Peggy Lee On Record (1941-1995)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ridin'High, Dec 29, 2016.

  1. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    Nice to learn more about this ambitious collection from Sony. The flaws are unfortunate, but I suppose fans are lucky to have the majority of the Goodman/Lee recordings in one tidy little package. I didn't realize this set existed until recently, while researching Peggy's friend Margaret Whiting. One of Whiting's performances is included on this compilation since it is an ensemble number - "The Freedom Train". Sony would've paid EMI the big bucks to licence that track in its desire for completeness.
     
  2. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    Wow...bluesy and mellow indeed. Do we know if this is Stella Castellucci, or if this recording was made prior to Peggy's acquaintance with the harpist?
     
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  3. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    Peggy Lee's entire catalogue is a study in artistic understatement, and that's what makes her brilliant. The praise from critics at this early stage of her career runs parallel to later praise for "I'm Lookin' Out The Window" and others, at a time when rock 'n roll was taking control of the popular ear and many artists were straining to be heard over the cacophony of a changing musical landscape. Peggy knew the most effective way to get a listener's attention was to sing as tenderly and intimately as possible (as that YouTube commenter pointed out - "as if her voice is coming from inside you, like thought").

    "Where Or When" certainly deserves praise; this recording weaves a spell and captivates the listener. Its production, the musicians, the artist, and the song itself are of paramount quality. In my opinion (and perhaps contrary to some) "Where Or When" effectively proves that Peggy Lee is already a fully-formed talent. Her tenure with Goodman neither exaggerates nor detracts from her brilliance. Peggy works as part of the Goodman ensemble as a soloist but not as a solo artist; this stuff can't really be compared to her solo material.
     
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  4. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter


    THE DECCA PERIOD: SONGS FROM WALT DISNEY'S LADY AND THE TRAMP

    (CONTINUED)

    More Foreign Versions Of The Album

    In addition to the Brunswick and Ace of Hearts pressings shown in my previous post, here are a few more vinyl versions of the American LP, all of them from abroad. The first is yet another British reissue, but on Buena Vista, which was a Disney label. The second comes from Australia and/or New Zealand.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]

    The last two are from Japan and Brazil, respectively. As for CDs, this Decca album has never been reissued on CD. Sure: you will find Lady and the Tramp CDs out there, but they contain either the actual soundtrack from the movie (instead of Peggy's full Decca album) or re-recordings commissioned by Disney, on which singers other than Peggy are heard, for the most part. (The latter is also the case for many LPs on the Disney label, including even some that do credit Peggy Lee but do not include any vocals by her.) The 2-CD set below contains both the movie's soundtrack and Disney re-recordings of Peggy's songs.

    [​IMG]


    Key Songs

    "He's a Tramp" and "The Siamese Cat Song" are easily the best-known songs from Peggy's album, and from the movie itself. I won't say much else about them, because the YouTube clips (the one below and the one in the previous post) do a better job than I could. The only additional detail meriting mention is that, in addition to her official Disney-Decca versions, Peggy recorded both songs for Decca on a second occasion. To further complicate matters, Decca released all four numbers on 45-rpm and 78-rpm singles (i.e., two Decca singles, each containing a different Peggy Lee version of the same song). The second version of "He's a Tramp," in particular, is approached by Peggy in a different manner.


     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2017
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  5. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

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    My dad was on a number of Peggy Lee recording dates post WWII. He was even on some of Benny Goodman's dates as sort of a hired gun. Peggy Lee was a household name when I was a kid.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2017
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  6. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

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    Wow! Very impressive. Do you have any stories to share?
     
  7. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

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    My dad was Jack Dumont. He was a top Hollywood studio man from 1946 to 1969 after which he retired from the music business. He was originally a member of Ray Noble's Orchestra prior to WWII. After the war, he played in several big bands including Bob Crosby and Tommy Dorsey. He was a sometime member of Bennie Goodman's band but not part of the original classic lineup.

    His prime bread and butter were all the record dates he was on from 1946 through 1968. As a free lance musician, this allowed him the freedom to play a huge variety of music and with a lot of the West Coast Jazz musicians as well as the LA Philharmonic Symphony. Through his involvement with the LA Philharmonic he met Johnny Green. John used my dad for many of his projects including the motion picture soundtrack for "West Side Story". He was also on a number of Elmer Bernstein scores for many movies of the 1960's.

    He was on so many different projects over the years, that it is almost impossible to try a list them all. As a free lance musician, he pretty much did something different every day for over a career spanning over 35 years. Those include not only Peggy Lee, but Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, Harry Belefonte, and Andre Previn to name just a few. Anyone can google his name and it should list some of the stuff he was involved with.

    As for me, I never ventured into the music business. I certainly had the opportunity, but I saw how it physically took a toll on his health. The music business is and was incredibly competitive and you always have to be on top of your game to remain part of it.

    Towards the end of his career, my dad treated all his sessions "as just another job". His excitement over the music aspect was gone and it was like a plumber going to someone's house to fix the pipes. He was glad when it was all over so he could go out and play golf.
     
  8. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    Fascinating stuff. I could be mistaken but that name seems familiar. It's a shame he saw it as just a job but his music is out there, sounding timeless and will be played forever. That's a wonderful achievement. I'll definitely Google it. He's definitively going to appear in my record collection a few times. Thanks for replying. A very interesting post.
     
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  9. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Neat that we hear it the same way. I really love that vocal!

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    As for the identity of the lyre or harp player, we might have to settle for the belief that she was one of the Muses. :angel:

    No, seriously. I do not have a name or even a candidate, but, due to the reason that you cite, we can be very confident that Stella Castellucci is not in the running. The performance is from early 1945, when Stella would have been 14 years old. She did not join Peggy's group until mid-1953, at the age of 22. (It happened due to Peggy Lee's love for classical music. A big fan of Ravel's Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Peggy was keen on integrating a harp amidst the more jazz-oriented instruments that were backing her in concert.)

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    That's the young Stella, in the photo above, reportedly in 1955, at a Peggy Lee concert. Previous to 1953, Stella had been a fan of Peggy's records, but they had not met. Moreover, Stella did not begin to work in the music industry until after her high school graduation, in 1948.


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2017
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  10. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

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    Lovely photo. It's nice to know two beautiful women made the beautiful Sea Shells album.
     
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  11. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
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    It's even more nice to know Stella Castellucci is still alive.
     
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  12. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    Lovely photo of Stella! I didn't realize she was so young at the time she met Peggy.
     
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  13. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Although I probably gave such an impression in the post above, I'm not actually sure that the Verve producer ever considered including bonus tracks. It's more of an assumption of mine, predicated on the fact that other volumes on the same Master Edition series contain previously excluded tracks from the given album's sessions. Hence, when this CD came out, I was left with the feeling that Peggy was being shortchanged.

    But who knows. A decision to skip bonus tracks could have been made for financial reasons, or it could have been made out of a esthetic belief that the original album is best heard strictly as the original twelve-track unit. If the latter, the producer might have arguably had a point. Let me quote an online description of the series:

    Verve Master Edition is a re-issue series of landmark '50s and '60s Verve albums. The series started 1997 and has more than 50 titles to it. The releases are given what Verve Records call a "meticulous restoration of the original master tapes and 20-bit digital transfer". On most releases bonus tracks, alternate takes, singles versions and even studio conversations is added to the original album tracks. Each reissue is packaged in a three panel digipak sleeve with original LP cover art and liner notes, new essays and previously unavailable photos. ​


    9. Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You
    10. It Ain't Necessarily So
    11. There's a Small Hotel
    12. You're my Thrill

    Being myself a fan of all four of tracks, it does not seem strange at all to me. I can only agree about how integrated yet varied those tracks feel.

    Yours is also a nice counterpoint to the more "objective" way in which I was using the notion of "key songs." I like it that you are bringing a more subjective approach into the equation, since it gives me and everybody an opportunity to mention favorite songs from Black Coffee with Peggy Lee ...

    In my case, the favorite tracks tend to change from one listening of the album to the other!

    Of the four 1956 tracks (and if I may return to the less subjective understanding of the term "key song"), the number that has garnered the greater amount of praise and attention is the spellbinding "You're my Thrill."

     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2017
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  14. Sax-son

    Sax-son Forum Resident

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    I know Stella Castellucci. She was a very close friend of my father, and I mean close. He use go on and on about what a marvelous harpist she was and that is not an endorsement he gave out lightly. She is still alive as far as I know and when I last heard, she was still teaching advanced harp students. She is a wonderful and nice person as well.
     
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  15. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    What a thrill listening to Sea Shells must be for you knowing she was a good friend of your dad's. Very cool!
     
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  16. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    The description of the Verve Master Edition series certainly makes one disappointed in the Peggy Lee instalment, especially since there's a good possibility that alternate takes were still available in 2004 at the time of release. At the very least, the two additional tracks should've been included, especially if Decca's original plan was to expand Black Coffee to a 14 track album.

    If I had to single out one performance from the album as my favourite, I'd probably choose "You're My Thrill". It's haunting.
     
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  17. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter

    In early 1953, Candoli was tied to Capitol. They were still tied during the second half of 1953, when the album was released. I say "tied" because I do know if there was an actual, official and exclusive contract in the mix; he tended to be more of a freelance musician at that point in time. Be that as it may, he was certainly recording for the label in the early 1950s, and is credited on various Capitol singles.

    In mid-1953, Candoli and Capitol hit a jackpot with "Hey! Bellboy!" a number that he co-composed, and on which he prominently played, sharing the spotlight with Gloria Wood (a singer who, back then, was better known for her work as a member of harmony groups).

    [​IMG]

    "Hey! Bellboy!" is said to have been a big hit, selling over a million. (Those are informal claims. I do not see it included in million seller listings nor in main music charts. So, maybe the claims are a bit overstated. Still, there is little doubt that the number was popular and sold well; for our purposes, those are the important points.)

    No wonder then, if the label felt possessive. When Candoli asked Capitol for permission to either play or be credited on the Decca album Black Coffee for Peggy Lee, he was supposedly told, "you are a Capitol artist."


    Yes and no. A trumpet player is credited in the liner notes. Check the last sentence of the last paragraph:

    [​IMG]



    Through that old-time honored trick, the pseudonym. And a thinly veiled one, at that. Capitol itself had already resorted to this strategy on several occasions. If memory serves, Billie Holiday was credited only as Lady Day when she recorded for the Johnny Mercer label.

    So, Candoli is being credited under the pseudonym Cootie Chesterfield. He would not have had to reveal his identity to people in the music industry, for them to take for granted that it had to be him. In addition to his playing style, there was the rest of the list of musicians, comprising the entire music unit playing with Peggy at the time -- and leaving out only Candoli's name. Even more pointedly, it was known that his fellow musicians had taken to giving him the nickname Cootie, due to his admiration for an older trumpet player (Cootie Williams).

    But the whole idea of using a pseudonym came from Candoli himself, rather than Decca's people. He is quoted as having supposedly said, "Just put down Cootie Chesterfield on the album - that's real dignified!"

    Candoli was one of those fun guys who was always cracking jokes, and had a strong interest in acting as well. He would while away his time on the bus and backstage by imitating every comedian whose act had preceded any recent gig he had played. In other words, the guy was a whole show in and of himself. That might have been the inspiration for the use of "Chesterfield" as his last name (as in the various Chesterfield-named shows that were, or had been, popular on radio and television).

    In later years, Pete Candoli would name Black Coffee with Peggy Lee as one of his favorite albums ever.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2017
  18. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter

    [​IMG]

    Both Peggy and Maggie were whisked away from their homes (nearly kidnapped?) by the Capitol folks, who had just learned about the existence of this brand new "Freedom Train" tune, and were rushing to record it before the competitors. Sadly for Capitol, Decca had already beaten them to the punch. But, on the plus side, Peggy and Maggie reportedly had a ton of fun during the rushed session, flubbing the lyrics over and over due to uncontrollable giggling outbursts (and wrongly singing parts that had not been assigned to them).


    I remember reading from you about your dad in an earlier Peggy Lee thread. It's great to hear again from you here; this time you went into greater and more interesting detail.

    For so many "olden-day" record sessions, details about full personnel can not be easily found. I imagine that your dad played in quite a few that have yet to be reported. From Peggy's discography, the only date of which I am aware is a December 2, 1947 session that wasn't truly hers, but Benny's. The last two numbers listed below are from that session, which shows Jack Dumont on alto sax:

    [​IMG]

    Benny and Peggy actually had a top 30 chart hit with the very last number, thereby surpassing Tony Martin's debut version of said number. (He sang it on film.)

     
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  19. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    That bellboy seems a little taken and/or distracted :shh:

    It was considerate of Candoli to ask for permission. Not surprising that Capitol declined, especially since the project in question was a Peggy Lee album...perhaps there were some hard feelings about her decision to leave for Decca, especially after "Lover" smashed on the charts.

    Neat. Thanks for the info :righton:
     
  20. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter


    THE DECCA PERIOD: SONGS FROM PETE KELLY'S BLUES

    [​IMG]

    The Album And Its Original Versions


    Decca released Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues on or around July 25, 1955. With this release, the record world of Peggy Lee abandoned the 10"LP format for good. Rather than as a 10", Songs from Pete Kelly's Blue originally came out on 12" LP (seen above) and gatefold EP (seen below).

    [​IMG]

    Actually, two EPs were released in the United States. The one excluded here contains numbers not by Peggy Lee but by Ella Fitzgerald. (Meanwhile, in the UK, Brunswick issued a total of three EPs. That's because Brunswick split the Peggy Lee numbers into two EP releases.)

    The album under discussion was a commercial success for Decca Records and its two featured singers, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues peaked at #7
    in Billboard's chart Best-Selling Popular Albums. It ranks as Ella's highest-charting album ever, and Peggy's second highest charting album.


    The Album's Background

    Film work was a distinctive part of Peggy Lee's career during the first half of the 1950s, when she was a Decca recording artist. Within that period, Peggy sang on and composed for more than a handful of films, did voices for an animated classic and, to top it all off, played dramatic parts in two big screen releases. The second, Pete Kelly's Blues, won her lots of acclaim in the film circuit. She was given awards from various major organizations (New York Film Critics, Motion Picture Exhibitors, Council of Motion Picture Organizations), and also found herself with an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Reviews of the film itself were mixed, but approval for Peggy's supporting role was nearly unanimous.

    Rephrased by her biographers,
    Lee's comments about how she came into the project can actually be found in her autobiography:

    During the time I was working on Lady and the Tramp, Jack Webb called: "I have a wonderful script, I don't know if you'll be interested in the role, because we're not going to shoot you in the best light. It's not glamorous and we'll deliberately light you poorly and things like that for the character, but if you like this, I'll send the script over, and you call me as soon as you've read it." It arrived by messenger. I read it and immediately called Jack. I told him I couldn't wait to play it. The part was Rose ... basically a nice girl trying to succeed as a singer, but not getting the right breaks, who becomes the girlfriend of a gangster and ... starts to drink ... In the drunk scenes I had to sing off-key and out of tune.

    [​IMG]
    Jack Webb, the director, producer and protagonist of the movie, is best remembered nowadays for his deadpan star turn as the TV detective Dragnet, but for our purposes we are better off identifying him as a major jazz fan and as the first husband of Julie London. (During the years in which Webb and London were married, she was not yet a singer. Their divorce took place in 1954 -- i.e., months before the February 1955 start of the movie's filming.) For Pete Kelly's Blues, Webb cast himself as a cornet player. The entire film centers around "his" group's attempt at finding honest work in the nightclub/speakeasy circuit.

    [​IMG]

    Among those who Webb had hired to write songs for his production company was a high school classmate of Julie's, named Arthur Hamilton. It so happened that Arthur (who in time would ascend to a vice-presidential position at ASCAP) had recently dated Peggy, too. Webb asked Hamilton to write a few new songs for the film, which would otherwise showcase standards from the time in which the period film was set, the Prohibition Era.

    Peggy Lee started filming her scenes in April of 1955. The following month, she spent two days (Wednesday, May 4; Tuesday, May 10) in the company of mostly the same musicians who are heard in the movie, recording numbers for inclusion in Decca's vinyl version of the soundtrack. The numbers sung by Peggy are the same ones that are heard in the movie, though the film features many of them not as vocals, but as instrumentals.

    [​IMG]

    Somebody else who had been cast in the movie, though in a minor role, was everybody's beloved vocalist (including Webb's), Ella Fitzgerald. Taking advantage of the fact that both trushes were under their contract, the production team at the Decca label (probably headed by Milt Gabler) decided to feature Ella as well as Peggy in the same album. Resorting to a 3:1 ratio that mirrors the extent of their participation in the film, the album features Ella in 3 numbers, and Peggy in 9 numbers. (
    There are no instrumentals in the mix. Ella had recorded her songs on Tuesday, May the 3rd.)

    To be continued
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2017
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  21. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    It would've been fun to sit in on that session. Was Benny Goodman signed to Capitol when the label recorded "The Freedom Train" or was he just a guest? I thought he was still with Columbia at that time.
     
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  22. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter

    You and me both! Fun and probably a little bit crazy, too? I imagine that, as the session went on, lots of adjustments were made. Maybe even the arrangement was created on the spot.

    You are right that Benny Goodman had been with Columbia until recently. However, he switched labels in January of 1947, signing with Capitol. A couple of months after he joined, Goodman and Lee got together for the first of the three Capitol dates on which both participated.

    Well, let me also take the opportunity provided by this post to do something boring but necessary: correcting a factual error of mine, from an earlier post. (Was just re-reading it.) I also forgot to include a credit.


    Department of corrections: the second of these dates is wrong; there was no session on Friday, March the 31st. The sessions took place on April 30 (as stated), May 1 (as stated), and Wednesday, May 4 (not previously stated).


    Credit where credit is due: the original source for the Candoli quotes is the writings of Les Tomkins, the British critic of jazz and singers whose work is especially associated with Crescendo magazine. He interviewed Candoli (and Peggy as well).
     
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  23. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    If it was one day later, you'd have fooled us all :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2017
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  24. .crystalised.

    .crystalised. Forum Resident

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    It would be fun to hear outtakes, if they exist. The engineers probably went through more than a few lacquers since Peggy and Margaret kept breaking down :shh:
     
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  25. Ridin'High

    Ridin'High Forum Resident Thread Starter


    THE DECCA PERIOD: SONGS FROM PETE KELLY'S BLUES

    (CONTINUED)

    Album Versions
    Issued on its Brunswick imprint, Decca's earliest British release of Songs from Pete Kelly's Blues uses artwork that is different from (and, for me, preferable to) the original, US Decca release.
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Also shown above is an Australian pressing. Last but not least, a rare Japanese pressing can be seen below.
    [​IMG]


    Key Songs
    From this album, we must naturally single out the four numbers that Peggy sang on the film itself. Also deserving of special mention is a fifth song from the album that was not sung on the movie, but which took off and won many fans during the first decade of this century.

    [​IMG]
    1. Bye, Bye, Blackbird
    This was one of the old standards heard instrumentally on the Pete Kelly's Blues film, but presented as a vocal on the Decca album. Re-used on the soundtrack of the 2005 film version of King Kong, the number sent many moviegoers all over the internet, eager to find out who was the vocalist singing in such marvelously sad and mellow manner. (At first, the vocalist was wrongly reported to be Alison Moyet, but the matter was eventually clarified.)

    2. He Needs Me
    3. Sugar

    Featured back to back in the film (almost, but not quite as a medley), these two songs serve to showcase the fact that Peggy's tragic character was a talented, very good singer. The first number was written expressly for the movie, and obviously means to be a vocalization of the character's relationship with her gangster lover. The second song is another old standard -- one that Peggy had previously recorded for two labels, as well as sung more than once on the radio.


    4. Somebody Loves Me
    In contrast to the previously mentioned medley, this number is used in the movie to illustrate the decline and ravages that alcohol addiction and life disappointments have exerted on Peggy's character. In the film, we hear her slurring a few lines; in the album, she gives the full standard its due , foregoing of the film's slurred performance.

    "Somebody Loves Me" was a song with which Peggy was well acquainted. In addition to this Decca version, she recorded it three times, twice of those for Capitol. The number had been co-written, after all, by one of Capitol's founders. Peggy's main Capitol version, from 1947, even doubled up as the title of a various-artists Capitol 78-rpm album.

    [​IMG]

    To be continued (one more "Key Song" left)
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2017

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