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."
Golden Earrings
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That when your love wears golden earrings
He belongs to you
An old love story that's known to very few
But if you wear those golden earrings
Love will come to you
By the burning fire, they will glow with every coal
So be my gypsy
Make love your guiding light
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight
So be my gypsy
Make love your guiding light
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast their spell tonight
The lyrics of Peggy Lee's song Golden Earrings revolve around a mythical story known by gypsies. According to this tale, when a woman's love wears golden earrings, he belongs to her. It's an old love story, known by a few people only. However, if a woman wears these magical earrings, love will be drawn to her.
The lyrics of this song paint a picture of a woman sitting by the fire, the golden earrings shining bright amidst the burning coal. Their radiance will spark desire and whisper words of love into her soul. The singer implores the woman to embrace her inner gypsy and let love guide her path. The pair of golden earrings will weave their magic, spreading love in their wake.
Peggy Lee's Golden Earrings is a hauntingly beautiful song with lyrics that describe the magic of love. Set against a mythical story of gypsies and their beliefs, the words convey the idea that love is a powerful force that can bring people together. It's a song about hope, faith, and love that transcends time and space.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a story the gypsies know is true
The gypsies believe in a true love story that is not known to many people.
That when your love wears golden earrings
According to the story, when your lover wears golden earrings, they belong solely to you.
He belongs to you
The golden earrings signify a commitment or ownership of the person who wears them.
An old love story that's known to very few
The love story surrounding the golden earrings is an old tale that is not widely known.
But if you wear those golden earrings
If you, the listener, wears the golden earrings described in the story, love will come to you.
Love will come to you
The golden earrings have the power to attract love towards the person who wears them.
By the burning fire, they will glow with every coal
The golden earrings will shine brightly in the light of a fire, drawing attention to the wearer.
You will hear desire whisper low inside your soul
The powerful attraction generated by the golden earrings will create a strong desire for love within the person who wears them.
So be my gypsy
The singer is inviting someone to join her as a fellow gypsy, someone who lives their life freely and without concern for societal norms.
Make love your guiding light
The singer encourages the listener to prioritize love and follow their heart.
And let this pair of golden earrings
The singer implores the listener to get a pair of golden earrings like the ones described in the story.
Cast their spell tonight
The singer wants the golden earrings to bring the listener the same love and romance as in the old love story.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JAY LIVINGSTON, RAY EVANS, VICTOR YOUNG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@erzebettotbagi3024
There's a story the gypsies know is true
That when your love wears golden earrings
He belongs to you
An old love story that's known to very few
But if you wear those golden earrings
Love will come to you
By the burning fire, they will glow with ev'ry coal
You will hear desire whisper low inside your soul
So be my gypsy
Make love your guiding light
And let this pair of golden earrings
Cast this spell tonight
@danremenyi1179
This was a song I remember from 70 years ago. A true master piece.
@phoenix-1c9ne8br5c
❤
@framgangsrik747
This song is one of the most beautiful songs ever made
@arman2774
I reccomend Gandalf’s version aswell
@susanmaironis6770
My lovely beautiful mum sang this on many occasions family get togethers, or just when the moment arised. Love this its so enchanting
@peregrinec5477
I love this song. It reminds me of my Gramma. I work now at an, "Oldies," radio station... This one comes up once in a while...I love it...
@samishaool3434
بسام كجل
@johnkim100530
I appreaciate uploading such a beautiful, classic song sung by Peggy such a beautiful, classic song sung by Peggy Lee.
@jamessteele8641
This song, and its music are timeless! Peggy Lee sings it so well...I was born one year before Peggy Lee recorded this song...The music to this song is a "classic" from an old Russian folk song..I am constantly marveling at how there are so many, hauntingly beautiful, and very romantic Russian folk songs... Music has a way of triggering old memories, but why must we assign this beautiful music to the dusty museum of old age? Let us revive this music, and bring it into the present time, where we can all enjoy it with the youthful people around us, and with the youthfulness within all of us! :-)
@olivealbers2478
I agree, also this song is beautiful and stays with you forever.