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."
The Way You Look Tonight
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the world is cold
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight
Yes, you're lovely
With your smile so warm, and your cheek so soft
There is nothing for me but to love you
With each word your tenderness grows
Tearing my fear apart
And that smile that wrinkles your nose
Touches my foolish heart
Lovely, never, never change
Keep that breathless charm
Won't you please arrange it, 'cause I love you
Just the way you look tonight
Just the way you look tonight
The lyrics of "The Way You Look Tonight" by Peggy Lee are a sweet and romantic ode to the beauty of the person being addressed. The song talks about the times when the singer is feeling down, and how just the thought of the person they adore can bring a warm feeling to their heart. The lyrics go on focusing on the physical attributes of the person, in particular their warm smile and soft cheeks. The singer's love is conveyed through these lyrics, stating that there is nothing left for them but to love this person.
As the song goes on, it speaks to the emotional connection between the two people, as the singer's fear is torn apart by the tender words spoken by their love. The song describes the way the person's smile affects the singer's heart, making it foolishly beat faster. The lyrics then circle back to the physical attributes of the person, describing their breathless charm and pleading for them to never change. The final lyric reiterates the love the singer holds for this person, declaring that they love them just the way they look tonight.
Overall, the lyrics of "The Way You Look Tonight" are simple and serve to express the singer's profound love for the person being addressed. The focus on physical beauty is tempered by the emotional connection between the two people, and the song's romantic tone is carried through by the repeated affirmations of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Someday, when I'm awfully low
In difficult times, when I am feeling very down
And the world is cold
When everything around me seems cold and unwelcoming
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
The thought of you will generate warmth and happiness within me
And the way you look tonight
In particular, the way that you look tonight will bring me comfort and joy
Yes, you're lovely
You are truly beautiful
With your smile so warm, and your cheek so soft
Your warm smile and soft cheeks add to your beauty
There is nothing for me but to love you
I cannot help but love you
Just the way you look tonight
Especially when you look the way you do tonight
With each word your tenderness grows
Your kindness and affection become more apparent with every word you say
Tearing my fear apart
Breaking down any fears or doubts I may have about our love
And that smile that wrinkles your nose
Even the little imperfections in your smile, like the wrinkles in your nose, only make me love you more
Touches my foolish heart
Your smile and love have a profound effect on my heart
Lovely, never, never change
Please never change from being the lovely person you are
Keep that breathless charm
Maintain that disarming quality that leaves me breathless
Won't you please arrange it, 'cause I love you
Please keep this charm intact, because I love you for who you are
Just the way you look tonight
Especially when you look the way you do tonight
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@garyk.nedrow8302
This song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film, "Swing Time" and was a major hit. This version by Goodman and Lee in 1942 is more romantic and features Lee's pure vocals (no tremolos, no affectations). It sounds deceptively simple until you try to duplicate Lee's phrasing and breath control. Here the orchestra plays too softly to cover any mistakes, and Lee hits every note in perfect time. Note her crisp articulation; that was typical of all Big Band singers. Lee is better known for her later jazz classics, such as "Fever," "I'm a Woman," and "Black Coffee," but in the Big Band era, lead singers had to be able to sing in a range of styles, which she could. She was one of the best. In her youth, she sang lovely ballads like this one as well as anyone.
@musicola7371
This is a recording with the Benny Goodman Sextet, not with the big band orchestra.
@duvawn1
There is a story that she tried singing this at a new york night club, but no one listened to her! So she started singing louder, but that was no good. The audience just talked right over her. Then a friend gave her some advice, sing very softly. Soon enough the whole club quieted down just to hear what she was singing. What a beautiful voice.
@zeekfromthecreek
Maybe that's how she got the reputation of not having a particularly loud voice.
@fifermcgee5971
She's an American treasure.
@celestialgz
I was looking everywhere to find out who was the lovely voice singing in this song (on the benny goodman sextet album ) but I'm so glad that I did now and especially reading this story as well. I also have a quiet and soft voice and enjoy singing but I'm not very good at it and have only sung to myself. I'm way too shy to sing to anyone but hearing this story is resonating with me somehow. sing for you and carry your own voice the way it was meant to rather than try to please everyone in the room
@littledrummerboy28
Absolutely stunning performance, Peggy; with the celeste tinkling in the background it has a very hauntingly music box sound, RIP Peg.
@GrandmaGazella
A singer's singer!
@markspeer7868
And while this is certainly one of Peggy's top recordings (in my book anyway) beautifully showcasing her phrasing and ability to create an intimate feeling with the listener, let's not forget the great composer and lyricist Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. And while I am at it, thanks to whomever at Columbia did the wonderful arrangement!
@Blade-Thing
And they say our generation's music is dark. This is beautiful!