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."
Summertime
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high
Oh your daddy's rich
And your ma is good lookin'
So hush little baby
One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
And you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky
Till that morning
There ain't nothing can harm you
With daddy and mammy
Standing by
One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
And you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky
But till that morning
There ain't nothing can harm you
With daddy and mammy
Standing, standing by
Peggy Lee's version of "Summertime" is a classic interpretation of this song, which has been covered by many artists since its creation. This song is originally from the opera "Porgy and Bess" by George Gershwin, and it was written in 1935. The lyrics express the joys of summertime, especially the abundance of fish and crops. The singer's mood is carefree, as the season creates the ideal environment for rest and relaxation. The refrain "hush little baby, don't you cry" is meant to reassure the listener of their safety, with the father and mother standing by, protecting them from harm.
One of the significant themes of the song is the contrast between poverty and wealth. The phrase "your daddy's rich, and your mama's good-lookin'" highlights that your social status can determine your opportunities and perspective on life. Despite this divisiveness, the song creates a sense of unity by suggesting that we can all enjoy the beauty of summertime together. The song's repetition of the line "one of these mornings, you're gonna rise up singing" implies that we will overcome our challenges with time.
Overall, Peggy Lee's version of "Summertime" expresses the leisure and tranquility of summertime while acknowledging life's challenges. It is a reminder to appreciate the beauty in our lives, to value the people around us, and to focus on our future aspirations.
Line by Line Meaning
Summertime
The start of a period of happiness and relaxation
And the livin' is easy
The seasonal change brings a sense of ease and carelessness
Fish are jumpin'
Nature is active and lively
And the cotton is high
The crops are healthy and thriving
Oh your daddy's rich
The comfort of having financial security
And your ma is good lookin'
The pride and happiness of having a beautiful and esteemed mother figure
So hush little baby
Comfort through the reassurance of a loved one
Don't you cry
Emphasizing the sense of safety and contentment
One of these mornings
A time in the future, emphasizing hope and anticipation
You're going to rise up singing
A time when they will feel joyful and full of life
And you'll spread your wings
A realization of potential and freedom
And you'll take to the sky
A metaphor for soaring opportunities and limitless possibility
Till that morning
Until that time in the future, emphasizing patience and perseverance
There ain't nothing can harm you
The safety and protection of having a supportive family
With daddy and mammy
Emphasizing the sense of family and support
Standing by
Being there and providing comfort and protection
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Heyward, Du Bose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@richardlawless3989
So underestimated. Great voice.
@KeepDante2
Peggy Lee was also one of women writing their own songs....
@MichaelHeinz4
Fully agree! To some extent Peggy sings "a bit" within the range of sultry expression, as Billie Holiday often has done.....
...just a shy thought while trying to connect two great voices, two great artists....
@pierrelesage7097
the best version, IMHO.
@KeepDante2
am trying to find a way to 'show' my therapist' a lullaby......many other great renditions.....but this is what it was written to be...
@pierrelesage7097
superbe Summertime, renouvellé
@idontneedmyownname8035
😍😍😍