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."
Through the eyes of love
Peggy Lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's everything I am
Everything I want to be
I can see what's mine now
Finding out what's true
Since I found you
Looking through the eyes of love
Now, I can take the time
As it comes up shining now
Reaching out to touch you
I can feel so much
Since I found you
Looking through the eyes of love
And now, I do believe
That even in a storm we'll find some light
Knowing you're beside me, I'm all right
Please, don't let this feeling end
It might not come again
And I want to remember
How it feels to touch you
How I feel so much
Since I found you
Looking through the eyes of love
Peggy Lee's classic song "Through The Eyes Of Love" is a beautiful declaration of love and the transformative power it can have. The song describes a feeling of complete contentment and belonging, with the singer asking for this feeling to never end. She describes how finding love has allowed her to see her world differently, and now she can see what is truly important in her life.
The lyrics also suggest that this newfound love has given the singer a sense of purpose, and that she now has a greater appreciation for the beauty of life. The line "I can see my life / As it comes up shining now" suggests that she is now able to fully embrace and enjoy her life, thanks to the love she has found.
The chorus "Looking through the eyes of love" is particularly poignant, as it suggests that love has allowed the singer to see the world in a whole new light. Through the eyes of love, everything appears brighter and more beautiful, and the singer is grateful to have found someone who has shown her this new perspective.
Overall, Peggy Lee's "Through The Eyes Of Love" is a powerful testament to the transformative power of love, and a beautiful reminder of the beauty of life when seen through the eyes of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Please, don't let this feeling end
I am so content and fulfilled at the moment that I fear it might eventually disappear
It's everything I am
My love for you is the core of my identity and existence
Everything I want to be
Being with you allows me to realize my dreams and aspirations
I can see what's mine now
Being in love with you has enhanced my awareness and understanding of what really belongs to me
Finding out what's true
Through being with you, I am discovering a deeper sense of authenticity and genuineness
Since I found you
My life has been transformed positively since I met you
Looking through the eyes of love
My perception of reality has become beautifully tinted by the love I have for you
Now, I can take the time
Being in a relationship with you has given me the freedom and opportunity to lead a more productive life
I can see my life
My existence is clearer and more organized now that I'm with you
As it comes up shining now
My life is more radiant and brilliant than ever before
Reaching out to touch you
I desire to connect with you on a more intimate level
I can feel so much
The love and emotions I have for you are immeasurable and profound
And now, I do believe
After discovering you, I have been blessed with a sense of faith and assurance
That even in a storm we'll find some light
No matter the challenges we face, I am confident that brighter moments will eventually emerge
Knowing you're beside me, I'm all right
Only by being with you do I feel comforted and secure
It might not come again
I am aware that the happiness and fulfillment I feel now might not be permanent
And I want to remember
I desire to hold onto and cherish the moments of joy and love I get to experience with you
How it feels to touch you
The physical interaction and affection between us generates a feeling of euphoria and bliss
How I feel so much
I feel so much love and happiness solely because of you
Since I found you
My life has been indescribably more enriched, full and fulfilling since I met you
Looking through the eyes of love
The love we have for each other has changed the lens through which I view the world and my life
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Carole Sager, Marvin Hamlisch
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?