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."
Call Me Darling
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thrill me , darlin', with words I want to hear.
In your dark eyes so smilin', a promise I see,
But your two lips won't say you care for me.
Oh my darlin', if my daydreams would come true,
You would meet me at a secret rendezvous,
And I'd find the paradise that lies deep in your eyes;
The lyrics of Peggy Lee's "Call Me Darling" capture the essence of longing and yearning for love and affection from a significant other. The singer in the song is pleading to be called terms of endearment like "darlin'," "sweetheart," and "dear." These words convey a sense of intimacy and emotional attachment, highlighting the desire for closeness and connection with their partner. The repetition of these endearing terms emphasizes the singer's need for reassurance and affection in their relationship.
The lyrics also touch upon the theme of being thrilled and moved by sweet words and gestures from a loved one. The singer expresses a yearning to be thrilled by the words they want to hear, suggesting a desire for verbal affirmation and emotional validation from their partner. This highlights the importance of communication and emotional expression in a relationship, and how words can have a profound impact on one's feelings and emotions.
The imagery of the dark eyes and smiling face of the beloved mentioned in the lyrics symbolizes hope and promise. The promise the singer sees in their partner's eyes hints at a potential future together filled with love and commitment. However, the contrast between the promise in the eyes and the reluctance of the lips to express caring sentiments suggests a sense of uncertainty and unspoken feelings in the relationship. This creates a sense of tension and longing for deeper emotional connection and understanding.
The final stanza of the lyrics paints a picture of yearning for an idealized love and a secret rendezvous where the singer hopes to find paradise in their partner's eyes. This evokes a sense of romantic fantasy and a longing for a deeper, more intimate connection with their beloved. The plea to be called endearing terms like "darlin'," "sweetheart," and "dear" encapsulates the singer's desire for love, affection, and emotional fulfillment in their relationship. Overall, the lyrics of "Call Me Darling" convey themes of love, longing, and emotional vulnerability in a poignant and evocative manner.
Line by Line Meaning
Call me darlin', call me sweetheart, call me dear,
Address me with terms of endearment, showing affection and intimacy.
Thrill me , darlin', with words I want to hear.
Excite me, my love, by expressing sentiments that resonate deeply within me.
In your dark eyes so smilin', a promise I see,
In the warmth of your joyful gaze, I perceive a commitment or hope for our connection.
But your two lips won't say you care for me.
Yet, despite the unspoken promise in your eyes, your words fail to convey any affection.
Oh my darlin', if my daydreams would come true,
If only my fantasies could materialize into reality, my beloved.
You would meet me at a secret rendezvous,
You would join me in a hidden, intimate meeting place away from prying eyes.
And I'd find the paradise that lies deep in your eyes;
In that moment, I would discover the bliss and beauty that resides within your gaze.
Call me darlin', call me sweetheart, call me dear.
Continue to acknowledge me with loving words, reinforcing the bond between us.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BERT REISFELD, DOROTHY DICK, MARTIN FRYBERG, ROLF MARBOT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@joehallen4510
FIRST TIME HEARING THIS. I LOVE CALL ME DARLING I LOVE PEGGY LEE. REST IN PEACE DEAR ONE
@Corrie121
This is my favourite rendition of this lovely song. Thank you for sharing.
@joehallen4510
JUST SO VERY ELOQUENT!!!! I NEVER HEARD THIS BEFORE I LOVE THIS SONG BY PEGGY LRR. REST IN PEACE DEAR ONE. YOU & ANITA O*DAY WERE MY 2 FAVORITE SINGERS AMONG MANY.
@user-cj4hm9hz2w
Красиво поёт)👏❤️
@paulpeterson4320
Her best phrasing ever???