Peggy Lee. Peggy Lee: Peggy Lee's Thorny Road to Glory - Biography, Facts, Photos
Peggy Guggenheim in her personal museum in a palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice. Around 1979 Photo: PL Gould / IMAGES / Getty Images
Any visitor to Venice, sailing the Grand Canal, will certainly cast a surprised look at the ambitiously conceived, but unfinished palazzo. The Venier family began to build it in the middle of the 18th century, but they only had enough money for a lush foundation and live garden lions. Then finances ran out, and soon the Venetian independence. The Palazzo Venier dei Leoni was inhabited by eccentrics and travelers; the Marquis Casati threw futuristic balls and painted bushes in perky colors, like the heroine of Lewis Carroll; during the Second World War, soldiers of the three occupation armies stayed here. In 1949, the palazzo was acquired by Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) for herself, her dogs and her collection, lived in it for 30 years and remained here even after her death. She is buried right in the garden next to the four-legged pets, and the house still houses the collection that has become part of the artistic empire of the Guggenheim family.
Russian-speaking readers are offered the latest lifetime edition of the memoirs of the Venetian princess Peggy. She began writing them in 1923, the first part was published in 1946, the second in 1960, and the current edition appeared in the year of her death. Here are the memories of a rich, impulsive, inquisitive, passionate and not very happy woman. Her ancestors were Jewish emigrants: one was born in a stable, the other traded on the street. Benjamin, Peggy's father, owned a company that built the elevators of the Eiffel Tower, and drowned on the Titanic. Relatives with their eccentricities reminded Dickensian eccentrics. The Rockefellers, Stillmans and Grants were neighbors.
Art surrounded the heroine with early childhood and all my life. At the age of five, the ceremonial portrait of Peggy and her older sister Benita, who died early in childbirth, was painted by the Munich maestro Franz von Lönbach. Subsequently, Peggy turned the Georgia O'Keeffe painting four times to understand the abstraction, and photographed obscene Pompeian murals for subsequent practical tests. Her first husband, Lawrence Weil, proposed at the Eiffel Tower and showed all the stones of Venice. Peggy wore a headdress made by Vera Sudeikina and earrings - the fantasies of Yves Tanguy and Alexander Calder, and one at a time, because she equally respected surrealism and abstract art. Calder had made a bed for her, too, a fish and a butterfly stirring at the head. In Paris, her family lived in a small skyscraper built by Georges Braque. Peggy crossed the Sahara at the head of a luxurious caravan, "otherwise the desert could not be seen."
The theory of art history was taught to her by Samuel Beckett (a friendly nickname - Oblomov) right in bed, in the pauses between sex and champagne. The main postulate of his theory was: "Art is a living being." Collect and exhibit works of art The Guggenheim began with a noble goal: "To defend the art of its time." At the beginning of the Second World War, she adhered to the rule "buy one picture per day", which, however, was quite profitable.
Guggenheim P. At the peak of the century: the confession of an obsessed art / Per. S. Kuznetsova.
Moscow: Ad Marginem Press, 2018.256 p.
Not only paintings and statues were living creatures, but also their authors - friends, lovers and friends of Peggy. Wassily Kandinsky looked more like a broker than an artist. Yves Tanguy had a thin head of hair that stood on end when he got drunk, which happened often. Victor Brauner became a real artist after losing an eye. Pete Mondrian, 66, danced amazingly in nightclubs. In Constantine Brancusi was equally divided between the cunning peasant and the deity. Alberto Giacometti carved Greek heads and carried them in his pockets. Marc Chagall was notable for stinginess. Jackson Pollock - a demoniac alcoholic - could be an angel. Max Ernst, one of Peggy's husbands, listed his imprisonment camps like resorts, wanted to live in a house where 13 suicides had happened, and had an amazing gift for "foretelling" the future.
Peggy opened her first gallery in 1938 in London; the emotions of the visitors to the "younger Guggenheim" were such that splashes of blood remained on the walls. A significant part of the collection was in France, and it was only with difficulty that it was rescued from the occupation (boxes with paintings, covered with tarpaulins, stood at the Annecy train station for several months).
During the war, the Guggenheim opened the Art of This Century gallery in New York; the interior was done by Frederic Kiesler. The surrealist hall had curved wooden walls, paintings were attached to baseball bats, and lights turned on and off every three seconds. In the hall of abstractionism and cubism, instead of two walls, there were ultramarine curtains, the space resembled a circus tent. The paintings hung on threads as if they were floating in the air; the sculptures stood on wooden platforms, also suspended. The floor was turquoise, and the windows were covered with rayon screens. In the corridor stood a spinning wheel with seven works by Paul Klee. To see reproductions of Marcel Duchamp, one had to peep through a hole in the wall and spin a spider-web wheel.
In 1947, Peggy returned to her beloved Europe. Her choice fell on Venice. Friends-artists Emilio Vedova and Giuseppe Santomaso helped establish business ties with the leadership of the Biennale, and in 1948 the Guggenheim collection was exhibited in the Greek pavilion. A year later, she bought the very Palazzo Venier. The chandelier here was a dynamic sculpture of Calder made of broken porcelain and glass. Chairs and sofas were upholstered in white plastic. Francis Bacon's monkey was guarding the bedroom. Claire Falkenstein soldered the gate with her own hands from iron rods and pieces of Murano glass. In the garden sat a horseman with an erect phallus. Alan Ansen wrote mask plays for home evenings ...
Peggy Guggenheim was born at the very end of the 19th century, in the era of the late novels of Henry James, and looked like his heroines, obsessed with love for art, the art of love, art and love.
Real name famous singer Peggy Lee - Norma Deloris Eggstrom. Born in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA. Peggy's grandparents are Norwegian and Swedish immigrants. The future singer was the seventh child of Marvin Egstrom, the stationmaster.
When Peggy Lee was 4 years old, her mother died and the girl was left in the care of her drunken father and her beating stepmother (Norma told about this in the song One Beating Day as part of the autobiographical Broadway show Peg, 1983).
"If you don't turn on when Peggy Lee sings, then you're dead, man." - Leonard Feather
Peggy Lee - biography, facts, photos
At the age of 14, Peggy began working: at the railway station where her father worked, as a milk delivery woman on a farm and, finally, performed on WDAY radio in Fargo, North Dakota, from which she began her career as a singer.
Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra
Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra
The station manager, Ken Kennedy, offered the singer the stage name "Peggy Lee", under which she performed throughout her life.
At 16, Peggy leaves for Los Angeles (largely influenced by quarrels with her stepmother), but due to health problems returns to hometown... The result of treatment and operations was a deep, hoarse voice that brought her fame.
Musical career
Album of Peggy Lee and Benny Goodman After moving to Chicago in the 40s, Lee begins singing at the Ambassador West Hotel, where she is noticed by "King of Swing" Benny Goodman, who was looking for a replacement for his vocalist Helena Forrest at that time. From that moment on, Peggy performed with the Goodman Orchestra, in 1942-43 she recorded hits, including Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, after which she woke up famous.
American jazz magazine Down Beat in 1946 named Peggy Lee the best jazz performer, and her hits in the period 1940-1960s consistently ranked in the top ten.
In addition to acquiring the status of a cult jazz performer, Peggy Lee has established herself as a successful composer and songwriter. Most of her career, Peggy worked in collaboration with Capitol Records, which resulted in such popular compositions as I Don’t Know Enough About You (1946) and others.
Film and television
In 1948, Peggy, along with vocal performers Joe Stafford and Perry Como, became co-host music show The Chesterfield Supper Club, an NBC radio station, is actively involved in the filming of The Jimmy Durante Show.
In the late 40s - early 50s, Peggy Lee began her career in cinema, voicing and acting in short films and playing cameo roles in TV series.
In 1952, the singer performed one of the main roles in the melodrama "The Jazz Singer" (the film received an Oscar nomination in the "Best Soundtrack for Musical Pictures" category, but did not become a winner).
Peggy Lee and Danny Thomas in the movie "The Jazz Singer" In 1955, Peggy played a starring supporting role in The Pete Kelly Blues - drunken blues performer Rose Hopkins, who earned her an Oscar nomination in the category Best Role second plan ".
In the same year, Walt Disney's cult cartoon "Lady and the Tramp" was released, for which Peggy wrote 6 songs and voiced 4 characters.
Subsequently, Lee starred in several more episodic roles in TV series.
After the death of the singer, the relatives turned to the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts with a request to include Peggy in the memory list at the Oscar ceremony, but they refused, arguing the decision with the singer's small contribution to the cinema.
Personal life
The personal life of a jazz singer was not as successful as her career. In total, Peggy had 4 marriages, and all ended unsuccessfully.
Peggy Lee with her first husband Dave Barbour
Peggy Lee with her second husband Brad Dexter
Peggy's first husband in 1943 was the guitarist of Benny Goodman's jazz orchestra - Dave Barbour. Due to the fact that Dave, while still Peggy's boyfriend, violated Goodman's rule about relationships with the female half of the band, he was fired from the orchestra. Lee followed.
Peggy Lee with her daughter In November 43, their daughter Niki is born, the singer briefly leaves her career and devotes herself to the family. Together with her husband he recorded several hits, including Mañana (1948).
The 50s are considered one of the most successful in their careers, but a disappointment in personal life... As a result of Dave's addiction to alcohol and Peggy's heavy touring, their marriage fell apart in 1951.
In January 53rd, Lee married actor Brad Dexter, but in November they divorced. The next two marriages with American actor Dewey Martin (1956-1958) and actor Jack Del Rio (1964-1965) were slightly long, but no more successful.
Peggy herself adhered to the principle that experiences in her personal life should not interfere with work.
Peggy Lee with her 3rd husband Dewey Martin Health problems that began at a young age affected Lee's body in the future. Last years life, suffering from diabetes, she could not move without wheelchair... Peggy Lee passed away from a heart attack at the age of 81 on January 21, 2002 in Los Angeles, and is buried in Westwood Cemetery.
Awards
Peggy Lee has been nominated 12 times for music award American Academy of Recording "Grammy": for the first time for a cover version of the song Fever (1958), and the coveted and only award was brought to her by the composition Is That All There Is? (1969).
In 1995, the academy awarded Lee a special Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.
USA
In 1952-1956, Peggy Lee collaborated with Decca Records, where in 1953 she recorded her first album, Black Coffee. She later returned to Capitol Records, where until 1972 she released new album... Lee also did a lot of songwriting, some of which appeared in the cartoon "Lady and the Tramp" (1955), where she herself voiced several roles.
The greatest popularity of Peggy Lee was brought by her cover version of the song "Fever" recorded in 1958 as well as the song "Is That All There Is?" in 1969, for which she received her only Grammy, although she was nominated 12 times.
In the 1970s, Peggy Lee performed the song of the same name, known to many Americans, for McDonald's (Peggy Lee - "McDonald's Theme Song"), the song was later featured in a TV commercial for McDonald’s.
After leaving Capitol Records, Peggy continued to record her albums at other studios, the last of which was released in 1993. In 1995 she was presented with a special Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.
Last years
The last years of her life Peggy Lee suffered from diabetes and moved only in a wheelchair. She died of a heart attack on January 21, 2002 in Los Angeles at the age of 81. The singer's family asked the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts to include her in the Oscar memorial list, but they refused, citing insufficient contribution to the cinema. Peggy was buried in Westwood Cemetery.
Albums
Capitol Records
- 1948 Rendezvous with peggy lee
- 1952 Rendezvous with peggy lee
Decca records
- 1953 Black coffee
- 1954 Songs in an Intimate Style
- 1954 White Christmas soundtrack | Selections from Irving Berlin’s "White Christmas"(with Bing Crosby and Danny Kay)
- 1955 Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues "(with Ella Fitzgerald)
- 1956 Black coffee(12-inch version)
- 1957 Dream street
- 1957 Songs from Walt Disney's "Lady and the Tramp"
- 1958 Sea shells(recorded 1955)
- 1959 Miss wonderful(recorded 1956)
Capitol Records
- 1957 The man i love
- 1959 Jump for Joy
- 1959 Things Are Swingin "
- 1959 I Like Men!
- 1959 Beauty and the Beat!
- 1960 Latin ala Lee!
- 1960 All Aglow Again!
- 1960 Pretty eyes
- 1960 Christmas carousel
- 1960 Olé ala lee
- 1961 Basin Street East Proudly Presents Miss Peggy Lee
- 1961 If you go
- 1962 Blues cross country
- 1962 Bewitching-lee
- 1962 Sugar "N" Spice
- 1963 Mink jazz
- 1963 I'm a Woman
- 1964 In Love Again!
- 1964 In the name of love
- 1965 Pass me by
- 1965 Then Was Then - Now Is Now!
- 1966 Guitars A là Lee
- 1966 Big $ pender
- 1967 Extra Special!
- 1967 Somethin "Groovy!
- 1968 2 Shows Nightly
- 1969 A natural woman
- 1969 Is That All There Is?
- 1970 Bridge over troubled water
- 1970 Make it with you
- 1971 Where did they go
- 1972 Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota
Other
- 1974 Let’s Love
- 1975 Mirrors
- 1977 Live in london
- 1977 Peggy
- 1979 Close enough for love
- 1988 Miss peggy lee sings the blues
- 1990 The Peggy Lee Songbook: There’ll Be Another Spring
- 1993 Love Held Lightly: Rare Songs by Harold Arlen(recorded 1988)
- 1993 Moments Like This
Famous songs
| Year | Name | Positions in the charts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop | US AC | ||
| 1941 | "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" | 25 | - |
| 1941 | Winter Weather (with Art Lund) | 24 | - |
| Blues in the Night | 20 | - | |
| "Somebody Else is Taking My Place" | 1 | - | |
| "My Little Cousin" | 14 | - | |
| "We’ll Meet Again" | 16 | - | |
| "Full Moon" | 22 | - | |
| "The Way You Look Tonight" | 21 | - | |
| 1943 | "Why Don't You Do Right" | 4 | - |
| 1945 | "Waitin" for the Train to Come in " | 4 | - |
| 1946 | "I'm Glad I Waited for You" | 24 | - |
| "I Don’t Know Enough About You" | 7 | - | |
| "Linger in My Arms a Little Longer, Baby" | 16 | - | |
| "It's All Over Now" | 10 | - | |
| 1947 | "It's a Good Day" | 16 | - |
| "Everything's Moving too Fast" | 21 | - | |
| "Chi-baba, Chi-baba (My Bambino, Go to Sleep)" | 10 | - | |
| "Golden Earrings" | 2 | - | |
| 1948 | "Manana" | 1 | - |
| "All Dressed up with a Broken Heart" | 21 | - | |
| "For Every Man, There’s a Woman" | 25 | - | |
| "Laroo, Laroo, Lili Bolero" | 13 | - | |
| "Talking to Myself About You" | 23 | - | |
| "Don't Smoke in Bed" | 22 | - | |
| “Caramba! It's the Samba " | 13 | - | |
| "Baby, Don't Be Mad at Me" | 21 | - | |
| "Somebody Else is Taking My Place" (re-issue) | 30 | - | |
| "Bubble Loo, Bubble Loo" | 23 | - | |
| 1949 | "Blum Blum, I Wonder Who I Am" | 27 | - |
| "Similau (See-Me-Lo)" | 17 | - | |
| Bali Ha'i | 13 | - | |
| "Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)" | 2 | - | |
| 1950 | "The Old Master Painter" (with Mel Torm) | 9 | - |
| "Show Me the Way to Get out of This World" | 28 | - | |
| 1951 | "(When I Dance with You) I Get Ideas" | 14 | - |
| 1952 | "Be Anything (But Be Mine)" | 21 | - |
| "Lover" | 3 | - | |
| "Watermelon Weather" (with Bing Crosby) | 28 | - | |
| "Just One of Those Things" | 14 | - | |
| "River, River" | 23 | - | |
| 1953 | "Who's Gonna Pay the Check" | 22 | - |
| "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" | 30 | - | |
| 1954 | "Where can I go Without You" | 28 | - |
| "Let Me go, Lover" | 26 | - | |
| 1956 | "Mr. Wonderful " | 14 | - |
| "Joey, Joey, Joey" | 76 | - | |
| 1958 | "Fever" | 8 | - |
| "Light of Love" | 63 | - | |
| "Sweetheart" | 98 | - | |
| 1959 | "It's Okay, You Win" | 68 | - |
| "My Man" | 81 | - | |
| "Hallelujah, I Love Him So" | 77 | - | |
| 1963 | "I'm a Woman" | 54 | - |
| 1965 | "Pass Me by" | 93 | 20 |
| "Free Spirits" | - | 29 | |
| 1966 | "Big Spender" | - | 9 |
| "That Man" | - | 31 | |
| "You've Got Possibilities" | - | 36 | |
| "So, What's New" | - | 20 | |
| "Walking Happy" | - | 14 | |
| 1967 | "I Feel it" | - | 8 |
| 1969 | Spinning Wheel | - | 24 |
| "Is That All There Is?" | 11 | 1 | |
| "Whistle for Happiness" | - | 13 | |
| 1970 | "Love Story" | 105 | 26 |
| "You’ll Remember Me" | - | 16 | |
| "One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round" | - | 21 | |
| 1972 | "Love Song" | - | 34 |
| 1974 | "Let’s Love" | - | 22 |
Filmography
- His Butler's Sister (1943) -
- Midnight Serenade (1947) - Peggy Marsh
- Mister Music (1950) - plays himself (uncredited)
- Jazz Singer (1952) - Judy Lane
- Lady and the Tramp (1955) - Darling, Si, Em, Pig (voice)
- Pete Kelly Blues (1955) - Rose Hopkins
Awards
- Grammy 1969 - Best Vocal Performance ( "Is That All There Is?")
Biographies
Autobiography
- Peggy Lee, Miss Peggy Lee: An Autobiography, 2002, Bloomsbury (UK), ISBN 0-7475-5907-4
Biographies of other authors
- Peter Richmond, Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee, 2006, Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 0-8050-7383-3
- Robert Strom, Miss Peggy Lee: A Career Chronicle, 2005, McFarland Publishing, ISBN 0-7864-1936-9
- Will Friedwald, Sinatra! the Song is You: A Singer's Art, 1995, Scribner ISBN 0-684-19368-X
Notes (edit)
Links
- Peggy Lee on the website Internet Movie Database
- Peggy Lee at Find a Grave
- Personal page
- Westwood Cemetery
Capitol Records
In 1952-1956, Peggy Lee collaborated with Decca Records, where in 1953 she recorded her first album, Black Coffee. She later returned to Capitol Records, where until 1972 she released a new album almost every year. Lee also did a lot of songwriting, some of which appeared in the cartoon "Lady and the Tramp" (1955), where she herself voiced several roles.
The greatest popularity of Peggy Lee was brought by her cover version of the song "Fever" recorded in 1958 as well as the song "Is That All There Is?" in 1969, for which she received her only Grammy, although she was nominated 12 times.
In the 1970s, Peggy Lee performed the song of the same name, known to many Americans, for McDonald's (Peggy Lee - "McDonald's Theme Song"), the song was later featured in a TV commercial for McDonald’s.
After leaving Capitol Records, Peggy continued to record her albums at other studios, the last of which was released in 1993. In 1995 she was presented with a special Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.
Last years
The last years of her life Peggy Lee suffered from diabetes and moved only in a wheelchair. She died of a heart attack on January 21, 2002 in Los Angeles at the age of 81. The singer's family asked the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts to include her in the Oscar memorial list, but they refused, citing insufficient contribution to the cinema. Peggy was buried in Westwood Cemetery.
Albums
Famous songs
| Year | Name | Positions in the charts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop | US AC | ||
| 1941 | "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" | 25 | - |
| 1941 | Winter Weather (with Art Lund) | 24 | - |
| Blues in the Night | 20 | - | |
| "Somebody Else is Taking My Place" | 1 | - | |
| "My Little Cousin" | 14 | - | |
| "We’ll Meet Again" | 16 | - | |
| "Full Moon" | 22 | - | |
| "The Way You Look Tonight" | 21 | - | |
| 1943 | "Why Don't You Do Right" | 4 | - |
| 1945 | "Waitin" for the Train to Come in " | 4 | - |
| 1946 | "I'm Glad I Waited for You" | 24 | - |
| "I Don’t Know Enough About You" | 7 | - | |
| "Linger in My Arms a Little Longer, Baby" | 16 | - | |
| "It's All Over Now" | 10 | - | |
| 1947 | "It's a Good Day" | 16 | - |
| "Everything's Moving too Fast" | 21 | - | |
| "Chi-baba, Chi-baba (My Bambino, Go to Sleep)" | 10 | - | |
| "Golden Earrings" | 2 | - | |
| 1948 | "Manana" | 1 | - |
| "All Dressed up with a Broken Heart" | 21 | - | |
| "For Every Man, There’s a Woman" | 25 | - | |
| "Laroo, Laroo, Lili Bolero" | 13 | - | |
| "Talking to Myself About You" | 23 | - | |
| "Don't Smoke in Bed" | 22 | - | |
| “Caramba! It's the Samba " | 13 | - | |
| "Baby, Don't Be Mad at Me" | 21 | - | |
| "Somebody Else is Taking My Place" (re-issue) | 30 | - | |
| "Bubble Loo, Bubble Loo" | 23 | - | |
| 1949 | "Blum Blum, I Wonder Who I Am" | 27 | - |
| "Similau (See-Me-Lo)" | 17 | - | |
| Bali Ha'i | 13 | - | |
| "Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)" | 2 | - | |
| 1950 | "The Old Master Painter" (with Mel Torm) | 9 | - |
| "Show Me the Way to Get out of This World" | 28 | - | |
| 1951 | "(When I Dance with You) I Get Ideas" | 14 | - |
| 1952 | "Be Anything (But Be Mine)" | 21 | - |
| "Lover" | 3 | - | |
| "Watermelon Weather" (with Bing Crosby) | 28 | - | |
| "Just One of Those Things" | 14 | - | |
| "River, River" | 23 | - | |
| 1953 | "Who's Gonna Pay the Check" | 22 | - |
| "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" | 30 | - | |
| 1954 | "Where can I go Without You" | 28 | - |
| "Let Me go, Lover" | 26 | - | |
| 1956 | "Mr. Wonderful " | 14 | - |
| "Joey, Joey, Joey" | 76 | - | |
| 1958 | "Fever" | 8 | - |
| "Light of Love" | 63 | - | |
| "Sweetheart" | 98 | - | |
| 1959 | "It's Okay, You Win" | 68 | - |
| "My Man" | 81 | - | |
| "Hallelujah, I Love Him So" | 77 | - | |
| 1963 | "I'm a Woman" | 54 | - |
| 1965 | "Pass Me by" | 93 | 20 |
| "Free Spirits" | - | 29 | |
| 1966 | "Big Spender" | - | 9 |
| "That Man" | - | 31 | |
| "You've Got Possibilities" | - | 36 | |
| "So, What's New" | - | 20 | |
| "Walking Happy" | - | 14 | |
| 1967 | "I Feel it" | - | 8 |
| 1969 | Spinning Wheel | - | 24 |
| "Is That All There Is?" | 11 | 1 | |
| "Whistle for Happiness" | - | 13 | |
| 1970 | "Love Story" | 105 | 26 |
| "You’ll Remember Me" | - | 16 | |
| "One More Ride on the Merry-Go-Round" | - | 21 | |
| 1972 | "Love Song" | - | 34 |
| 1974 | "Let’s Love" | - | 22 |
The song "Fever" is usually remembered along with the name of Elvis Presley. Just as with the sounds of "Why Don't You Do Right", they will most likely imagine a scene from the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988), where the composition was performed by a sexy cartoon beauty Jessica Rabbit in a textbook red dress ( the one that is actually "not vicious, but simply drawn").
Nevertheless, the fame of these songs was brought by another beauty - quite real - named Peggy Lee. And her versions are still considered to be one of the best.
Our heroine received her Nordic beauty from her Scandinavian parents. The rest of my life had to be achieved exclusively by my perseverance and talent. The future singer and actress (in those days, these concepts were often synonymous) was born on May 26, 1920 in the state of North Dakota. It was not only the north, but also a decent backwater (just look at the recent series "Fargo"). The girl's name then was not Peggy Lee at all, but Norma Deloris Ekberg.
The family was not rich and at the same time had many children (Norma was the seventh of eight children). The girl's mother died when she was only 4 years old. Then the story of Cinderella began - the new stepmother beat Norma mercilessly, and the father saw only the bottom of the bottle.
Therefore, as soon as the girl turned 17, she packed up her belongings and went to look for her calling. First she sang on the radio in the aforementioned Fargo. There, a local DJ awarded her with the sonorous pseudonym "Peggy Lee". Years later, the creators of "The Muppets Show" will come up with their romantic and loving blonde pig under the influence of the image of Peggy Lee (at first the character was named "Miss Piggy Lee", but, deciding not to offend the singer, she was reduced to "Mies Piggy").
After Fargo, there was an unsuccessful arrival in Los Angeles, a cold and a tonsil operation, as a result of which the singer's voice acquired a characteristic hoarseness. As a result, Peggy caught her "bird of luck" in Chicago. She became the leader of the orchestra named after himself - Benny Goodman.
Peggy Lee's voice and appearance were quickly appreciated - she began not only to release successful singles, but also to appear in musical films. One of the singer's first big hits was the very “Why Don’t You Do Right” (“Why are you doing wrong?”), Which will later be performed by Jessica Rabbit in the voice of Amy Irving.
The song was old - composer Joe McCoy wrote it back in 1936. Back then, this blues was called "The Weed Smoker's Dream", and it was about a marijuana smoker and his financial problems.
In 1941, McCoy radically rewrote the lyrics of this song, making it truly feminine.
Per. Ineya:
You had a lot of money in 1922
You let other women fool you.I took your lies and took you in
And now all you can offer me is just a glass of gin.
Why aren't you doing the right thing like other men?
Give me money and get out of here!
The first song was performed by Lil Green. Lee was very fond of this blues singer, and one day Benny Goodman heard his ward humming “Why Don’t You Do Right” in the dressing room. “Since you like the song so much, I'll get the rights to it,” Goodman said. And in 1942 - Peggy Lee performed her version for the first time, accompanied by his orchestra. This record sold over a million copies and became # 4 in the United States.
True, Peggy soon had to leave the orchestra. Goodman strictly forbade all kinds of love affairs in the work collective, and the singer managed to fall in love with the guitarist. Both were fired, and for a time Peggy led the life of a housewife.
However, soon the next hits rained down from her lips - the gypsy-like "Golden Earrings" (1947), the Mexican-like "Manana" (1948), the ballad "Mr. Wonderful "(1956) and others. And in 1958 the time came for the famous "Fever" ...
This piece with a bright bass riff and characteristic finger clicks was written in 1956 by Otis Blackpool and Eddie Cooley.
Otis Blackpool:
“Eddie was a friend of mine from New York. He called me and said, "Man, I have an idea for a song called" Fever, "but I can't finish it."
The first to be offered a fresh song was a young black singer Little Willie John. True, he broke down for a long time, arguing that he did not want, like an idiot ... to snap his fingers. And in vain. Already in his performance, "Fever" got to the 1st place of the rhythm and blues and 24th place of the US national charts.
But the composition found its real perfection thanks to Peggy Lee. First, she made the tempo slower and the arrangement extremely laconic. If you can even hear a saxophone in Willie John, the singer left only a double bass, finger clicks and a snare drum for musical accompaniment. And even then on the latter the musician played without sticks, with only his fingers. Drum fills after the word "Fever" became graceful "strokes" in the arrangement, which were never repeated throughout the song.
The very name of the composition is translated as "Fever", although it is more appropriate to say "Love Heat" here. A bit gloomy and nervous sounding, perfectly suited the song about love passion, fogging the mind and making the body glow. The lyrics were risky for a woman of that era, so Peggy replaced the two old verses with new ones that she wrote herself. In them, she mentioned such love couples as Romeo with Juliet and Captain Smith with Pocahontas.
Despite self-censorship, Peggy's very intimate and emotional singing made the song extremely sexy. No wonder at one of the concerts of Elvis Presley you can see how during the performance of this song he superstitiously crosses his lips with a microphone. Nevertheless, Peggy Lee was not surpassed by anyone - not Elvis in 1960, not Madonna in 1992, who put "Fever" on dance rhythms (even if the album that included this cover was called "Erotica").
Per. Tanya Grimm:
The sun lights up during the day
And the moon lights up at night ...
I light up when you call my name
And you know that I will do everything right.You light a fire in me
When you kiss me
Fire when you hold me tight.
Fire! He and in the morning
Fire, it burns all night.
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