Customer Reviews

Miss Peggy Lee: An Autobiography

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I was in a used book store a few days ago, when I came across this book. I love Miss Lee's music. I bought the book. I'm only @ page 64, but her touchingly humorous syle has bewitched me. The book is almost as entertaining as her music. What an incredable life of an incredable woman! It's rare these days that I find a book I really keep reading. This is a great book. Find it somehow (hopefully they'll re-issue it)!

This book was written by Peggy Lee without the aid of ghostwriters or collaborators. As I read it, I heard her voice, like the narration in "Is That All There Is?" in my head. P.L. has written lyrics for hundreds of songs, and she is an excellent singer, amateur painter, and avid home decorator. Though she is all of these things, an artist and creative person, book writing is not her forte. Nevertheless, there is no one like her, and it is fascinating to hear what she has to say, even if the structure is ramshackle, and you're not always clear on her meaning.

Her first break came when Benny Goodman heard her sing and hired her. The song, "Why Don't You Do Right?" recorded with the Goodman group was one of her first hits. It was later covered by Jessica Rabbit, in a slower tempo that didn't swing nearly as much as the original, in the live action/animation feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Peggy was ahead of her time, being a performer who also wrote songs. She has credit on over 200 songs, mostly as lyricist, and has recorded over 700 songs in a long career. She wrote some great lines for Fever, but never got any credit for them, even though they were incorporated into most of the later versions of the song. She also came up with great ideas for arrangements--the bass, drums, and finger snaps were all her idea (Was there a film made of this with just arms sticking through walls, finger snapping, like the scene in the Beast's castle where the arms hold torches in Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast? I can picture it, but perhaps it is just a feverish delusion?).

She also came up with using poly rhythms on the exciting version of "Lover" that she recorded. It is interesting because it is a Richard Rodgers' song, and he was notorious for demanding that singers did his songs exactly as written. Mel Torme complains that he disagreed with the way he was phrasing Blue Moon, and made him do it his way. But after hearing Peggy's version of "Lover" he gave her permission to do his songs any way she liked.

Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke wrote the music for the Disney classic, Lady and the Tramp. One of the dogs was named "Peg" in her honor, and "Peg" (both the cartoon dog and Peggy Lee on the soundtrack) sang one of the movie's best songs in tribute to the raffish Tramp. She is accompanied by a chorus of men howling like canines in a surprisingly musical fashion.

A lot of famous names are dropped in this book, but what do you expect after such a fabulous career? Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Jimmy Durrante, Bing Crosby, to name but a few. All great friends of hers. Did you know that Marilyn Monroe was a surprise guest at a show Peg was giving with JFK in the audience? Her rendition of "Happy Birthday" really stole the show, especially when the spotlight was on her shear white dress, rendering it virtually invisible, and revealing for JFK and all and sundry her lack of underwear.

Throughout the book, Peggy Lee is quite a trouper. The show must go on, despite heartbreak, medical problems, broken bones.

For a little girl from Jamestown North Dakota named Norma Deloris Egstrom, she has certainly come a long way. If that's all there is, then let's keep dancing. Bring on the booze and have a ball, if that's all there is.

Listen to her music, see her perform, and if you are intrigued to learn more about her, then read her book.

Here are a few items to pique your interest:

Fever - The Music of Peggy Lee This is a DVD that includes films of some great performances. Perhaps the finger snappin' arms in my "Fever" dream are here?

The Peggy Lee Songbook This is a great collection of sheet music of Miss Peggy Lee's songs. "Johnny Guitar" is a hard-to-find one that is included, among many others.

Lady and the Tramp (50th Anniversary Edition) Miss Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke wrote great songs for this Disney Classic. Check out "He's a Tramp" for the canine chorus.

Mink Jazz Somehow the title really fits Miss Peggy Lee. As for the jazz, P.L. is always a jazzy singer who swings, but this isn't really a jazz record. But it is great stuff nevertheless.

Pete Kelly's Blues (Std) Movie with Miss Peggy Lee as an alcoholic singer, and Jack Webb of Dragnet fame, but instead of a cop he's a trumpet man and band leader.

Black Coffee: Best of the Decca Years This double CD has most of the stuff she recorded for Decca. Other anthologies would cover Capitol and other labels, but skip the Decca years.

Latin ala Lee!/Olé a la Lee This CD has two LPs, both exploring the Latin music done ala Lee, as in Miss Peggy Lee. She always had a real strong feeling for rhythm, and there is some great stuff here.

The Complete Recordings 1941-1947 This is the stuff Miss Peggy Lee did with Benny Goodman, such as "Why Don't You Do Right?"

Natural Woman/Is That All There Is? Another great twofer. "Is That All There Is?" Then let's keep dancing. Bring on the booze and have a ball, if that's all there is.

Blues Cross Country Miss Peggy Lee recorded over 700 songs and these records are just a few that you might like. This is a pretty good album of blues from the early 60's.

You might be disappointed to find that this isn't a chronology of Peggy's career. It mostly follows a continuing timeline, but doesn't feature her thoughts song-by-song or album-by-album or whatever. Instead, it is more geared towards Peggy recalling stories on the road and in her career. And there's nothing wrong with that. Peggy is a most likeable narrator, and many of her stories are adventures indeed. I had to catch my breath after the first few childhood chapters alone! May not be readily available now, but do check it out if you find a copy.

So poignant and beautifully written... I savoured every word and when I closed the book for the last time, all I could think of was "IS THAT ALL THERE IS"

I had to skip the part about her cruel treatment at the hands of a wicked stepmother, but the rest of the book is worth reading, especially if you are as desperate for reading matter as I am. I'm not a musician but I do love to read about their careers.

I had no idea Peggy Lee wrote so many songs. She came up with some original arrangements, too, and of course worked with dozens and dozens of excellent musicians. Apparently she was a very good cook, too, who loved to prepare dinner for her guests.

I was particularly interested in Lee's friendship with Ernest Holmes, the originator of the Science of Mind philosophy. However, he doesn't seem to have done her much good, health-wise, as her life was full of high fevers, operations, health crises, and long convalescences (like seven months in bed).

She married a drunk, stayed with him for too many years, and then went on to other men. Her musical career brought in a lot of money, which allowed her to buy, decorate, live in, and sell quite a few dream houses. She also picked up quite a few pampered pets along the way.

This autobiography contains some not-very-great photos and a few awful ones of her wearing what appears to be a shiny white plastic wig.