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."
It's a Good Good Night
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ring the bell 'cause all is well
It's a good, good night
I can feel it in the air
Feel that love is everywhere
On this good, good night
Got a feeling I can't lose
And it's nothing like the blues
'Cause it's a good, good night
I wanna shout from a steeple
"Isn't it wonderful, isn't it great
Hello people, who needs a reason to celebrate?"
On this good, good night
I've got happiness to spare
That I'd really like to share with you
On this good, good night
Hear ye, hear ye
Get your brush and let's paint the town
It's a good, good night
It's a good, good night
I wanna shout from a steeple
"Isn't it wonderful, isn't it great
Hello people, who needs a reason to celebrate?"
On this good, good night
I've got happiness to spare
That I'd really like to share with you
On this good, good, good, good, good, good night
Peggy Lee's song "It's a Good Good Night" is an upbeat, optimistic song about feeling happy and in love. The song opens with the exclamation "Hear ye, hear ye, ring the bell 'cause all is well", immediately setting the tone for the jubilant celebrations that are to follow. Peggy Lee sings about feeling a sense of joy and excitement in the air, with love seeming to be everywhere around her. She contrasts this feeling with the blues, which she insists are nowhere to be found on this good, good night.
The chorus of the song expresses Peggy Lee's desire to share her happiness with everyone around her. She imagines shouting from a steeple to declare the greatness of the night and encourages others to join her in celebrating. The song's overall message is one of positivity and the importance of cherishing good moments in life.
The song's lively, jazz-inspired melody and catchy lyrics made it a popular hit for Peggy Lee. The song was released in 1962 and was included on her album "Bewitching-Lee". Interestingly, "It's a Good Good Night" was recorded as part of a "live-in-studio" session, meaning that the musicians played together in the same room while Peggy Lee sang, as opposed to recording the different parts separately and layering them together later.
Line by Line Meaning
Hear ye, hear ye
Listen, listen everyone
Ring the bell 'cause all is well
Sound the bell because everything is alright
It's a good, good night
It's a wonderful night
I can feel it in the air
I can sense the joyful atmosphere
Feel that love is everywhere
Believe that love is all around
On this good, good night
At this amazing moment
Every thing's just right
Everything is perfect
Got a feeling I can't lose
I'm feeling confident and positive
And it's nothing like the blues
And there's no sadness or melancholy
'Cause it's a good, good night
Because it's an excellent, fabulous night
I wanna shout from a steeple
I want to scream from a tall building
"Isn't it wonderful, isn't it great
"Isn't this fantastic, isn't this amazing
Hello people, who needs a reason to celebrate?"
Hey everyone, who needs a specific occasion to be happy?
On this good, good night
At this enjoyable moment
I've got happiness to spare
I have plenty of joy to share
That I'd really like to share with you
That I want to share with you
Hear ye, hear ye
Listen, listen everyone
Get your brush and let's paint the town
Let's go out and have fun everywhere
It's a good, good night
It's a terrific, fabulous night
It's a good, good night
It's an excellent, wonderful night
I wanna shout from a steeple
I want to scream from a tall building
"Isn't it wonderful, isn't it great
"Isn't this fantastic, isn't this amazing
Hello people, who needs a reason to celebrate?"
Hey everyone, who needs a specific occasion to be happy?
On this good, good night
At this enjoyable moment
I've got happiness to spare
I have plenty of joy to share
That I'd really like to share with you
That I want to share with you
On this good, good, good, good, good, good night
On this amazing, incredible night
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PEGGY LEE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@krack-a-lacker
Yes, it's a good day for singing a song,
and it's a good day for moving along;
Yes, it's a good day, how could anything be wrong,
A good day from morning' till night
Yes, it's a good day for shining your shoes,
and it's a good day for losing the blues;
Everything to gain and nothing' to lose,
A good day from morning' till night
I said to the Sun, "Good morning sun
Rise and shine today"
You know you've gotta get going
If you're gonna make a showin'
And you you've got the right of way.
'Cause it's a good day for paying your bills;
And it's a good day for curing your ills,
So take a deep breath and throw away the pills;
'Cause it's a good day from morning' till night.
@АгнияАгния-ш3л
Yes, it's a good day for singing a song,
and it's a good day for moving alone; (ALONG)
Yes, it's a good day, how could anything go wrong,
A good day from morning' till night
Yes, it's a good day for shining your shoes,
and it's a good day for losing the blues;
Everything go gain and nothing' to lose, (TO GAIN)
`Cause it's a good day from morning' till night
I said to the Sun, " Good morning sun
Rise and shine today"
You know you've gotta get going
If you're gonna make a showin'
And you know you've got the right of way.
`Cause it's a good day for paying your bills;
And it's a good day for curing your ills,
So take a deep breath and throw away your pills;
`Cause it's a good day from morning' till night.
@sharondelano9667
This happy, uplifting song should be played everywhere; stores, subways, restaurants, etc. Thank you for sharing it. 😄 🌞 💖
@Kelly-nm4kw
Hello Sharon, How are you doing?
@elle5031
I was thinking the same thing...
@miovicdina7706
Absolutely!
@mat420AU
DAYUM STRAIGHT
@RudolphCasas
@@Kelly-nm4kw Deed I do
@RobertSilvestri86
"It's a Good Day"was written by Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour and published in 1946. Peggy Lee's recording reached the Billboard charts in January, 1947 peaking at No. 16.
@okokokok1457
Simply wonderful
@MarkBlackburnWPG
Thanks for the informed note, Robert Silvestri.
@southernbiscuits1275
I've always loved Peggy Lee's songs. This one makes me feel happy and positive. What a gift to music lovers!!