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."
So What
peggy lee Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And how's the scene with you?
Gee, it's good to see you, babe!
Yeah, I missed you so,
How you'll never know!
Gee, it's good to see you, babe!
Lights went on
All over my face!
You lit up the place,
And you've been gone
Just too long now!
So tell me babe, what's new?
You're glad to see me too!
Hey, my world is spinning!
Now I know I'm winning!
You stay home now,
Don't ever roam now!
And I'll say, babe,
"It's good to see you!".
Gee, it's good to see you, babe!
Gee, it's good to see you, babe!
You walked in,
Lights went on
All over my face!
You lit up the place,
And you've been gone
Just too long now!
So tell me babe, what's new?
You're glad to see me too!
Hey, my world is spinning!
Now I know I'm winning!
You stay home now,
Don't ever roam now!
And I'll say, babe,
"It's good to see you!".
The lyrics of Peggy Lee's song "So What's New" describe a joyful and emotional reunion between two people who have been apart for a long time. The singer expresses their excitement at seeing the other person again, asking about what's new in their life and how things have been. The person they are speaking to has clearly had a significant impact on their life, as indicated by the repeated exclamation of "Gee, it's good to see you, babe!" They missed the person, and seeing them again is an overwhelmingly positive experience that "lights up the place."
The lyrics also express a strong desire for the person to stay close and not to leave again, as the singer tells them to stay home and never roam again. The reunion has rekindled the singer's feelings of happiness and optimism, as indicated by the line "Hey, my world is spinning, now I know I'm winning!" Overall, the song captures the intense emotions of a long-awaited reunion.
Line by Line Meaning
So tell me babe, what's new?
Peggy Lee poses a question to her lover, asking what has been happening in their life since they were last together.
And how's the scene with you?
She further inquires about the state of affairs in the life of the person she's addressing.
Gee, it's good to see you, babe!
The singer expresses her delight in meeting her lover again.
Yeah, I missed you so,
Peggy Lee confesses that she deeply missed her partner during their separation.
How you'll never know!
She conveys that her partner couldn't understand the extent of her longingness for them.
You walked in,
The singer narrates the entry of her lover into the room.
Lights went on
Peggy Lee describes a metaphorical lighting effect on her face to indicate her joyfulness on seeing her partner.
All over my face!
She emphasizes that her happiness was reflected all over her facial expressions.
You lit up the place,
The artist signifies the illuminating effect her lover's presence has on her surroundings.
And you've been gone
Peggy Lee suggests that her lover had been away for an extended period.
Just too long now!
She conveys that the absence of her lover felt unnecessarily long.
You're glad to see me too!
Lee's lover responds positively, stating that they are happy to see her as well.
Hey, my world is spinning!
The artist implies that meeting her partner again has filled her with a sense of elation and excitement.
Now I know I'm winning!
She asserts that her reunion with her lover has put her in a triumphant position.
You stay home now,
Peggy Lee makes a plea to her partner to remain by her side henceforth.
Don't ever roam now!
She ardently requests her lover not to wander away, implying that the separation was hard on her.
And I'll say, babe,
The singer promises to call her lover with an affectionate name and expresses her delight in seeing them again.
"It's good to see you!".
She concludes with a repetition of her earlier statements, expressing joy at meeting her lover after an extended separation.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN PISANO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
James Monroe
On my post on the Herb Alpert version I mentioned that I had never heard that since I was a kid-this is the FIRST time I’ve heard Peggy Lee’s version-which I NEVER knew existed until now! I looked at the label imprint to see that Ms. Lee co-wrote this tune as well! What a nice-sounding cut this is-and it has the sweet pleasing voice that Ms.Lee always had!!! Thanks for finally introducing me to this!!
James Monroe
@Al Cataldo Sounds like you and your friends had GREAT music taste back in the day-Peggy Lee was a wonderful artist and a wonderful lady! Thanks for your feedback on this lovely record!🤗
Al Cataldo
I bought this 45 in high school, was popular in the NE, NYC, Boston ...
James Monroe
@the45prof I sure did-Thanks!🤗😎💯
the45prof
You're most welcome! Glad that you like it.
Peter Emmert
Peggy jumps in every now and then and makes really good 45s.
Tyrone Epps
💘 this song
Yukimi Kasaki
Krinkle , Krinkle. Little Peggy...,.