by Peter Reilly There is a certain sort of praise which, if voiced often enough, can do oblique damage to performing artists of recognized stature: “Peggy Lee? Oh, she’s great!” Or, as a friend said recently, “As long as they write songs, Peggy Lee can sing them. She can sing[…]
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This Gal Goes by the Book
by Robert Salmaggi We’re gonna throw the book at Peggy Lee. When this gold-topped gal is being caressed with a baby-blue spot, and lofting the inimitable Lee sound, you find yourself admiring the letter perfect precision of her act. The lead-in cues, the accord between vocalist and band, the split-second[…]
Peggy, Benny in the Swing of It
by Charles Champlin I am absolutely persuaded that amid the crackling thunder of the city in flames, some Roman lover turned to his lady, gestured at Nero and said, “He’s playing our song.” We’ve never been exactly sure what our song was, fire sirens in the rain or my scratchy[…]
Red Hot Blama
author unknown In New York last week the new Peggy Lee recalled her old self: “Remember those singers with the big bands? Between numbers they’d snap their fingers, and tap their feet as if they had trouble sitting. Not me. Sitting in front of the Benny Goodman band, I was[…]
Peggy Lee Stages a Comeback
by Earl Wilson The get-well telegrams and phone calls to Peggy Lee had come from such friends as Frank Sinatra and Doris Duke. There was a note of alarm in them – for Peggy was under an oxygen tent, fighting pneumonia, at Polyclinic Hospital. Her daugher, Nicki Barbour, just 18,[…]
The Timeless Charm of Peggy Lee
by Thomas C. Wheeler Peggy Lee has the sturdy figure of a North Dakota farm girl, which she originally was. But when she sweeps onto the nightclub stage, her platinum blond hair shining and her hazel eyes glittering, a transformation takes place. As she bows and blows kisses, she seems[…]