Fever, The Music of Peggy Lee (Capitol). This quasi-documentary sketches Peggy Lee’s life and career. Its greatest contribution is the use of performance clips, interviews and informal films to create a portrait of a gifted artist whose human warmth matched her talent. She was terrific even in a shampoo commercial. Her first husband, the guitarist Dave Barbour, remained her great love even beyond their divorce. The bonus clip of Lee singing “I Only Have Eyes for You” to Barbour as he accompanies her underlines the heartbreaking story better than the script does in the main section.
DVD: Peggy Lee
June 10, 2008 by
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
I remember Peggy;I loved her voice, her style, just as I did Ella and Jeri…Mel Torme, Frank and the Four Freshmen. Except for Jeri Southern, I saw them all in concert over the years…Mel four times, the Freshmen three and Sinatra in five concerts. I miss them all.
But most of all, I miss the radio station that brought them to me…WNEW-AM, 1130 New York. I could be in Montreal for Chinese food – or Boston for the Red Sox – and still get their signal loud and clear…back in 1960. William B. Williams, Jack Lazar (The Milkman’s Matinee), Big Wilson and Jazz Beaux Collins all made that wonderful music even more memorable. WNEW-AM shut down their transmitter in 1990.