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."
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She'll find the note I left hanging on her door.
She'll laugh when she reads the part that says I'm leaving
Cause I've left that girl so many times before.
By the time I make Albuquerque she'll be working.
She'll probably stop for lunch and give me a call.
But she'll just hear the phone keep on ringing, on the wall, that's all.
By the time I reach Oklahoma she'll be sleeping.
And she'll cry just to think I'd really leave her,
Though time and time again I tried to tell her so.
She just didn't know I would really go.
In these lyrics, the songwriter vividly paints a picture of a man on a journey away from his lover, symbolizing the passage of time and the inevitability of change. The imagery of the rising sun in Phoenix suggests a new beginning, a fresh start for both parties. However, the note he leaves on her door reveals a sense of detachment and emotional distance, as he nonchalantly mentions his departure as something routine, something that has happened many times before. This repetition hints at a cycle of coming and going in their relationship, highlighting a lack of permanence or commitment.
As the man continues his journey to Albuquerque, the lyrics suggest that despite his physical absence, he anticipates communication with his lover. The mention of her stopping for lunch and giving him a call portrays a sense of familiarity and expectation, but the reality is a ringing phone that goes unanswered - a poignant metaphor for the faltering connection between them. The phone call that doesn't happen serves as a stark reminder of the growing distance between the two characters, emphasizing their inability to truly connect and communicate.
The scene shifts to Oklahoma, where the woman is depicted as sleeping and dreaming of the man who is leaving her. The soft turning and calling of his name create a sense of intimacy and longing, suggesting a deep emotional bond that exists despite their turbulent history. The woman's tears upon realizing his departure reflect her deep emotional investment in the relationship, and the man's inner conflict is revealed as he grapples with the consequences of his actions. Despite his attempts to convey his intentions in the past, the woman's shock and sadness expose the underlying miscommunication and emotional disconnect that have plagued their relationship.
The closing lines of the song convey a sense of regret and resignation as the man reflects on the woman's unsuspecting nature and his own ultimate decision to leave. The repeated assertion that "she just didn't know I would really go" underscores the theme of unspoken truths and unfulfilled expectations within their relationship. The bittersweet tone of the lyrics captures the complexities of love and loss, highlighting the inevitability of change and the difficult choices that shape the course of our lives. As time goes by, the characters in the song are left to grapple with the consequences of their actions and the emotional aftermath of their failed relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
By the time I get to Phoenix she'll be rising.
By the time I reach my destination, she will be starting her day.
She'll find the note I left hanging on her door.
She will discover the message I left for her.
She'll laugh when she reads the part that says I'm leaving
She will chuckle upon reading about my departure.
Cause I've left that girl so many times before.
Since I have departed from her before.
By the time I make Albuquerque she'll be working.
When I arrive at the next city, she will likely be busy with work.
She'll probably stop for lunch and give me a call.
She might take a break and try to reach me over the phone.
But she'll just hear the phone keep on ringing, on the wall, that's all.
However, all she will hear is the continuous ringing of the unanswered phone.
By the time I reach Oklahoma she'll be sleeping.
Upon my arrival in Oklahoma, she will be asleep.
She'll turn softly and call my name out low.
She will whisper my name gently.
And she'll cry just to think I'd really leave her,
She will shed tears at the thought of my departure.
Though time and time again I tried to tell her so.
Despite numerous attempts to warn her in advance.
She just didn't know I would really go.
She simply did not believe I would truly leave.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jimmy Webb
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?