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."
Do I Love You
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As the mighty river flows
As the meadow gaily plays
With the wind of summer days
'Bout as deep as we can go
From the canyon to the skies
Like a mother as she cares
For the baby that she bears
Do I love you
Don't you know by now
Do I love you
Must I show you how
Do I love
Must I always say
Do I love
Yes in every way
About as sacred as a hymn
And a bible full of prayers
From a whisper to a roar
Very much and even more
And I shall show it with my eyes
And share it with the night
If in death the good Lord is kind
You'll be the last thing on my mind
Do I love you
Don't you know by now
Do I love you
Must I show you how
Do I love
Do I have to say
Do I love
Yes in every way
Do I love you
You should know by now
Do I love you
Must I show you how
Do I love
Do I have to say
Do I love
Yes in every way
The lyrics of Peggy Lee and George Shearing’s ‘Do I Love You’ are a poetic description of the depth of affection one person can have for another. The first verse compares this feeling to the depth of a canyon and the vastness of the sky, as well as the care of a mother for her child. The second verse alludes to the spiritual aspect of this love, describing it as sacred as a hymn and a bible full of prayers. The lyrics then state that this love will be shown through the singer’s eyes and shared with the night, and even in death, the singer will think of their beloved.
Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of overwhelming love and devotion that cannot be easily expressed by words alone. The repetition of the refrain “Do I love you” emphasizes the singer’s certainty and conviction in their feelings, while the question “must I show you how” suggests a subtle challenge to the beloved to recognize and reciprocate the depth of their love.
Line by Line Meaning
Beyond the shadow of a dove
My love for you is so strong and pure, it goes beyond the gentle symbol of peace that is a dove and its shadow.
As the mighty river flows
My love for you is as constant and powerful as a great river that flows without end.
As the meadow gaily plays
My love for you is as joyful and carefree as a lively meadow in the midst of summer.
With the wind of summer days
My love for you is as unpredictable and refreshing as the winds that blow in the warmest of seasons.
'Bout as deep as we can go
My love for you is as profound and all-encompassing as love can be.
From the canyon to the skies
My love for you extends from the deepest depths to the highest heights, covering all aspects of life.
Like a mother as she cares
My love for you is nurturing and tender, like a mother looking after her child with the greatest of care.
For the baby that she bears
Just as a mother cares deeply for the child she has given birth to, my love for you is equally devoted and caring.
Do I love you
Am I truly in love with you?
Don't you know by now
Surely you must already be aware of my feelings for you.
Must I show you how
Is it necessary for me to prove my love to you?
Do I love
Is love what I'm feeling?
Must I always say
Do I need to consistently verbalize my love for you?
Yes in every way
Undoubtedly, my love for you is present in every possible manner.
About as sacred as a hymn
My love for you is as profound and holy as any religious song or ceremony.
And a bible full of prayers
My love for you is as steadfast and endless as any holy text prayed over incessantly.
From a whisper to a roar
My love for you is as gentle as a whisper, but can roar with passion and intensity when needed.
Very much and even more
My love for you is immeasurable and boundless, exceeding all expectations and limitations.
And I shall show it with my eyes
I will communicate my love for you not merely in words, but also through unspoken actions and gestures.
And share it with the night
My love for you is so undeniably strong that I will even reveal it to the quiet and peaceful night.
If in death the good Lord is kind
If and when I meet my end, I hope that I will pass on in peace, released from any earthly attachments.
You'll be the last thing on my mind
But even in death, your memory and your presence will be the final thoughts in my mind and in my heart.
You should know by now
It is my hope that by now, you already have some understanding of my deep love for you.
Do I have to say
Am I obligated to state the depth of my love for you?
Yes in every way
But without any doubt, my love for you is present in every way.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sentric Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Cole Porter
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?