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."
God Bless The Child
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Them that's not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
Yes, the strong gets more
Empty pockets don't ever make the grade
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
Money, you've got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you're gone, spending ends
They don't come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don't take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
He just worry 'bout nothin'
Cause he's got his own
The lyrics to Peggy Lee's "God Bless the Child" address the idea that those who already have wealth and social status tend to accumulate even more, while those who lack resources often go without. The first verse, "Them that's got shall get / Them that's not shall lose / So the Bible said and it still is news," sets up the theme of the song, that wealth begets wealth and poverty breeds poverty. The second verse, "Yes, the strong gets more / While the weak ones fade / Empty pockets don't ever make the grade," reinforces this idea, suggesting that those in power tend to cling to it and use their influence to maintain their position.
The chorus, "Mama may have, Papa may have / But God bless the child that's got his own / That's got his own," is a refrain that returns several times throughout the song. It acknowledges that parents may provide for their children, but the ones who truly succeed are those who are self-sufficient.
The third verse, "Money, you've got lots of friends / Crowding round the door / When you're gone, spending ends / They don't come no more / Rich relations give / Crust of bread and such / You can help yourself / But don't take too much," references the idea that wealth can attract parasitic friends and distant relatives who only show up to take advantage. The final verse, "He just worry 'bout nothin' / Cause he's got his own" reiterates the idea that self-sufficiency is the key to contentment.
Overall, "God Bless the Child" is a critique of the ways in which wealth and power are inequitably distributed in society, and a call for individuals to take control of their own destiny by becoming self-sufficient.
Line by Line Meaning
Them that's got shall get
Those who already have will continue to receive and accumulate more.
Them that's not shall lose
Those who do not have will continue to lack and lose more.
So the Bible said and it still is news
This has been a widely accepted belief for centuries, and still holds true today.
Mama may have, Papa may have
The child's parents may have wealth, status or influence.
But God bless the child that's got his own
However, the child who has their own resources and independence is truly blessed and has a better chance of success and happiness.
Yes, the strong gets more
Those with existing wealth or power tend to cling to it and accrue even more over time.
While the weak ones fade
Those who lack resources or influence tend to struggle and lose out over time.
Empty pockets don't ever make the grade
Being poor or lacking resources will prevent one from achieving success or reaching their potential.
Money, you've got lots of friends
Those who have wealth will attract many people who want to be associated with that wealth.
Crowding round the door
People will try to get close to wealthy individuals in order to benefit from their wealth and influence.
When you're gone, spending ends
If the wealthy individual dies or loses their wealth, the people who were previously cozying up to them will disappear.
They don't come no more
Those who were attracted to the wealth will not continue to stick around once it is gone.
Rich relations give
Family members who are wealthy may provide some support or resources.
Crust of bread and such
However, this support may be minimal and not enough to truly address the child's needs.
You can help yourself
The child can support themselves and find their own path, regardless of the support provided by others.
But don't take too much
While it's important to be self-sufficient, it's also important to not become greedy or take advantage of others.
He just worry 'bout nothin'
The child who is independent and has their own resources can live without worry or fear of losing everything.
Cause he's got his own
Because they have their own resources and independence.
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC
Written by: Arthur Herzog, Billie Holiday
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?