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."
Light of Love
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm gonna open up all of my doors
I'm gonna open up all of my doors
And let the light of love come in
I'm gonna say a prayer every day
Till some happiness come my way
I'm gonna open up all of my doorsAnd let the light of love come in
Gonna open up the front door
The wide door, the back door, the side door
All the doors to my heart
Gonna open up the left door
The right door, the day door, the night door
Now's the time to start
Gonna put aside everything
'Cause I wanna hear door bells ring
I'm gonna open up all of my doors
And let the light of love come in
Gonna open up the front door
The wide door, the back door, the side door
All the doors to my heart
Gonna open up the left door
The right door, the day door, the night door
Now's the time to start
I'm gonna put aside everything
'Cause I wanna hear door bells ring
Gonna open up all of my doors
And let the light of love come in
And let the light of love come in
The lyrics of Peggy Lee's song "Light of Love" express a desire to open up all the doors of the heart to allow the light of love to come in. The repetition of this verse adds emphasis and reinforces the idea that the songwriter is committed to opening up all of her heart to love. Additionally, the sentiment of the song suggests a willingness to make changes in order to facilitate the arrival of love.
The second verse highlights the writer's commitment to prayer and positivity. The lyrics express a dedication to saying a prayer every day until happiness comes her way. This line suggests that the songwriter is hopeful and optimistic, despite not currently having found love. The choice of words also suggests that happiness and love are intertwined, further emphasizing the theme of love throughout the song.
The final verse reiterates the opening sentiment of the song and the idea of opening doors in one's heart. The specific doors mentioned - the front door, wide door, back door, side door, left door, right door, day door, and night door - all indicate a thorough opening of oneself to love at all times of the day and from all directions. The final lines of the song convey that the songwriter is actively taking steps to make this happen and change her life for the better.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm gonna open up all of my doors
I will no longer withhold myself and my heart, I will be open to love in all its forms
And let the light of love come in
I will allow myself to experience the beauty and warmth of love
I'm gonna say a prayer every day
I will set my intention and invite positive energy and happiness into my life
Till some happiness come my way
I will continue to pray and hope for my desired outcome until it manifests
Gonna open up the front door
I will be receptive to new beginnings and opportunities
The wide door, the back door, the side door
I will not limit myself to one particular path or source of love
All the doors to my heart
I will be vulnerable and transparent in my pursuit of love
Gonna open up the left door
I will embrace my intuition and follow my heart
The right door, the day door, the night door
I will remain open and receptive to love in all its forms, even during difficult or uncertain times
Now's the time to start
I am ready and willing to embark on this journey towards love
Gonna put aside everything
I will let go of any fears, doubts, or distractions that may hinder my pursuit of love
'Cause I wanna hear door bells ring
I am eager to experience the joy and excitement that comes with finding love
And let the light of love come in
I am ready to accept and bask in the radiance of love
Contributed by Noah E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@fromthesidelines
Recorded on September 14, 1958.
Accompanied by the Evelyn Freeman Singers.
John Williams, piano
@TheLeonhamm
Ye! Haw! Glory Hall-e-lulah! Good fun. Not the Perfect Pop of 'Fever' but very jolly.
What an era!
@山田新吾-k4b
このナンバーは初めて聴く。🎵「ウーマン」くらいしか知らなかった。