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 Got It Bad
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I'm in love and I know what time it is!
The Good Book says "Go seek and ye shall find
"Well, I have sought and my what a climb it is!
My life is just like the weatherIt changes with the hours
When he's near I'm fair and warmer
When he's gone I'm cloudy with showers;in emotion
Like the ocean it's either sink or swim
Never treats me sweet and gentle the way he should
I got it bad and that ain't good!
My poor heart is sentimental not made of wood
I got it bad and that ain't good!
But when the weekend's over and Monday rolls aroun'
I end up like I start out just cryin' my heart out
He don't love me like I love him nobody could
I got it bad and that ain't good
Like a lonely weeping willow lost in the wood
I got it bad and that ain't good!
And the things I tell my pillow no woman should
I got it bad and that ain't good!
Tho folks with good intentions ell me to save my tears
I'm glad I'm mad about him I can't live without him
Lord above me make him love me the way he should
I got it bad and that ain't good
In Peggy Lee's "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," the lyrics describe the all-consuming, passionate nature of love, and the overwhelming emotions that come with it. The singer acknowledges that her beloved doesn't always treat her well, but she can't help but love him anyway. She likens her emotions to the weather, constantly changing with his presence or absence. It's clear that her feelings have consumed her entirely, leaving her vulnerable and sentimental. The lyrics reflect the deep-seated desire for reciprocated love, and the fear of never receiving it. The singer's yearning is palpable, and listeners can hear the pain in Lee's lamenting voice.
The lyrics also reference various quotations from the Bible and other sources, highlighting the universality of heartbreak and the desire for love. The line "The poets say that all who love are blind" emphasizes the all-consuming nature of love, which can often make rational thinking nearly impossible. Even when the singer's friends and family tell her to save her tears, she still wants nothing more than to be loved by her man in return. The sentimentality and vulnerability conveyed through the lyrics are characteristic of Lee's work as a whole, which often explores the complexities of human emotion.
Line by Line Meaning
The poets say that all who love are blind
Some say that love leads to blindness, but I am aware of my feelings.
But I'm in love and I know what time it is!
I am in love and fully aware of the reality of my situation.
The Good Book says "Go seek and ye shall find
The Bible advises us to search for what we desire.
"Well, I have sought and my what a climb it is!
I have searched for love and it has been a difficult journey.
My life is just like the weather
My life and emotions are always changing and unpredictable.
It changes with the hours
My moods can change rapidly throughout the day.
When he's near I'm fair and warmer
When the man I love is near, I feel happy and content.
When he's gone I'm cloudy with showers; in emotion
When he is away, I am emotionally unstable and unhappy.
Like the ocean it's either sink or swim
My emotions are intense and can be overwhelming, like waves in the ocean.
When a woman loves a man like I love him
The depth of a woman's love for a man can be all-consuming, as it is for me.
Never treats me sweet and gentle the way he should
The man I love does not treat me with the kindness and tenderness that I deserve.
I got it bad and that ain't good!
My love for this man is consuming and painful because he does not treat me well.
My poor heart is sentimental not made of wood
My heart is sensitive and emotional, not hardened and unfeeling.
But when the weekend's over and Monday rolls aroun'
After a fleeting weekend with the man I love, the reality of my situation hits me on Monday.
I end up like I start out just cryin' my heart out
I often end up crying alone because of the pain this man causes me.
He don't love me like I love him nobody could
The man I love does not love me as deeply as I love him, and no one else ever could.
Like a lonely weeping willow lost in the wood
I feel lost and alone, like a weeping willow tree in a forest.
I got it bad and that ain't good!
My love for this man is consuming and painful, and it is not good for me.
And the things I tell my pillow no woman should
I confess my deepest and most vulnerable feelings to my pillow, which is something no woman should have to do.
Tho folks with good intentions ell me to save my tears
People often tell me to stop crying and save my emotions, but I cannot help how I feel.
I'm glad I'm mad about him I can't live without him
Despite the pain he causes me, I cannot imagine my life without the man I love.
Lord above me make him love me the way he should
I pray to a higher power for the man I love to treat me the way I deserve to be treated.
I got it bad and that ain't good
My love for this man is all-consuming to the point where it causes me pain, and that is not good for me.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@carlosroberto3423
Como sensação maravilhosa ouvir essa voz. Que orquestra maravilhosa.
@Vazmusic
The orchestration is wonderful at that point! So adventurous for that era.I would bet this is an Eddie Sauter arrangement. PEggy was such an amazing singer! Best phrasing.
@Harmonia96
I heard this in Tom and Jerry's old cartoons, and I loved that tune!
@Alffovinni
awesome!
@drfortheorlingas
wow!! i have been looking for this version for so long!! i love !!
@paulostroff99
Superb singing.TY T.U.G.for posting.
@AGrayPhantom
I've got it so bad, I can barely remenber when I had it good.
@AmaryllisAlba
Я обожаю Пегги!! I adore Peggy!! Io adoro Peggy!! And your...
@yurianimiska
That would be Benny Goodman's take on the song...trying to make a dance number out of a heartbreak song...it was what the bandleaders did....have to agree with you, though...less moving, but i CAN dance to it
@rewardless
ooh so cool...