Customer Reviews

Make It with You/ Where Did They Go?

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Make It with You/ Where Did They Go? Is yet another recently released twofer CD by the great Peggy Lee. This twofer CD has all the tracks from two of Peggy's record albums entitled Make It With You and Where Did They Go? The quality of the sound is excellent; and I really like that artwork. I always love it when the CD artwork incorporates the original record album artwork.

The CD starts off with Peggy doing a sublime cover of "Make It With You." Peggy sings this flawlessly; and the music fits in perfectly with her vocals. That electric guitar work really enhances the music, too! Peggy swings gently as she puts her own mark on this classic love song and that's grand. "The Long And Winding Road" features Peggy singing this poignant Beatles ballad with all her heart and soul; and this impresses me a lot. Peggy sings this with lots of feelings; she truly delves into the song to make it a very special number on this album and I enjoy hearing her sing "The Long And Winding Road." "The No-Color Time Of The Day" is a song I've never heard before; but when Peggy Lee sings it this tune really grew fast on me. Peggy could sing the phone book and when she was finished you'd be standing there, clapping and begging for more. Wow, what a talent Peggy Lee had.

"Passenger Of The Rain" is a very pretty melody and Peggy sings all the notes just right--the flat notes are just right and the strings are used very well. "You'll Remember Me" is another pretty melody and Peggy sings this with panache. I believe that this was a French song and this English version of this tune showcases Peggy Lee's talent beyond a shadow of a doubt. In addition, "Where Did They Go?" gets the royal treatment from Peggy who delivers this with great sensitivity; and listen for "My Sweet Lord." Peggy sings this George Harrison tune with heart and soul; and the music is really grand. The percussion helps to mark the beat and that's very good indeed.

"Help Me Make It Through The Night" is a very pretty melody that Peggy sings well; and there's also "I Don't Know How To Love Him." I think Peggy handles this so well it really does prove that Peggy could sing just about anything. "Sing" is a charming cover of this tune by Karen and Richard Carpenter; and they must have been proud when they heard Peggy do this splendid rendition of their song! In addition, Peggy does good on "Losing My Mind;" this is another cover song and Peggy swings gently to make this a sharp number with lots of soul and feeling.

"Didn't We" places Peggy Lee front and center--right where she belongs! Peggy sings this wonderfully; and the music is great. The album ends strong with Peggy lee performing "Pieces Of Dreams;" "Pieces Of Dreams" has a great arrangement and it makes a fine ending for this CD.

Peggy Lee fans will love this album; and this is also a great choice for people who enjoy classic pop vocals. Enjoy!

As a life-long Peggy Lee fan, I feel compelled to add my review to the generally condescending critical commentary these albums have received. After a lifetime of listening to Peggy's recordings, from the Benny Goodman sides to her final recorded appearances and to her live work over the years, I find that these,and the other, Capitol recordings from 1969-72 are among the ones I re-visit most often. In the rock and roll years, Peggy embraced the contemporary music of that time to the (temporary) exclusion of the standards fare she had built her career upon. Peggy kept up with new developments in all types of music with an insatiable curiosity and understanding. She believed in this music and wished to keep herself moving forward, never content to merely repeat what she had always done so well. (I know this from a number of conversations I had with her on the subject.) Her from-the-ground-up knowledge of how a pop hit was built, and of the devices most effective in reaching the largest possible audience, enabled her quickly to penetrate the essence of this material and discern its secrets. Far from being the palid covers many find, I believe she reached a remarkeable synthisis of the qualities of these hits of the day (and other contemporary songs with which she personally identified). With arrangers Mike Melvoin, Benny Golson, Phil Wright, Michel Legrand and a young Randy Newman, she developed a musical atmosphere of mystery and melancholy unique in all of her recorded output, one that suits the songs and brings them to that special place where she musically could dwell within them as she does with all of her best performances. I even feel that she gives many of them a classic stature that makes them better songs than they were in their original juke box incarnations. I promise that a deep, open-minded listen to these two albums, and her other work of the period, all in print now, will reward you with some stunning insights into the towering artistry-that-conceals-and-even-denys-art of this overlooked and misunderstood area of her great body of work. I call this her "Rock 'n'Roses" period and I earnestly hope that many will come to love and enjoy it as much I and many (but not all) of my friends do. Believe me, "Is That All There Is?" is by no means all there was. Freeman Gunter

Miss Peggy Lee's recording of Sondheim's "Losing My Mind" is finally out on CD. I can now die a happy man. If there were a god, Ella's live performance of "Send in the Clowns" would also magically appear.

Miss Lee's venture into the Sondheim repertoire is a sublime pop treat. I waited for this recording for years. I am most thankful to have it and the rest of the album as well.

As with the Then Was Then Now Is Now/Bridge Over Troubled Water release, this two-album collection with bonus tracks, from Peggy Lee's late Capitol records period, is a hit-or-miss affair. Peggy Lee could sing just about anything, but her transition leading into the 70's was uneasy. In retrospect, many of these attempts to update her sound work better now than they did back then. A case in point is Lee's surprising take on George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord," the last track on WHERE DID THEY GO. It's a brief, not half-bad pop version that gets to the point, whereas Harrison's original is overlong and becomes tedious (I.M.O.; not a Harrison favorite of mine, even if I do think ALL THINGS MUST PASS is one of the great albums of all time, and certainly the best one ever by an ex-Beatle) - ahem, back to Peggy: she may not have felt this one as deeply as its creator seemed to, but her relaxed rendition has a kind of quiet power all its own. Still, one can imagine how some eyeballs must have rolled in 1971. Speaking of Beatles personnel, "The Long and Winding Road," from LET IT BE, was a song that became a mainstream standard quickly, like "Yesterday." Too many versions of these Beatles songs were recorded to mention, and Peggy does little here to distinguish herself from the pack.

The lead album of this twofer is MAKE IT WITH YOU, and like the used LP copy I bought way back when, I wanted it just for the song "One More Ride On the Merry-Go-Round." Harkening back to her hit song, "Is That All There Is," Ms. Lee seemed to enjoy music with a carnival atmosphere, as she went in this direction several times in the late `60's and early `70's. This song is my favorite along these lines, with its oom-pah beat and swirling instrumental arrangement. This song was later recorded by Jane Olivor.

There are some really sweet, effective songs on this collection, despite the lack of direction on both albums. Particularly well chosen and beautifully sung are "The No-Color Time Of The Day," which drips with atmosphere, "Passenger Of the Rain," which Lee co-wrote, "Where Did They Go?," and "Losing My Mind," the latter from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. Peggy's arrangement is taken at a faster pace than the show version, and it gently rocks; perhaps Liza Minnelli took her cue from this version when she did a disco cover of the song for her Results/Visible Results album. One of the nicest covers of a then-contemporary hit, is Lee's rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night." Peggy's voice is soft and intimate here, but she manages some volume on the chorus, giving the song a nice dynamic. This was a huge hit for country singer Sammi Smith, and Peggy does it justice. Of the bonus tracks, "You're Driving Me Crazy," done in the `90's by The Squirrel Nut Zippers (in an amusing and frantic way), and Jimmy Webb's "Didn't We" are welcome additions.

There is one out-and-out embarrassment on the album WHERE DID THEY GO?, "Sing." It was inexplicably covered by several artists of the day, most notably The Carpenters (not their finest moment). This song is nauseating no matter who tries to do it, and the fake children's chorus on this version doesn't help. Another groaner is "I Don't Know How To Love Him," but it's probably just my personal taste in not liking the tune, for many singers did covers of the JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR song back when the Broadway show was a big hit: Helen Reddy, Petula Clark, Vikki Carr, etc.

"Make It With You," the Bread hit which starts off this collection reveals a somewhat weakened voice and diminished breath control, and although Peggy Lee continued recording and performing long after these next-to-last Capitol records (she made only one more after these, included in the twofer, I'm a Woman/Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota), she rarely matched the greatness of her Capitol and Decca years. Mirrors might be considered a notable exception, and very late in her life she made some admirable jazz recordings. The voice was gone, but her phrasing and emotional power were UNdiminished right up until the end.

Although these two albums are not among her very best, serious Peggy Lee fans may want to check them out. I'm certainly glad they were finally made available. For me, there can never be too much Peg!

I am such a fan of the Big Band era and Peggy Lee has always been one of my favorite female voices. My parents exposed me to this music and I am so glad it is still around. This CD focuses on her silky voice and I am glad to add it to my collection. Thanks to the seller for taking care to pack the CD carefully and ship it quickly so I can share it with my grandchildren!

Peggy Lee is like eating corn flakes, all you have to do is add milk.

Great album! Especially "Good-Bye Again" ohhhhhhhh what a song!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This album is a MUST

Peggy was still in top form when she recorded these albums. The first album, Make it with you, is dominated by songs that are rarely heard, but there are covers of two famous songs among the obscurities. The title track launched the career of Bread, not just in their American homeland but internationally. Peggy does the song full justice. The other famous song is a Beatles classic, The long and winding road. Legend has it that Paul McCartney offered the song to Tom Jones but he declined, only to regret doing so after the Beatles released their own version in America, where it became their final number one hit there. Peggy's version is excellent and this song suits her ideally. Great as those covers are, the obscurities that occupy the rest of this album provide plenty of listening pleasure. Among the obscurities, I particularly like the opening track, One more ride on the merry-go-round. Sedaka and Greenfield co-wrote many pop hits, but I don't think this song was a pop hit for anybody (though Peggy`s recording was released as a single and became a hit on the American adult contemporary chart), nor do I remember hearing it before I bought this album. No matter, it gets the album off to a great start.

Following the tracks from Make it with you, there are four bonus tracks, of which three are slightly older than the two featured albums as they date from the late sixties, and all are covers, these being Didn't we (originally recorded by singer-actor Richard Harris, whose big hit was MacArthur Park), You're driving me crazy (a twenties song first recorded by Peggy in the forties, but here represented by a 1967 version) and No more (popularized by Billie Holiday). The other bonus track, Pieces of dreams, was originally scheduled for inclusion in the album Make it with you, but was dropped. It was nevertheless released as the B-side of One more ride on the merry-go-round.

The second album, Where did they go, contains a few more famous songs than its companion here, but also has some delightful obscurities including the title track. Peggy's version was not a hit. Sandie Shaw recorded it for the British market, but her version wasn't a hit either. Still, it's a great song that suits Peggy well. Among the familiar songs, you'll surely recognize Help me make it through the night (an American pop and country hit for Sammi Smith and a UK top ten pop hit for reggae singer John Holt, and recorded by countless singers), I don't know how to love him (another oft-recorded song that was a big American hit for Helen Reddy), Sing (later to become a famous Carpenters hit, but Peggy Lee recorded this Sesame Street song before they did) and My Sweet Lord (written by George Harrison but with a melody remarkably similar to the Chiffons' hit He's so fine - so similar that Phil Spector, who wrote that song, successfully sued George Harrison over the songwriting royalties). You may also recognize one or two others, particularly I was born in love with you, the theme song from the movie Wuthering heights, and Losing my mind, a song that Barbra Streisand and plenty of others have also recorded.

Both of these albums are of an extremely high quality although both have historically been overlooked. At least now they can be appreciated for what they are.