Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong all cited Lee as one of their favorite singers.
Peggy Lee had Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. She was the seventh of eight children born to Marvin Egstrom, a station agent for the Midland Continental Railroad. Her mother died when she was four years old. Music provided her an escape from the abusive rampages of her cruel stepmother, Min, who tormented and beat young Norma. She first sang professionally with KOVC radio in Valley City, North Dakota. She soon landed her own series on a radio show sponsored by a local restaurant that paid her "salary" in food. Both during and after her high school years, she took whatever jobs she could find, waitressing and singing for paltry sums on other local stations. Radio personality Ken Kennedy (actual name: Ken Sydness), of WDAY in Fargo (the most widely listened to station in North Dakota) changed her name from Norma to Peggy Lee. Tired of the abuse from her stepmother, she left home and traveled to Los Angeles at the age of 17.
She returned to North Dakota for a tonsillectomy and eventually made her way to Chicago for a gig at The Buttery Room, a nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel West in Chicago, where she drew the attention of Benny Goodman, the jazz clarinetist and band leader. 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 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.
In early 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 in two 1943 films, Stage Door Canteen and The Powers Girl.
In March 1943, Lee married Dave Barbour, the 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 towards 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 smash-hit #1-selling record of 1942, "Mañana", her "retirement" was over.
In 1948, she joined Perry Como and Jo Stafford as one of the rotating hosts of the NBC Radio musical program Chesterfield Supper Club. She was also a regular on NBC's Jimmy Durante Show during the 1938-48 season.
She left Capitol for a few years in the early 1940s, but returned in 1943. She is most famous for her cover version of the Little Willie John hit "Fever", 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 she recorded one of her most acclaimed albums Black Coffee (1956). While recording for Decca, Lee had hit singles with the songs "Lover" and "Mr. Wonderful."
She was also known as a songwriter with such hits as the songs from the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp, for which she also supplied the singing and speaking voices of four characters. Her many songwriting collaborators, in addition to Barbour, included Laurindo Almeida, Harold Arlen, Sonny Burke, Cy Coleman, Gene DiNovi, Duke Ellington, Dave Grusin, Dick Hazard, Quincy Jones, Francis Lai, Jack Marshall, Johnny Mandel, Marian McPartland, Willard Robison, Lalo Schifrin, Hubie Wheeler, guitarist Johnny Pisano and Victor Young.
Lee also acted in several films. In 1952, she played opposite Danny Thomas in a remake of the early Al Jolson film, The Jazz Singer. In 1955, she played a despondent, alcoholic blues singer in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), for which she was nominated for an Oscar.
Peggy won a Grammy in 1969 as best contemporary female vocalist (for her recording of Is That All There Is?) and was awarded a Doctor of Music Honoris Causa degree from North Dakota State University, in 1975.
In the early 1990s, she retained famed entertainment attorney Neil Papiano, who, on her behalf, successfully sued 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.
Never afraid to fight for what she believed in, Lee was passionate 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 ("God's will will not be made manifest by cowards.")
She also successfully sued MCA/Decca with the assistance of noted entertainment attorney, Cy Godfrey.
She continued to perform into the 1990s, sometimes in a wheelchair, and still mesmerized audiences and critics alike.[citation needed]
In 1995 she was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
After years of poor health, Lee died of complications from diabetes and heart attack at the age of 81. She is survived by Nicki Lee Foster, her daughter with Barbour. She is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California. On her marker in a garden setting is inscribed, "Music is my life's breath."
Let It Bother Me
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And read all the daily blues
The world is one big tragedy
I wonder what I can do
About all the pain and injustice
About all of the sorrow
We're living in a danger zoneThe world could end tomorrow
But I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
Tomorrow I might go as far as suicide
But I won't let it bother me tonight
Life on the street is a jungle
A struggle to keep up the pace
I just can't beat that old dog eat dog
The rats keep winnin' the rat race
But I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
The world is in an uproar and I see no end in sight
But I won't let it bother me tonight
I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
Tomorrow I might go as far as suicide
But I won't let it bother me tonight
Lord, Lord, Lord
We got nothing but trouble
I've done all I can do today
So bartender pour me a double, right now
I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
The world is in an uproar and I see no end in sight
But I won't let it bother me tonight
I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
No I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
Tomorrow I might go as far as suicide
But I will not let it bother me tonight
The lyrics of Peggy Lee's song Let It Bother Me express a sense of powerlessness in the face of the overwhelming problems of the world. The singer reads the daily news and sees only pain and injustice. The world is a dangerous place and life on the street is a jungle where the rats keep winning. But the singer refuses to let it bother her/him tonight. S/he knows that tomorrow s/he might be pushed to the brink of suicide by the weight of the world's problems, but for now, s/he will take solace in a drink from the bartender. The song reveals the precariousness of human existence and the need for temporary escapes from harsh realities.
The words of the song convey a sense of hopelessness and despair that are particularly relevant to the late 1960s, the period in which the song was written and recorded. This was a time of great social upheaval, marked by civil rights protests, anti-war demonstrations, and political assassinations. The Vietnam War was raging, and many young people were disillusioned with the government and the establishment. In this context, Let It Bother Me can be seen as a kind of anthem for the disaffected youth of the time, a reminder of their powerlessness in the face of systemic injustice.
Line by Line Meaning
I picked up the paper this morning
As I read about the daily news and all the concerns, I feel helpless and uncertain.
And read all the daily blues
The overwhelming pain and sadness in the world crush my spirit and burden my mind.
The world is one big tragedy
The relentless tragedies and pain around the globe weigh heavy on my heart and soul.
I wonder what I can do
Feeling helpless and susceptible, I question my capability to make a difference in this world plagued with evil.
About all the pain and injustice
I am distraught and despondent about the sorrow and misconduct facing humanity.
About all of the sorrow
The endless suffering and misfortunes that humans endure daily break my heart and soul.
We're living in a danger zone
The world is unpredictable and unsafe, which makes me feel uneasy and lost.
The world could end tomorrow
The impending doom and instability of the world alarm me, and suggest the world could collapse anytime without any warning.
But I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
Despite all these worries and troubles weighing heavy on my soul, tonight, I will not let them consume me.
Tomorrow I might go as far as suicide
As the distress and anguish grow and take over, there might be a time I lose faith and hope in life and contemplate taking my own life.
Life on the street is a jungle
The harsh and competitive reality of life makes it seem like a warfare where everyone is fighting for survival.
A struggle to keep up the pace
Trying to maintain equilibrium with life's zigzags, hurdles, and hardships is a never-ending struggle that takes a considerable toll on me.
I just can't beat that old dog eat dog
The ruthless competition and cutthroat environment make it impossible to get ahead or succeed on your intrinsic merit.
The rats keep winnin' the rat race
Those with immoral, unethical, and unscrupulous means keep winning and outsmarting the ones who follow the right path.
The world is in an uproar and I see no end in sight
The world is in chaos and anarchy, and there seems to be no credible solution to end the chaos and restore normalcy.
Lord, Lord, Lord We got nothing but trouble
God, I pray for a miracle as our world is plagued with one problem after the other, and nothing seems to work.
I've done all I can do today
I'm exhausted from attempting to change the world and do good things but seeing little progress; I need a break.
So bartender pour me a double, right now
I want to take a break and forget my troubles, so I turn to alcohol to numb my pain and exhaustion.
No, I'm not gonna let it bother me tonight
I refuse to let the fears, worries, and anxieties hold me down tonight even though I've been facing them all day.
Tomorrow I might go as far as suicide
The clouds of depression might turn into a storm of suicidal thoughts and despair, but tonight is not that night.
But I will not let it bother me tonight
I will stay resilient and positive tonight, not letting all the chaos and troubles around the world weigh heavy on my soul.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: D. BARBOUR, P. LEE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anonymous
on Why Don't You Do Right (Get Me Some Money Too)
Why Don't You Do Right - Casey Abrams - Lyrics
You had plenty money 1922
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too?
You're sitting there wondering what it's all about
You ain't got no money, they will throw you out
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too?
Musical Interlude
You had plenty money 1922
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too?
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?