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-fiancΓ©e, 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, "MaΓ±ana", 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."
How Long Has This Been Going On?
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I was kissed by my sisters, my cousins, and my aunties.
Sad to tell, it was hell, an inferno worse than Dante's.
So my dear I swore,
"Never, never more!"
On my list, I insisted that kissing must be crossed out.
Now, I find I was blind, and oh my !, how I lost out!
Where have I been all these years?
Little wow, tell me now:
How long has this been going on?
There were chills up my spine,
And some thrills I can't define.
Listen, sweet, I repeat:
how long has this been going on?
Oh, I feel that I could melt;
Into Heaven I'm hurled!
I know how Columbus felt,
Finding another world.
Kiss me once, then once more.
What a dunce I was before.
What a break! For Heaven's sake!
How long has this been going on?
Dear, when in your arms I creep,
That divine rendezvous,
Don't wake me, if I'm asleep,
Let me dream that it's true!
Kiss me twice, then once more.
That makes thrice, let's make it four!
What a break! For Heaven's sake!
How long has this been going on?
How long has this, been going, on?
The lyrics of Peggy Lee's "How Long Has This Been Going On?" tell the story of someone who, as a child, swore off kissing after a traumatic experience with family members. However, as an adult, the singer realizes that they have been missing out and is overwhelmed with the feeling of being in love. The singer acknowledges how foolish they were to have avoided kissing for so long and embraces this newfound feeling of being in love. The lyrics are playful and romantic, with the singer requesting to be kissed multiple times before asking the critical question, "How long has this been going on?"
The song's lyrics capture the butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling of falling in love and the sudden realization of what has been missing. The singer's sense of wonder and disbelief at having missed out on something as simple as kissing is relatable and endearing. Additionally, the repeated reference to being kissed multiple times in a row emphasizes the urgency of the singer's newfound love.
Line by Line Meaning
As a tot, when I trotted in little velvet panties
As a child, wearing fancy clothes, I was surrounded by family members who would kiss me.
Sad to tell, it was hell, an inferno worse than Dante's
Unfortunately, these kisses were unpleasant experiences, and I hated them.
So my dear I swore, "Never, never more!"
In response, I made a decision to never allow anyone to kiss me again.
On my list, I insisted that kissing must be crossed out.
I even wrote it down as a rule to make sure I would never forget it.
Now, I find I was blind, and oh my!, how I lost out!
But now that I'm older, I realize how wrong I was to reject kissing, and how much I missed out on.
I could cry salty tears; Where have I been all these years?
I feel profound regret and sadness for all the years I spent denying myself the experience of kissing.
Little wow, tell me now: How long has this been going on?
I am amazed by my changing perspective and want to know how long I have felt this way.
There were chills up my spine, And some thrills I can't define.
Kissing now elicits physical and emotional responses in me that I never expected.
Listen, sweet, I repeat: how long has this been going on?
I want to make sure that this newfound joy is here to stay and not just temporary.
Oh, I feel that I could melt; Into Heaven I'm hurled!
Kissing is so wonderful that it feels like I am transported to a heavenly place.
I know how Columbus felt, Finding another world.
The discovery of kissing feels just as momentous as Columbus discovering a new world.
Kiss me once, then once more. What a dunce I was before.
I am now eager to make up for lost time and experience the joys of kissing as much as possible.
Dear, when in your arms I creep, That divine rendezvous, Don't wake me, if I'm asleep, Let me dream that it's true!
When I am close to my lover, I want to savor the moment and not wake up from this amazing dream come true.
Kiss me twice, then once more. That makes thrice, let's make it four!
I now crave kissing so much that I want it more and more, up to the point of counting the kisses and asking for more.
How long has this been going on? How long has this, been going, on?
The singer is still in awe and disbelief of the wonders of kissing and how long they have been missing out on it.
Lyrics Β© Kanjian Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@garethmiller2024
Peggy Lee was truly awesome ! What a stunning performance of this standard . Smouldering , sensual and impeccable phrasing .
@that70sgirl90
Yes Indeed... If that melody doesn't get you... that sultry voice and the lyrics will! For me... it was both!!
Thank was incredible... thank you for sharing! π
@michaeltuz608
Sultry is the word that I thought of, too! Peggy Lee is at her best here. Absolutely mesmerizing...
@that70sgirl90
@@michaeltuz608 Yeah... I'd have to say, this is my favorite! Everything about it was so right! Thank you for sharing! π
@recordguy4321
WOWSA! The camera zooming in at the one minute mark till the end was GENIUS!. Miss Lee knows how to work it and with that fine voice and great backing band (sounds like Harry"Sweets Edison" on trumpet who Peggy calls out on the song) this is delightful, delicious and DE-LOVELY!
@that70sgirl90
It's like a long seductive line that just keeps going on and on. I agree... zooming in on her was Genuis! They used to do that Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA. They would zoom in her and she knew how to work that camera. She was drop -dead gorgeous! This isn't gonna make you get those LP'S out tonight? I'll never forget that story! π I Loved it! Thank you for sharing! π
@recordguy4321
@@that70sgirl90 I 've watched this about 10 times now, so great, notice even the microphone is out of the camera for the last 2 minutes. PURE PEGGY LEE! (The camera man deserved an EMMY award) She also also sang a Ray Charles number with the Righteous Brothers on the same night proving she could adapt to rhythm and blues, and it's on you tube
@that70sgirl90
@@recordguy4321 This is probably my favorite Peggy Lee video. It's just a fantastic video! I hope that camera man got a nice fat bonus. I'll have to check that video out. Thank you for sharing! π Have Peaceful Night!
@bingsterdc
The cameraman, the director, and Peggy, herself, in brilliant collaboration.
I donβt know if it was planned or spontaneous, but the broadcast was live and the cameraman got an epic angle, the director was smart enough to not cut away from it, and Peg got very still so as to stay in frame and emote like crazy.
Pure television magic of a kind weβll never see again.
@recordguy4321
@@bingsterdc Man you said it ,I watch this about once a week when I need healing from everyday life.