I'm not sure this is the right thread for this , but has anyone besides me bought ''At Last-The Lost Radio Recordings'', i'm really enjoying this recent two CD comp from Real Gone Music. What a pleasure it is to hear Peggy's interpretations of such classic songs as ''At Last, You Belong To Me, A Kiss To Build A Dream On, I Got Rhythm, When I Fall In Love, Skylark, Singing In The Rain etc....forty five tracks in all, another favorite is a song i'd never heard or knew about ''Johnny One-Note''.
Thank you for this wonderful info. This was always a dark spot for me with Peggy's discography. I will certainly have to seek out that CD.
According to the liner notes these songs have never appeared on any Peggy Lee recordings before, this set sounds real nice considering the source, especially disc two. Here's the track listing. Disc: 1 1. Peggy Lee Radio Show Opening 2. It s a Most Unusual Day 3. I ll See You In My Dreams 4. Getting to Know You 5. Cry 6. You Belong to Me 7. It Takes Two To Tango 8. Solitaire 9. Did Anyone Call? 10. Please Mr. Sun 11. The Wheel of Fortune 12. Life Is a Beautiful Thing 13. Somewhere Along The Way 14. And So To Sleep Again 15. Undecided 16. Everything Happens To Me 17. A Kiss To Build A Dream On 18. Botch-A-Me 19. My Darling, My Darling 20. Just One More Chance 21. Since My Love Has Gone 22. Zing a Little Zong 23. Skylark Disc: 2 1. I Got Rhythm 2. Pretty Eyed Baby 3. Ole Buttermilk Sky 4. The Little White Cloud That Cried 5. When I Fall In Love 6. Come What May 7. Johnny One-Note 8. Singin in the Rain 9. Come On-A My House 10. Here In My Heart 11. Danny Boy 12. Half As Much 13. Go, Go, Go 14. I ll Never Smile Again 15. After All, It s Spring 16. Trust In Me 17. Blacksmith Blues 18. Domino 19. Heigh Ho (It s Off to Work We Go) 20. Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be 21. I m Gonna Live Till I Die 22. At Last
Just my opinion, Jackson: it would be best to have a new, separate thread for this CD, where it could be given the individual attention that it deserves. After all, it is a major item in the Peggy Lee world: the first CD of brand new material in quite a few years. But anyway, I want to add that I agree with your comments. (I too found myself more drawn toward the second CD, although of course I enjoyed both.)
Today (Sunday, April the 5th), the season opener of the TV series Mad Men will be featuring Peggy Lee's recording of "Is That All There Is?" Should be interesting to see how the song is used. This is the beginning of the end for the series -- a paradox that "Is That All There Is?" could be made to reflect. (For those who don't know this show, the story takes place in the 1960s. It has moved chronologically through the decade. The events in these final episodes happen in 1969.) AMC will repeat the episode very often through the late hours, from 10:00 p.m. onwards.
Any comments about this pic (mike, instruments, etc.)? What would the ladder be for? Also, the woodwinds, I think I see two clarinets. What's the other instrument (a bass clarinet, maybe, or a bass saxophone)??
I'm very late, but: Thanks! Makes sense. I'm noticing now that one of these guys have not one but two instruments with him: a clarinet (which I had previously missed) and that other instrument (the one that looks to me like a bass saxophone or a bass clarinet).
Today I spotted a sealed Peggy Lee Decca-era album, So Blue, reissued on the MCA-Coral label, but holy cow, it was abridged from an already-skimpy ten songs down to EIGHT songs! I passed. (I did buy three other Peggy albums, all from Capitol, just because they were insanely "clean" copies.)
•Things Are Swingin' (I have this on CD; now on stereo LP) - 1980s Pathe-Marconi stereo LP •Beauty and the Beat (I know this album has "history" of sorts, but have never owned a copy) - 1980s Pathe-Marconi stereo LP •Jump for Joy - original "D" USA mono LP (I know this album fairly well)
For material, good choice. I'll be curious to discuss sonics. Your stereo copy of Things Are Swingin' is far miked. Your "D" pressing of Jump For Joy should have a warm, fat sound, with a nice slam in the brass, although Peggy's got some sort of limiter on this album and her voice doesn't sound the greatest. Beauty and the Beat has canned applause and dialogue but it's a good recording. Not sure what the quality of the Pathe-Marconi discs are like. The name of that label makes Peggy sound ancient.
I haven't played these discs yet, but in general, the 1980s Pathe-Marconi reissues of 1950s Capitol recordings are excellent: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/pathe-marconi-mid-80s-capitol-lp-reissues.203281/
Interesting thread, thanks. That leads me to wonder if some of those Pathé discs are superior in quality to the Capitol originals. Sure, France/UK would be working with generational copies of the tapes, but that's less of an issue than pressing quality IMO. Heretofore, I've only sought original Capitol pressings of Peggy Lee from the US, Canada and UK. Might be worth looking into. I've never come across Pathé reissues in local shops, although I haven't been actively searching for them.
Between appointments today, I literally had time to swing back by the house, put on the record, transfer about 45 seconds, and then get back in the car and drive off. Here's a clip from the French LP, completely raw: https://app.box.com/s/7wdxcgs419ioc2m0yje0q326j9tua32m (It's this LP.) Regarding the tape copies, IIRC, Capitol started archiving its aging stereo & mono master tapes to U-Matic digital in 1982, so I would not 100% rule out the idea of Pathe-Marconi receiving digital copies. (EMI in the UK was getting digital dubs for the 1984 Sinatra releases, and the Pathe-Marconi series was done in conjunction with UK EMI from something like 1983-1986.)
(Link to photo, reproduced below.) The three guys in the front row are all playing standard clarinets, but there are also a flute and a bass clarinet on stands at the left, so at least one of the fellas was doubling or tripling on those instruments. Aside from that, all I see is bass, drums, and piano, plus a pair of RCA 44 mics. Location: CP MacGregor studios, Los Angeles. Are there many Peggy Lee recordings from the 1940s that feature a clarinet trio? Probably not too tough to figure out the session date, eh?
Yes, and the photo is from Dec. 27, 1944, according to http://www.peggyleediscography.com/p/preCap.php
So which of the four performances recorded on 27 December 1944 do we suppose Peggy is rehearsing/recording in the photo?
Sorry, but it's a policy only to reply to my own posts. Mr. Postman dropped off a copy of the DRG CD of Jump for Joy, remixed by Alan Silverman, and I'll just echo what others have said here about the excellent mastering.