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."
Ridin' High
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Future, all planned
No more, clouds in the sky
How I'm ridin' I'm ridin' high
Someone, I love
Mad for, my love
So long, Jonah, goodbye
Floating, on a starlit ceiling
Doting, on the cards I'm dealing
Gloating, because I'm feeling so hap-hap-happy, I'm slap-happy
So ring bells, sing songs
Blow horns, beat gongs
Our love, never will die
How I'm ridin' I'm ridin' high
Someone, I love
Mad for, my love
So long, Jonah, goodbye
How I'm ridin' I'm ridin' high
Floating, on a starlit ceiling
Doting, on the cards I'm dealing
Gloating, because I'm feeling so hap-hap-happy, I'm slap-happy
So ring bells, sing songs
Blow horns, beat gongs
Our love, never will die
How I'm ridin' I'm ridin' high
In this song, Peggy Lee expresses her sheer thrill about a future that she has perfectly planned. Lee is "ridin' high" and feels unstoppable. Furthermore, she is confident and passionate about a particular person, who seems to love her back romantically. She confidently waves goodbye to anyone who might stand in their way, possibly symbolized by "Jonah," who in the Bible story, sailed against God's will and faced storms until he was thrown out of the ship.
These lyrics use various ways to describe how happy Peggy Lee is in her current state of being. She describes herself as floating on a "starlit ceiling" and enjoying the cards she has been dealt. She's even gloating in her happiness because of just how thrilled she is. She encourages others to celebrate with her, as love dies never but will always thrive.
Interestingly, this song has been covered multiple times but with different lyrics from the original songwriters' version. For example, Alabama used the chorus with completely different lyrics in their song "High Cotton." It was featured in the 1936 Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers musical comedy "On Your Toes," performed by Ray Bolger in the original production. "Ridin' High" was Peggy Lee's first solo single with Decca Records, and it is a classic showcasing her seductive style of singing. The song was also one of 15 songs given an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song in 1936. Lee herself performed the song in the 1941 film "Ride 'Em Cowboy" and made it a popular anthem among her fans.
Additionally, Peggy Lee's rendition has been used in popular culture in various ways. For example, it was featured in the film "The Fabulous Baker Boys" where Michelle Pfeiffer sang the song on top of a piano in a memorable scene. "Ridin' High" also marked a transitional phase in Lee's career, where she went from being a featured vocalist to a prolific solo artist. James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, the famous American songwriting duo, collaborated in writing this song.
As for the chords, the song is mainly played in the key of D Major, with the following chord progression:
Intro: D G D
Verse: D B7 Em A7 D B7 Em A7 D G D
Chorus: D G A7 G D G A7 D
Overall, "Ridin' High" is a jubilant love song that Peggy Lee performs eloquently, with delicate nuance that is typical of her style. She encapsulates the joy of being in love and the excitement of the future, making it such a classic tune that continues to be loved and covered to this day.
Line by Line Meaning
Life's great, life's grand
I am currently in a state of great pleasure and fortune.
Future, all planned
All my future endeavors are laid out in front of me and I am prepared to execute them.
No more, clouds in the sky
All obstacles have been removed and I am now living freely without any hindrances.
How I'm ridin' I'm ridin' high
I am currently at the height of my happiness and contentment.
Someone, I love
There is a person in my life that I have strong feelings for.
Mad for, my love
I am extremely passionate about this person.
So long, Jonah, goodbye
I am saying farewell to any negativity or negative influences in my life.
Floating, on a starlit ceiling
I am experiencing a sense of weightlessness and euphoria.
Doting, on the cards I'm dealing
I am cherishing the good fortune that has come my way.
Gloating, because I'm feeling so hap-hap-happy, I'm slap-happy
I am expressing my pride and joy for being so incredibly happy.
So ring bells, sing songs
I am celebrating and expressing my elation.
Blow horns, beat gongs
I am making noise and having a good time in the midst of my happiness.
Our love, never will die
My love for the aforementioned person will never fade away.
How I'm ridin' I'm ridin' high
I am currently at the height of my happiness and contentment.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
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?