Re: Peggy Lee

["Leah@Ryerson" <lstanwyk@acs.ryerson.ca>]

My father worked with Peggy Lee on a few occasions at the Royal York in
T.O. and, although talented, he claims she was always very bitchy to the
band.  Oh well - talent and interpersonal skills do not necessarily go
hand in hand!  Cheers!

L.S.

> Elmer Elevator wrote:
>
> Okay, I say this is not Off-Topic. When we've talked about GG's
> fascination with Pop -- almost exclusively with female pop singers --
> Peggy Lee has come up, I think because GG kicked her in the shins when
> comparing her with la Streisand.
>
> Aw, Peggy Lee passed away yesterday, she was 81.
>
> At first glance, she was strictly 40s big band singer and small
> intimate nightclub singer, dismissable if you thought those genres
> were dismissable.
>
> But actually she was screwy and adventurous as all get-out in her
> choice of material. Clearly, she was determined not to let time pass
> her by. She never wanted to go mano-a-mano with Janis Joplin or Grace
> Slick, but she also didn't see why The Future of Music only belonged
> to babes with more recent birth certificates and noisier public lives.
>
> Just as she was being universally forgotten, she recorded Leiber and
> Stoller's "Is That All There Is?" -- I guess you'd have to categorize
> it as A Novelty Song, like "Ahab the Arab," but she sang it so
> hauntingly and honestly, it was impossible to ignore.
>
> But my favorite is her strange, strange album that was produced by a
> very young Randy Newman, including several of his early and quirkiest
> songs. See if you can scare it up. There seem to be moments of
> uncomfortable tension and misunderstanding between them, but there are
> also sublime musical and poetic moments. Newman is traditionally sung
> only by Newman or by a twitchy Sundance kinda guy like Tom Waites.
> Peggy Lee wanted to know what a Newman song sounds like when it's
> gently and lovingly caressed. A very eery and beautiful album.
> Sometimes you think maybe she doesn't want to be there. Other times
> she sounds like Randy's doting grandma singing his lullabyes, and you
> can see a tear fall from Randy the pianist's eye.
>
>