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."
Cottage For Sale
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is lonely and silent, the shades are all drawn,
And my heart is heavy as I gaze upon
A cottage for sale
The lawn we were proud of is waving in hay,
Our beautiful garden has withered away,
Where you planted roses,the weeds seem to say,
From every single window, I see your face,
But when I reach a window, there's empty space.
The key's in the mail box the same as before,
But no one is waiting any more,
The end of the story is told on the door.
A cottage for sale.
In Peggy Lee's song "Cottage For Sale," the lyrics describe a once-beloved dream castle that now stands empty and desolate. The opening lines convey a sense of loss and longing as the singer observes the lonely and silent state of the cottage. The fact that every dream has disappeared suggests that the hopes and aspirations once associated with this place have faded away.
As the song progresses, the singer paints a vivid picture of the neglected surroundings. The once-proud lawn is now overgrown with hay, symbolizing the neglect and abandonment that has taken place. The beautiful garden, where roses were once planted, has withered away, with weeds now serving as the only reminder of what was once a flourishing paradise. This imagery reinforces the theme of decay and the passage of time.
The next stanza reveals the emotional impact of this emptiness. The singer reflects on seeing the face of their loved one in every window but facing the harsh reality of empty space upon reaching them. This emphasizes the hollowness and absence of the past relationship. The detail about the key remaining in the mailbox, just like before, suggests that the physical access to the cottage is still there, but the meaningful connection it once held has vanished. The poignant line "but no one is waiting anymore" implies that the love and expectation that used to be tied to this place have ceased to exist.
The final verse concludes the story on a somber note. The end of the story is revealed through the symbol of a door, which serves as the gateway to the cottage. The singer states that the end of the story is "told on the door," suggesting that it is visibly evident that the cottage is up for sale. This final image encapsulates the overall theme of loss, with the empty house now representing the remnants of a broken relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Our little dream castle with every dream gone,
Our once hopeful and vibrant haven, where all our aspirations once resided, now stands empty and devoid of any dreams.
Is lonely and silent, the shades are all drawn,
It's a desolate and quiet place, where darkness prevails as every shade is pulled down, shutting out any traces of life or light.
And my heart is heavy as I gaze upon
As I cast my eyes upon this sorrowful sight, a profound sadness weighs heavily upon my heart.
A cottage for sale
This dwelling, now stripped of happiness, is now up for sale, symbolizing the end of its significance and cherished memories.
The lawn we were proud of is waving in hay,
The once meticulously tended lawn we were so proud of now stands neglected, overgrown with hay swaying in the wind.
Our beautiful garden has withered away,
The once enchanting and flourishing garden we nurtured has faded and decayed, losing its former beauty and vitality.
Where you planted roses, the weeds seem to say,
Where fragrant roses were once lovingly planted, now only the persistent growth of weeds serves as a reminder of neglect and abandonment.
A cottage for sale.
This dwelling, now stripped of its former charm and life, is now presented as a property available for purchase.
From every single window, I see your face,
From each and every window of this forsaken home, I catch glimpses of your visage, haunting me with memories of the past.
But when I reach a window, there's empty space.
Yet, as I approach a window for a closer look, only emptiness and void greet me, signifying your absence and the void within my life.
The key's in the mail box the same as before,
Just as it had always been, the key to this residence remains in the mailbox, awaiting your arrival, as it has in the past.
But no one is waiting any more,
Regrettably, no one longs for your return anymore, leaving this dwelling devoid of any eager anticipation.
The end of the story is told on the door.
The conclusion of our narrative is etched upon the door, proclaiming the finality and closure of our once-shared journey.
A cottage for sale.
This vacant and dejected abode, once filled with moments of happiness, is now marked as an available property for sale.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Larry Conley, Willard Robinson
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?