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."
Ain't That Love
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(When you sigh)
I wanna sigh with you
When you cry
(When you cry)
I wanna cry some, too
Now, ain't that love
Oh, ain't that love that I feel
(That I feel)
In my heart for you
When your friends
(When your friends)
Turn their back on you
I'll be here
(I'll be here)
Just to see you through
Now, ain't that love
(Ain't that love)
Ain't that love
(Ain't that love)
Ain't that love, oh now
Ain't that love
That I feel in my heart for you
Now when you walk
(When you walk)
I wanna walk with you
When you talk
(When you talk)
Wanna talk some, too
Now, ain't that love
(Ain't that love)
Oh, ain't that love that I feel
(That I feel)
In my heart for you
If you ever
(If you ever)
Ever need a friend
I'll be with you
(Be with you)
Yes, until the end
Now, ain't that love
(Ain't that love)
Ain't that love
(Ain't that love)
Don't you know, baby don't you know, I
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
Ain't that love, baby that I feel
In my heart for you
Baby, won't you let me hold your hand
I want to squeeze you as tight as I can
Baby, don't you need my by your side
To protect you and be your guide
Baby, I'm so in love with you
I'd do anything you tell me to
Now, ain't that love
(Ain't that love)
Ain't that love
(Ain't that love)
C'mon now, ain't that love, now
(Oh, oh, oh, oh)
Ain't that love, baby that I feel
In my heart for you
Oh, that I feel in my heart for you
Oh, that I feel in my heart for you
Oh, that I feel in my heart for you
Oh!
Peggy Lee's song "Ain't That Love" portrays the concept of unconditional love. The song captures the essence of a lover who feels deeply for their significant other and is willing to stay by their side through thick and thin. The opening lines, "Now, baby, when you sigh, (When you sigh), I wanna sigh with you. When you cry (When you cry), I wanna cry some, too," highlights the depth of connection felt between the two individuals in the relationship.
The second verse of the song, "When your friends (When your friends) Turn their back on you, I'll be here (I'll be here) Just to see you through" is a testament to the idea of how true love transcends boundaries and is willing to stand the test of time. Even when the person's "friends turn their back on them," the lover remains committed to providing the necessary support to see them through the tough times.
The chorus, "Now, ain't that love (Ain't that love) Oh, ain't that love that I feel (That I feel) in my heart for you," is a celebration of the unique bond shared by the couple. The lyrics speak to the heart of what true love entails, which is putting the needs of the person you love before your own.
Overall, "Ain't That Love" is a beautiful expression of love and commitment that transcends the challenges and setbacks of life. The song reminds us that when we find someone worth loving, the feeling is often so overpowering that we cannot contain it in our hearts.
Line by Line Meaning
Now, baby when you sigh
When you let out that deep breath, I want to empathize with you.
(When you sigh)
I'm right there with you.
When you cry
When tears stream down your face, I want to be crying alongside you.
(When you cry)
I want you to feel that I'm really with you.
Now, ain't that love
Don't you think that kind of commitment is love?
(Ain't that love)
Because I do.
Oh, ain't that love that I feel
The feeling in my heart, is that not love?
(That I feel)
I can't help but feel it.
In my heart for you
It's you, it's just for you.
When your friends
If they desert you,
(When your friends)
and they leave you.
Turn their back on you
Do not worry because I am here.
I'll be here
I'll stay with you.
(I'll be here)
I'll never leave your side.
Just to see you through
I'm here to support you through whatever it takes.
Ain't that love
Isn't that a sign of love?
(Ain't that love)
Because I believe it is.
Ain't that love, oh now
It's a type of love, you know?
Ain't that love
A love that never seems to fail?
That I feel in my heart for you
It's the love that is in my heart, just for you.
Now when you walk
When you put one foot in front of the other,
(When you walk)
When you move forward.
I wanna walk with you
I want to share that journey with you.
When you talk
When you share your thoughts with me,
(When you talk)
When you open up.
Wanna talk some, too
I also want to share my thoughts with you, too.
Oh, ain't that love that I feel
The feeling inside my chest, what else could it be but love?
That I feel in my heart for you
It is a love that is reserved only for you.
If you ever
When the day comes when you ever,
(If you ever)
When you eventually do.
Ever need a friend
When you feel like needing a friend,
I'll be with you
I'll always stand by you.
(Be with you)
I'll be there for you.
Yes, until the end
Until the very end of time.
Don't you know, baby don't you know, I
Do you even realize, my darling?
Oh, oh, oh, oh
I'm really feeling this.
Baby, won't you let me hold your hand
Darling, can I have your hand?
I want to squeeze you as tight as I can
I want to hug you so tightly.
Baby, don't you need my by your side
Don't you need me, my love?
To protect you and be your guide
I will protect you and lead you through life.
Baby, I'm so in love with you
I'm filled with this powerful emotion towards you.
I'd do anything you tell me to
I can't help but be obedient to you.
C'mon now, ain't that love, now
Isn't that love?
Ain't that love
A love that never fades?
Ain't that love, baby that I feel
Do you not see that the love I feel is for you, my dear?
In my heart for you
It's stored right inside my heart just for you.
Oh, that I feel in my heart for you
That feeling just keeps growing inside my heart for only you.
Oh, that I feel in my heart for you
It's true, it's just for you.
Oh, that I feel in my heart for you
It's your love that exists in my very heart.
Oh!
All this is really powerful!
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ray Charles
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?