, for whom she produced a long string of hits, many of them with lyrics and music by Lee and Barbour, including "I Don't Know Enough About You" and "It's a Good Day" (1948). With the release of the US #1-selling record of 1948, "Mañana", her "retirement" was over.

In 1948 Lee joined Perry Como and Jo Stafford as a rotating host of the NBC Radio musical program Chesterfield Supper Club.[3][4] She was also a regular on NBC's Jimmy Durante Show.

She left Capitol for a few years in the early 1950s, but returned in 1953. She is most famous for her cover version of the Little Willie John hit "Fever" written by Eddie Cooley and John Davenport,[5] to which she added her own, uncopyrighted lyrics ("Romeo loved Juliet," "Captain Smith and Pocahontas") and her rendition of Leiber and Stoller's "Is That All There Is?". Her relationship with the Capitol label spanned almost three decades, aside from her brief but artistically rich detour (1952–1956) at Decca Records, where in 1956 she recorded one of her most acclaimed albums, Black Coffee. While recording for Decca, Lee had hit singles with the songs Lover and Mister Wonderful.

Lee is today internationally recognized for her signature song "Fever". She had a string of successful albums and top 10 hits in three consecutive decades. She is regarded as one of the most influential jazz vocalists of all time, being cited as a mentor to diverse artists such as Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Madonna, and Dusty Springfield. Lee was also an accomplished actress,.

In her 60-year-long career, Peggy was the recipient of three Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, an Academy Award nomination, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award; the President's Award, the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Living Legacy Award[6] from the Women's International Center. In 1999 Lee was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[7]

Songwriting

Lee was a successful songwriter, with songs from the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, for which she also supplied the singing and speaking voices of four characters.[8] Her collaborators included Laurindo Almeida, Harold Arlen, Sonny Burke, Cy Coleman, Duke Ellington, Dave Grusin, Quincy Jones, Francis Lai, Jack Marshall, Johnny Mandel, Marian McPartland, Willard Robison, Lalo Schifrin and Victor Young.

She wrote the lyrics for:

  • "I Don't Know Enough About You"
  • "It's A Good Day", composed by Dave Barbour
  • "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", composed with Duke Ellington
  • "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter"
  • "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)"
  • "Bless You (For The Good That's In You)", composed with Mel Tormé
  • "What More Can a Woman Do?"
  • "Don't Be Mean to Baby"
  • "New York City Ghost", composed with Victor Young
  • "You Was Right, Baby"
  • "Just an Old Love of Mine"
  • "Everything's Movin' Too Fast"
  • "The Shining Sea"
  • "He's A Tramp"
  • "The Siamese Cat Song"
  • "There Will Be Another Spring"
  • "Johnny Guitar", composed with Victor Young
  • "Sans Souci", composed with Sonny Burke
  • "So What's New?"
  • "Don't Smoke in Bed"
  • "I Love Being Here With You"
  • "Happy With the Blues" with Harold Arlen
  • "Where Can I Go Without You?"
  • "Things Are Swingin'"
  • "Then Was Then" with Cy Coleman

Her first published song was in 1941, "Little Fool". "What More Can a Woman Do?" was recorded by Sarah Vaughan with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" was no.1 for 9 weeks on the Billboard singles chart in 1948, from the week of March 13 to May 8.

Lee was a mainstay of Capitol Records when rock'n'roll came onto the American music scene. She was among the first of the "old guard" to recognize this new genre, as seen by her recording music from the Beatles, Randy Newman, Carole King, James Taylor and other up-and-coming songwriters. From 1957 until her final disc for the company in 1972, she produced a steady stream of two or three albums per year which usually included standards (often arranged quite different from the original), her own compositions, and material from young artists.

Acting career

Lee starred and sang in the hit films The Jazz Singer, Disney's Lady and the Tramp, and Pete Kelly's Blues, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[9]

In 1952 Lee played opposite Danny Thomas in a remake of the early Al Jolson film, The Jazz Singer. In 1955 she played an alcoholic blues singer in Pete Kelly's Blues, for which she received an Academy Awards nomination.[9] In 1955 Lee did the speaking and singing voices for several characters in Disney's Lady and the Tramp movie: she played the human "Darling" (in the first part of the movie), the dog "Peg", and the two Siamese cats "Si" and "Am".[8] In 1957 Lee guest starred on the short-lived ABC variety program, The Guy Mitchell Show.

In the early 1990s she retained famed entertainment attorney Neil Papiano to sue Disney for royalties on Lady and the Tramp. Lee's lawsuit claimed that she was due royalties for video tapes, a technology that did not exist when she agreed to write and perform for Disney. Her lawsuit was successful.

Never afraid to fight for what she believed in, Lee passionately insisted that musicians be equitably compensated for their work. Although she realized litigation had taken a toll on her health, Lee often quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson on the topic: "God will not have his work be made manifest by cowards."

She also successfully sued MCA/Decca with the assistance of noted entertainment attorney Cy Godfrey.

Personal life

Lee was married four times; each marriage ended in divorce:

Retirement and death

Lee continued to perform into the 1990s, sometimes in a wheelchair.[10][11] After years of poor health, Lee died of complications from diabetes and a heart attack at age 81. Her body was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles' Westwood, Los Angeles, California neighborhood. On her marker in a garden setting is inscribed, "Music is my life's breath."

Legacy

Academy Awards memoriam omission

She was not featured in Memoriam Tribute during the 2002 Academy Awards ceremony. When her family requested she be featured in the following year's ceremony, the Academy stated they did not honor requests and Lee was omitted because her contribution to film and her legacy were not deemed significant enough, although she had been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Pete Kelly's Blues. Her family pointed out that, although she had been omitted, R&B singer/actress Aaliyah, who died a few months earlier, was included though having been in only one moderately successful film, Romeo Must Die (Queen of the Damned had yet to be released). The Academy provided no comment on the oversight.

Awards

Lee was nominated for 12 Grammy Awards, winning Best Contemporary Vocal Performance for her 1969 hit "Is That All There Is?" In 1995 she was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lee is a recipient of North Dakota's Roughrider Award; the Pied Piper Award from The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); the Presidents Award[disambiguation needed ], from the Songwriters Guild of America; the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement, from the Society of Singers; and the Living Legacy Award, from the Women's International Center. In 1999 she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Carnegie Hall tribute

In 2003, "There'll Be Another Spring: A Tribute to Miss Peggy Lee" was held at Carnegie Hall. Produced by recording artist Richard Barone, the sold-out event included performances by Cy Coleman, Debbie Harry, Nancy Sinatra, Rita Moreno, Marian McPartland, Chris Connor, Petula Clark, and others. In 2004 Barone brought the event to the Hollywood Bowl and to Chicago's Ravinia Festival, with expanded casts including Maureen McGovern, Jack Jones and Bea Arthur. The Carnegie Hall concert was broadcast on NPR's "Jazz Set".

Popular culture

  • The Peggy Lee Rose is a light pink hybrid tea rose with a "touch of peach" that was introduced in 1983 and named in her honor.[12][13] Lee considered peach to be her favorite color.[14]

Bibliography

Autobiography
Biography
  • Peter Richmond, Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee, 2006, Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 0-8050-7383-3
  • Robert Strom, Miss Peggy Lee: A Career Chronicle, 2005, McFarland Publishing, ISBN 0-7864-1936-9
Album liner notes
  • Will Friedwald, Album liner notes The Best of Peggy Lee, The Capitol Years

Discography

Capitol Records

  • 1948 Rendezvous with Peggy Lee (set of 78s: 6 songs)
  • 1952 Rendezvous with Peggy Lee (10-inch LP: 8 songs; 12-inch LP: 12 songs)

Decca Records

Capitol Records

Post-Capitol albums

Chart singles

Year Title Chart Positions [15]
US Pop US AC
1941 "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" 25 —
"Winter Weather" (w/ Art Lund) 24 —
"Blues in the Night" 20 —
"Somebody Else is Taking My Place" 1 —
"My Little Cousin" 14 —
"We'll Meet Again" 16 —
"Full Moon" 22 —
"The Way You Look Tonight" 21 —
1943 "Why Don't You Do Right" 4 —
1945 "Waitin' for the Train to Come in" 4 —
1946 "I'm Glad I Waited for You" 24 —
"I Don't Know Enough About You" 7 —
"Linger in My Arms a Little Longer, Baby" 16 —
"It's All Over Now" 10 —
1947 "It's a Good Day" 16 —
"Everything's Moving too Fast" 21 —
"Chi-baba, Chi-baba (My Bambino, Go to Sleep)" 10 —
"Golden Earrings" 2 —
1948 "Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)" 1 —
"All Dressed up with a Broken Heart" 21 —
"For Every Man, There's a Woman" 25 —
"Laroo, Laroo, Lili Bolero" 13 —
"Talking to Myself About You" 23 —
"Don't Smoke in Bed" 22 —
"Caramba! It's the Samba" 13 —
"Baby, Don't Be Mad at Me" 21 —
"Somebody Else is Taking My Place" (re-issue) 30 —
"Bubble Loo, Bubble Loo" 23 —
1949 "Blum Blum, I Wonder Who I Am" 27 —
"Similau (See-Me-Lo)" 17 —
"Bali Ha'i" 13 —
"Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)" 2 —
1950 "The Old Master Painter" (w/ Mel Torme) 9 —
"Show Me the Way to Get out of This World" 28 —
1951 "(When I Dance with You) I Get Ideas" 14 —
1952 "Be Anything (But Be Mine)" 21 —
"Lover" 3 —
"Watermelon Weather" (w/ Bing Crosby) 28 —
"Just One of Those Things" 14 —
"River, River" 23 —
1953 "Who's Gonna Pay the Check" 22 —
"Baubles, Bangles, & Beads" 30 —
1954 "Where can I go Without You" 28 —
"Let Me Go, Lover" 26 —
1956 "Mr. Wonderful" 14 —
"Joey, Joey, Joey" 76 —
1958 "Fever" 8 —
"Light of Love" 63 —
"Sweetheart" 98 —
1959 "Alright, Okay, You Win" 68 —
"My Man" 81 —
"Hallelujah, I Love Him So" 77 —
1963 "I'm a Woman" 54 —
1964 "In the Name of Love" 132 —
1965 "Pass Me By" 93 20
"Free Spirits" — 29
1966 "Big Spender" — 9
"That Man" — 31
"You've Got Possibilities" — 36
"So, What's New" — 20
"Walking Happy" — 14
1967 "I Feel it" — 8
1969 "Spinning Wheel" — 24
"Is That All There Is?" 11 1
"Whistle for Happiness" — 13
1970 "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" 105 26
"You'll Remember Me" — 16
"One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round" — 21
1972 "Love Song" — 34
1974 "Let's Love" — 22

Film and television

Film
Television
Audio a.svg Music portal

References

Notes
  1. ^ Peggy Lee profile at Current Biography
  2. ^ http://www.genealogi.se/shf9731.htm
  3. ^ Dunning, John, ed (1998). On the air: the encyclopedia of old time radio. Oxford University Press USA. pp. 840. ISBN 0195076788. http://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=chesterfield+supper+club&source=bl&ots=H4zKbUA0Br&sig=chyBsPTHW5ciO5txTs69pFS9OLk&hl=en&ei=Rj8pTNnOIJWknQfwu9SLAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CC8Q6AEwCTgU#v=onepage&q=chesterfield%20supper%20club&f=false. Retrieved June 28, 2010. 
  4. ^ Music--As Written. Billboard. June 19, 1948. http://books.google.com/books?id=dfUDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21&dq=chesterfield+supper+club&hl=en&ei=4KacTdTzDM-tgQfSobCNBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAzha#v=onepage&q=chesterfield%20supper%20club&f=false. Retrieved April 6, 2011. 
  5. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 56. CN 5585. 
  6. ^ The Living Legacy Award of the Womens International Center
  7. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/profiles/peggy_lee.shtml
  8. ^ a b "Lady and the Tramp - 50th Anniversary Edition". PeggyLee.com. February 28, 2006. http://www.peggylee.com/new/0602_ladyandthetramp.html. 
  9. ^ a b Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 18. CN 5585. 
  10. ^ Holden, Stephen (August 7, 1992). "Sounds Around Town". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/07/news/sounds-around-town-615692.html. 
  11. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498007/bio Holden, Stephen, Sounds Around Town: Peggy Lee (August 7, 1992)] New York Times
  12. ^ Peggy Lee Rose
  13. ^ United States Patent No: PP 5,467; dated May 14, 1985.
  14. ^ St. Johns, Elaine (May 1987). "A Presence in My Life: Recollections by Peggy Lee". Science of Mind Magazine. http://www.peggylee.com/library/870500.html. Retrieved September 5, 2011. 
  15. ^ Peggy Lee chart hits - Peggy Lee.com

External links


v · d · ePeggy Lee
Albums
Selections from Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas' · Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues · Black Coffee · Dream Street · Sea Shells · Miss Wonderful · The Man I Love · Jump for Joy · Things Are Swingin' · I Like Men! · Beauty and the Beat! · Latin ala Lee! · All Aglow Again! · Pretty Eyes · Christmas Carousel · Olé ala Lee · Basin Street East Proudly Presents Miss Peggy Lee · If You Go · Blues Cross Country · Sugar 'n' Spice · Mink Jazz · I'm a Woman · In Love Again! · Pass Me By · Then Was Then – Now Is Now! · Guitars a là Lee · Big $pender · Extra Special! · Somethin' Groovy! · 2 Shows Nightly · A Natural Woman · Make It with You · Where Did They Go · Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota · Let's Love · Mirrors · Live in London · Peggy · Close Enough for Love · Miss Peggy Lee Sings the Blues · The Peggy Lee Songbook: There'll Be Another Spring · Love Held Lightly: Rare Songs by Harold Arlen · Moments Like This · The Best of Peggy Lee: The Capitol Years
Singles
Songs
"Black Coffee" · "The Folks Who Live On the Hill" · "Kansas City" · "I Love Being Here with You"
Radio
Television
The Guy Mitchell Show · What's My Line?
Films
Related acts
v · The Chesterfield Supper Club
Cast
Bands
  • Ted Steele (Perry Como: New York 1944)
  • Lloyd Shaffer (Perry Como: New York 1945 – 1948)
  • Mitchell Ayres (Perry Como: New York 1948 – 1950)
  • Paul Weston (Jo Stafford: Los Angeles 1947 –)
  • Dave Barbour (Peggy Lee: Los Angeles 1948 –)
Announcers
Albums
  • At the Supper Club-Perry Como (2010)
  • At the Supper Club Part II-Perry Como (2011)
  • At the Supper Club Part III-Perry Como (2011)
  • At the Supper Club-Jo Stafford (2010)
  • At the Supper Club Part II-Jo Stafford (2011)
  • At the Supper Club Part III-Jo Stafford (2011)

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Peggy Lee — Nombre real Norma Deloris Egstrom Nacimiento 26 de mayo de 1920 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Peggy Lee — dans Stage Door Canteen (1943) Nom Norma Deloris Egstrom Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Peggy Lee — ist der Name folgender Personen: Peggy Lee (Sängerin) (1920–2002), amerikanische Sängerin und Schauspielerin Peggy Lee (Cellistin) (* 1963), kanadische Jazz , Improvisations und Avantgarde Cellistin Diese Seite ist eine Begriff …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Peggy Lee (Cellistin) — Peggy Lee (* 1963 in Toronto, Ontario) ist eine kanadische Cellistin. Lee absolvierte eine klassische Celloausbildung, ist aber seit ihrer Übersiedlung nach Vancouver 1989 auf dem Gebiet der Jazzmusik und der Improvisationsmusik aktiv. In der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Peggy Lee (Sängerin) — Peggy Lee (* 26. Mai 1920 in Jamestown, North Dakota als Norma Delores Egstrom; † 21. Januar 2002 in Bel Air, Los Angeles) war eine US amerikanische Sängerin und Songwriterin in den Bereichen Populäre Musik und Jazz sowie Schauspielerin.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Peggy Lee Leather — Infobox Wrestler name=Peggy Lee Leather names=Peggy Lee Leather Peggy Lee Lady X The Thug real height=5 ft 7 in weight= birth date = death date = birth place =Reynolds, Georgia resides= billed=Reynolds, Georgia trainer= debut= retired=|Peggy Lee …   Wikipedia

  • Peggy (Peggy Lee album) — Infobox Album | Name = Peggy Type = Album Artist = Peggy Lee Released = 1977 Recorded = March 7, 8 9, 1977 Genre = Jazz Length = Label = Polydor Records Producer = Ken Barnes Reviews = | Last album = Live in London (1977) This album = Peggy… …   Wikipedia

  • Peggy Lee — …   Википедия

  • Close Enough for Love (Peggy Lee album) — Close Enough for Love Studio album by Peggy Lee Released 1979 …   Wikipedia

  • Mirrors (Peggy Lee album) — Mirrors Studio album by Peggy Lee Released 1975 …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”