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."
I Can Hear The Music
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This is the way
I always dreamed it would be
The way that it is, oh, oh
When you are holding me
I never had a love of my own
Maybe that's why when we're all alone
I can hear music
I can hear music
The sound of the city baby seems to disappear
I can hear music
Sweet, sweet music
Whenever you touch me baby
Whenever you're near
Loving you
It keeps me satisfied
And I can't explain, oh no
The way I'm feeling inside
You look at me we kiss and then
I close my eyes and here it comes again
I can hear music
I can hear music
The sound of the city baby seems to disappear
I can hear music
Sweet, sweet music
Whenever you touch me baby
Whenever you're near
I hear the music all the time, yeah
I hear the music, hold me tight now baby
I hear the music
I hear the music (baby)
I can hear music
I can hear music
The sound of the city baby seems to disappear
I can hear music
Sweet, sweet music
Whenever you touch me baby
Whenever you're near
The song "I Can Hear Music" by Peggy Lee is a love song that expresses the feelings of a woman who has finally found true love. The lyrics describe how the presence of her lover makes everything around her disappear, and she can only hear the sweet sound of music. The opening lines use a combination of "ahhhh" and "oooo" to create a sense of excitement and joy, setting the tone for the rest of the song. The singer says that being with her lover is the way she always dreamed it would be, and that she's never had a love of her own before.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "I can hear music," emphasizing the idea that being with her lover puts her in a state of bliss. When they kiss, she closes her eyes and the music comes again, signifying that this feeling is never fleeting. The singer says that loving her partner keeps her satisfied, but she can't explain what she's feeling inside, cementing the idea that love is a strong force that transcends words.
The song concludes with a repetition of the chorus, adding to the overall message that love is like music and can be heard and felt all around.
Overall, "I Can Hear Music" is a song that embodies the simple joy of being in love and appreciating the presence of a significant other. The lyrics and melodies intertwine to create a message of happiness and fulfillment that is sure to resonate with anyone who's ever experienced love.
Line by Line Meaning
Ahhhhhh, oooooo
The song begins with non-verbal vocalizations expressing happiness and contentment.
This is the way
The singer is pleased with the current state of things and everything seems to be going well.
I always dreamed it would be
The singer has had certain expectations and longings that have been met through being with the person they love.
The way that it is, oh, oh
The current situation is exactly what the singer wants and is very enjoyable.
When you are holding me
The embrace of the person the singer loves makes them feel happy and secure.
I never had a love of my own
The singer had not previously experienced being in love.
Maybe that's why when we're all alone
The lack of prior romantic relationships may have contributed to the strong feelings the singer has for their current partner.
I can hear music
The singer is experiencing a heightened state of happiness and excitement.
The sound of the city baby seems to disappear
The world outside fades away, and the singer is fully absorbed in their romantic experience.
Sweet, sweet music
The singer is really enjoying the experience and is happy.
Whenever you touch me baby
The singer is very sensitive to the touch of their partner, which triggers feelings of happiness and joy.
Loving you
The singer is grateful to be in a romantic relationship with their partner.
It keeps me satisfied
The singer feels fulfilled and content in their relationship.
And I can't explain, oh no
The singer is so overwhelmed with happiness that they are at a loss for words.
The way I'm feeling inside
The singer is experiencing intense emotions because of their romantic situation.
You look at me we kiss and then
The singer is describing a scenario in which they meet eyes with their partner and then kiss.
I close my eyes and here it comes again
The singer is describing the feeling of being overwhelmed with happy emotions again.
I hear the music all the time, yeah
The singer is living in a heightened state of happiness and feels the effects of the happiness constantly.
I hear the music, hold me tight now baby
Being held by their partner brings the singer happiness and makes them feel secure.
Whenever you're near
The presence of the singer's partner is a source of joy and happiness.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Abkco Music Inc.
Written by: Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Phil Spector
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?