Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee ( born May 26, 1920 in Jamestown, North Dakota as Norma Delores Egstrom; † January 21, 2002 in Bel Air, Los Angeles ) was an American singer and songwriter in the fields of popular music and jazz, as well as an actress.

Life and work

Peggy Lee heard as a teenager, the Count Basie Orchestra on the radio and learned it self-taught singing. In Fargo, where she lived with her ​​family, she sang with fourteen years at the radio station WDAY; In 1937, she first went to Los Angeles, but returned back already after a gig to Fargo. In 1939, she joined the Welcome to Osborne Orchestra and with local bands in Minneapolis and St. Louis. In 1941 she sang at the Hotel Ambassador West in the vocal group The Four of Us. Benny Goodman heard Lee at their guest performance at the Buttery Room in Chicago and took them up in his band, with the first recordings they made ​​already in August 1941 ( Elmer 's Tune ).

In 1942, Lee their first number -one hit with Somebody Else Is Taking My Place. In 1943, she joined with Goodman's band in the films Stage Door Canteen and The Powers Girl and sang Why Do not You Do Right? , Which made them famous overnight with more than one million copies sold. After her marriage with Dave Barbour (who is also her partner as a songwriter from 1943 to 1951 was ) she left the Goodman band. 1944 was her first solo record for Capitol. Her daughter Nicki was born and Lee paused until they brought out in 1946 together with Barbour ( and with the help of Johnny Mercer ) the hit I Do not Know Enough About You, followed in 1947 by It's a Good Day.

1952 Peggy Lee moved to the Decca label, where she recorded the song with Marty Paich and Lover reüssierte 1953 with their album Black Coffee; Also she appeared in a revised edition of the revue The Jazz Singer. In 1954 she wrote the title theme for Nicholas Ray - Western Johnny Guitar - If women hate; also for the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp (1955 ) she wrote some songs and sued in the 1990s, the Disney corporation successfully on payment of additional license fees for the use of these songs on 1955 yet unknown media. As a songwriter Lee worked among others with Dave Barbour, Sonny Burke, Cy Coleman, Dave Grusin, Johnny Mandel, Marian McPartland, John Pisano and Milt Raskin together.

In addition to her musical achievements, including the World Hits Golden Earrings (1947 ) Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me) (1948 ) or Fever ( 1958), she starred in several films with: For her role in It Happened One Night was 1956 nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actress. In 1957 she returned to Capitol and played the album The Man I Love by Nelson Riddle one.

In 1961 she took with the Quincy Jones Orchestra on a blues album, Blues Cross Country. 1969 she managed the transition from big band music that was now decried in the U.S. as "Parent 's Music " to jazz -influenced pop with songs by George Harrison ( Something ) and Randy Newman ( Love Story ) on the album Is That All There is?.

1972 came out her last Capitol album Norma Delores Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota. In 1974, she played for an Atlantic album Let's Love, for which Paul McCartney wrote the theme song. In 1993, she published in 1988 recorded last album with songs by Harold Arlen.

Peggy Lee was married four times, from 1943 to 1951 with the guitarist of the Benny Goodman band Dave Barbour, from January 1953 to September 1953 with actor Brad Dexter, from 1956 to 1958 with the actor Dewey Martin and from 1964 to 1965 with the Actor Jack Del Rio. All four marriages ended in divorce. She had a daughter, Nicki Lee Foster, from his marriage to Dave Barbour.

Awards

Lee was twelve times nominated for a Grammy Award. In 1970, she received the award in the category Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her hit Is That All There Is? . In 1995, she was honored for her life's work with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Lee also received the Roughrider Award of the State of North Dakota, the Pied Piper Award from ASCAP, the Presidents Award from the Songwriters Guild of America, the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society of Singers, and the Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center. 1999 Peggy Lee was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Disco printing specifications

• The Complete Recordings 1941-1947 (Sony, ed 1999)
• Black Coffee ( Decca, Verve Records, 1953)
• Dream Street ( Decca, 1957)
• Beauty and the Beat! ( Capitol, 1959)
• Christmas Carrousel ( Capitol, 1960)
• Then What Them, Now Is Now ( Capitol, 1965)
• Is That All There Is? ( Capitol, 1969)
• Where Did They Go ( Capitol, 1973)
• Mirrors ( 1975)
• Close Enough for Love ( 1979)
• Peggy Lee Sings the Blues ( 1988)

Collection

• The Complete Peggy Lee and June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions ( Mosaic - 1998) 5 CDs Peggy Lee, among others with Dave Barbour, Buddy Cole, George Van Eps, Nick Fatool, Frank De Vol Orchestra.