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."
Bewitched
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You've got me in your spell.
Bewitched, Bewitched,
You know your craft so well.
Before I knew what I was doing
I looked in your eyes
That brand of woo you've been brewin'
Took me by surprise.
You witch, you witch,
One thing is for sure.
That stuff you pitch
Just hasn't got a cure.
My heart was under lock and key,
But somehow it got unhitched.
I never thought that I could be had
But now I'm caught and I'm kinda glad
To be Bewitched.
The lyrics to Peggy Lee's song Bewitched describe the feeling of being enchanted and helpless as a result of falling in love. The repeated use of the title word "bewitched" emphasizes the idea of being put under a spell, unable to resist the charms of the person in question. The singer describes being taken by surprise, as if they had no control over the situation. The object of their affection is portrayed as a skilled practitioner of their craft, able to manipulate and control those around them with ease. Despite acknowledging that they have been tricked, the singer reveals that they are happy to be caught up in this spell, unable to resist the allure of their love interest.
The lyrics of Bewitched are a classic example of a love song that draws on the idea of magic and spells to explore the experience of falling in love. By portraying the love interest as a witch, the song taps into the tradition of magical realism in literature and entertainment. The song also explores the idea of surrendering control, suggesting that love is something that can take over and leave us powerless. Peggy Lee's performance of the song is characterized by her smoky, sultry tone, which adds to the sense of enchantment and romance.
Line by Line Meaning
Bewitched, Bewitched,
I feel entranced and captivated by you, overwhelmed by the power of your influence.
You've got me in your spell.
You have brought me under your control, and I am powerless to resist your charms.
Bewitched, Bewitched,
Your hold over me is so complete and so strong that I must repeat your name in order to fully express my feelings.
You know your craft so well.
You are an expert at using magic and other means to cast a spell over the hearts and minds of others.
Before I knew what I was doing
I was unaware of how deeply I was falling for you, and did not realize that I was losing myself in your spell.
I looked in your eyes
I became hypnotized by your gaze, and drawn deeper into your power.
That brand of woo you've been brewin'
You have a particular method of captivating and entrancing those around you, and I have fallen prey to it.
Took me by surprise.
I did not expect to be so thoroughly bewitched by you, and am surprised by how deeply you have penetrated my heart.
You witch, you witch,
I am both enchanted and frightened by your power, which is why I address you as a witch.
One thing is for sure.
Despite any doubts or reservations I may have, I cannot deny the power you hold over me.
That stuff you pitch
The charms or spells you use to captivate and control others, which I have fallen victim to.
Just hasn't got a cure.
There is no remedy, no medicine or treatment, that can break the hold you have over me.
My heart was under lock and key,
I had previously guarded and protected my heart, but you have broken through my defenses.
But somehow it got unhitched.
Despite my best efforts to keep my heart safe from harm, you have found a way to unlock it and gain control.
I never thought that I could be had
I considered myself too savvy and wise to be taken in by someone's charms, but I was wrong about that.
But now I'm caught and I'm kinda glad
Despite my initial reluctance to fall under your spell, I now find myself embracing it and feeling happy about it.
To be Bewitched.
To be under your spell, to be helplessly in love with you, even if it means being enchanted and mystified by your powers.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOWARD GREENFIELD, JACK KELLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael A. McCracken
BEWITCHED
by Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller
🎵 Bewitched. Bewitched. You got me in your spell. 🎵
🎵 Bewitched. Bewitched. You know your so well. 🎵
🎵 Before I knew what you been doing, I looked in your eyes. 🎵
🎵 That brand of woo that you've been brewing took me by surprise. 🎵
🎵 Bewitched. Bewitched. One thing is for sure. 🎵
🎵 That stuff, you pitched, just hasn't got a cure. 🎵
🎵 My heart was under lock and key, but somehow it got unhitched. 🎵
🎵 I never thought my heart could be had. 🎵
🎵 But now I'm caught and I'm kinda glad, 🎵
🎵 to be bewitched. Bewitched. 🎵
spicey66
The song that is the theme to the classic tv show-Betwitched.I love Peggy!
Imani M
Thank you for sharing! It sure is 😂
Ryan McBride
This wonderful version was on the B-side of my parent's 45-RPM Peggy Lee rendition of "Is that all there is?" Both sides were a seminal experience for me, with the Bewiched rendition - in 3/4 and not the 4/4 of the TV theme tune - an affirmation of my love of Bewiched. R
kelvin heron
The epitome of cool elegance - bewitching!
leo2nd74
Peggy Lee could really swing.
HellKitty Ninja
Love Peggy Lee 💜
themax316
@alchada I have been searching for this song for 10 years. I had it on cassette and then it got chewed by the player.......thank you so much for the upload! Made my night!
Sparkina
I never knew the Bewitched theme had words!
Danny Carrington
The producers of Bewitched originally planned to have Jerry Vale record the theme for the opening credits but the deal fell through, they used the familiar instrumental version instead. Different arrangements were used for the second and third seasons but the episodes that air in syndication and were released on DVD use the season one theme instead.
himycatisdead
I did not realize that this song is the one they play for the sitcom Bewitched! Wow this is a finding!