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 Didn't Know What Time It Was
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Danced with Jim and Paul and kissed some other chaps
Once I was young, but never was naive
I thought I had a trick or two up my imaginary sleeve
And now I know I was naive
I didn't know what time it was
Then I met you
How sublime it was too!
I didn't know what day it was
Then you held my hand
Warm like the month of May it was
And I'll say it was grand
Grand to be alive, to be young
To be mad, to be yours alone
Grand to see your face, feel your touch
Hear your voice say I'm all your own
I didn't know what year it was
Life was no prize
I wanted love and here it was
Shining out of your eyes
Once I was old, twenty years or so
Rather well preserved, the wrinkles didn't show
Once I was old, but not too old for fun
I used to hunt for little girls up my imaginary gun
But now I ain't for only one
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I'm so wise and I know what time it is now
The lyrics to Peggy Lee's song "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" can be interpreted as a journey of growth and self-discovery. The first verse describes the singer's youth and their experiences of dancing and kissing various people. However, they admit that they were never naive and always thought they had a "trick or two up [their] imaginary sleeve." This suggests that the singer may have been masking their insecurities with a façade of confidence.
The chorus describes the life-changing moment when the singer met their current love interest. They state that they "didn't know what time it was" before meeting this person, indicating a lack of direction or purpose in their life. However, meeting this person changed everything, and the time they spent together was "lovely" and "sublime." The singer then goes on to describe how being with this person made them feel alive, young, and madly in love.
The second verse is an interesting contrast to the first. The singer is now old, but still desires to have fun and hunt for little girls. However, they state that they are now "wise" and no longer seeking multiple partners. This could suggest that the singer has grown and matured over time, and now values a commitment to one person over a more superficial lifestyle. The repetition of the line "I'm wise and I know what time it is now" emphasizes this newfound wisdom and self-awareness.
Overall, "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" is a song that explores themes of love, growth, and self-discovery. It suggests that meeting the right person can change everything and help a person find direction and purpose in their life.
Line by Line Meaning
Once I was young, yesterday, perhaps
I used to be young, maybe recently
Danced with Jim and Paul and kissed some other chaps
I used to dance with Jim and Paul and kiss other men
Once I was young, but never was naive
I may have been young, but I wasn't foolish
I thought I had a trick or two up my imaginary sleeve
I believed I had a few tricks up my sleeve, but they were imaginary
And now I know I was naive
I realize now that I was naive in my thoughts and actions
I didn't know what time it was
I was ignorant of the time
Then I met you
But when I met you
Oh, what a lovely time it was
It was a wonderful time
How sublime it was too!
It was also very grand
I didn't know what day it was
I was unaware of the day
Then you held my hand
Until you took my hand
Warm like the month of May it was
Your touch was as warm as May
And I'll say it was grand
And I must say it was magnificent
Grand to be alive, to be young
It was wonderful to be alive, to be young
To be mad, to be yours alone
To be crazy, and to belong to only you
Grand to see your face, feel your touch
It was magnificent to look at your face and feel your touch
Hear your voice say I'm all your own
To hear your voice say that I belong to you
I didn't know what year it was
I wasn't aware of the year
Life was no prize
Life wasn't great
I wanted love and here it was
I yearned for love, and found it here
Shining out of your eyes
Radiating out of your eyes
Once I was old, twenty years or so
I used to be older, around twenty years or so
Rather well preserved, the wrinkles didn't show
I was well-maintained and didn't show any wrinkles
Once I was old, but not too old for fun
I was old, but not too old to have a good time
I used to hunt for little girls up my imaginary gun
I used to chase younger girls with an imaginary gun
But now I ain't for only one
But now I am only for one person
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I'm now wise and understand the current situation
I'm so wise and I know what time it is now
I'm incredibly wise and understand the current situation
I'm wise and I know what time it is now
I'm wise and truly understand the present moment
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lenfoxman244
Thank G_d we have her recordings-She lives on!
@joehallen4510
I LOVE THIS & I LOVE PEGGY LEE MORE THAN SHE WILL EVER KNOW!!! RIP DEAR PEGGY LEE
@hopperkrane12
Magnificent! Peggy was extraordinary!
@joehallen4510
Still sensational!!!
@AquaAguaWaterEau-DMP
Première musique du générique de fin de "Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite" - Pascale BAILLY (2001) avec A. TAUTOU, É. BAER, J. DEPARDIEU...
@AquaAguaWaterEau-DMP
18705.😌
@user-hr6uy5go3q
👑🔔🔴🌷🐔
@rogerluli
Is she in some kind of a hurry to get the song over with ? I mean nothing disresepectful to Ms Lee but this song neds to go slower...Try Ella Fitzgerald.s cover...
@rhythmfield
Just giving it a little pep - I think the tempo was just right, otherwise it would be a gloomy dirge