The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography And Videography:
The Capitol Years, Part 2
by Iván Santiago Mercado

Peggy Lee's Recording Career, 1946-1947

After signing with Capitol Records in the mid-1940s, Peggy Lee's career as a solo vocalist kicked into high gear. Between 1946 and 1948, Lee put a continuous string of hits in the charts, including a million seller. She earned widespread recognition as one of the nation's top popular singers, too. For more commentary about Peggy Lee's career during this period, including her placement in music polls, and for some details about Capitol Records at this point in time, see note at the bottom of this page. Also found in that final note is a tabulation of this page's 70 masters.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (cl, tb, b, p, d), Dave Barbour (g), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

"Linger In My Arms A Little Longer" In The Music Charts
Peggy Lee's fourth solo hit (following three that are listed in this discography's 1943-1945 page) entered the charts during the week of September 28, 1946. According to Joel Whitburn's estimates in Pop Memories, 1890-1954, it peaked at #16. No competing versions appear in Whitburn's book, but two are mentioned in Edward Foote Gardner's Popular Songs Of The Twentieth Century: A Charted History, a text which does not give chart positions. One version came from Columbia (Woody Herman, with a vocal by Lynn Stevens), the other from Decca (Helen Forrest, with background vocals by The Chickadees).


Issues And Personnel

1. "Linger In My Arms A Little Longer" / "Baby, You Can Count On Me" [78]
2. Dave Barbour
Besides crediting the accompaniment as "Dave Barbour And His Orchestra," Capitol 78 #263 specifies that Barbour is responsible for the guitar solo that is heard during "Linger In My Arms A Little Longer."


Arrangements

This session's arrangements are preserved in Capitol's library of music scores. The library credits both of them to Heinie Beau.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Henry J. "Heinie" Beau (cl), Herbert "Herbie" Haymer (ts), Robert "Bob" Lawson (bar), Ray Linn (t), Ed Kusby aka Edward Kuczborski, Carl Loeffler, Elmer Smithers, Si Zentner (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Edwin "Buddy" Cole (b, p), Phil Stephens (b), Nick Fatool (d), Reynold Johnson (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs, Masters And Cross-references

1. "It's A Good Day" In The Music Charts
According to data found in the book Pop Memories, 1890-1954, Peggy Lee's sixth solo hit entered the Billboard charts on January 18, 1947 and peaked at #16. (n.b.: For Lee's fifth solo hit, see session dated July 23, 1946.)

Doubtlessly to Lee's pleasure, other record labels released competing versions of her self-penned lyric. Among the competitors were RCA Victor's Phil Harris and Columbia's Gene Krupa, who assigned the vocal to his girl singer, Carolyn Grey. Apparently those two versions -- neither listed in Whitburn's book but both mentioned in Foote Gardner's aforementioned text -- earned smaller airplay than Lee's.

Whitburn's estimates notwithstanding, the proven popularity of this recording strongly suggests that it must have cracked the top 10, at the very least. "It's A Good Day" was covered often on radio shows of the time, and thereafter it remained current for decades -- not only on radio but also on records and TV variety shows.

2. "Don't Be So Mean To Baby"
For the version of "Don't Be So Mean To Baby" that Capitol issued during the 78 era, see session dated October 16, 1946.

3. "I've Had My Moments"
In Peggy Lee's session files, this version is listed as rejected. For two other studio versions of "I've Had My Moments," one of them not issued until 2008, see sessions dated July 23, 1946 (including notes) and November 26, 1947. See also pages for MacGregor and Capitol Transcriptions.


Arrangements And Arrangers

1. Heinie Beau
2. Mundell Lowe
This session's arrangement of "It's A Good Day" can be found in Capitol's library of music scores. The library credits it to Heinie Beau. He is also credited with the library's only arrangements of "Don't Be So Mean To Baby" and "I've Had My Moments."

A Mundell Lowe arrangement of "It's A Good Day" has been preserved, too. It is in of Peggy Lee's own sheet music library. Presumed to have been written some time during the 1960s, Lowe's arrangement might have been meant for Lee's concert performances.


Personnel

1. Sources
My source for this session's personnel is the booklet of the set Capitol Records' Sixtieth Anniversary, 1942-2002 (catalogue number 7243 5 41220 2 6; not included above because I have listed all various-artists compilation in a separate page of this discography). As for Peggy Lee's Capitol session file (i.e., my main source of information), it does not name this session's musicians.

Peggy Lee (ldr), John Palladino (eng), Frank DeVol (con), Frank Devol and His Orchestra (acc), Skeets Herfurt aka Arthur Herfurt, Jerome Kasper, Jules Kinsler, Ron Perry, Ted Romersa (r), Abe Benike, Uan Rasey, Irv Shulkin (t), George Faye, Si Zentner (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Phil Stephens (b), Edwin "Buddy" Cole (p), June Weiland (hrp), Tommy Romersa (d), Victor Arno, Joseph Livoti, Joseph Quadri, Henry Sugar (vn), Jacob Kaz, Paul Lowenkron (vl), Fred Goerner, Joseph Saxon, Julius Tannenbaum (vc), Peggy Lee (v)

Sessions And Masters

1. A Date With Frank DeVol
2. Non-Lee Masters
Session #327 is essentially a Frank DeVol date in which two vocalists shared him and his orchestra. The first two masters were sung by Hal Derwin, the third one by Peggy Lee:

1201-4 I Guess I'll Get The Papers And Go Home
1202-3 The Old Lamplighter
1203-1 A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues

3. The Capitol Studio Recording Versus The Capitol Radio Transcription
This version of "A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues" sounds very similar to another one that Lee had recorded, for Capitol's transcription service, a month earlier (on June 10) . To my ears, they are identical. I must clarify, however, that there is no factual corroboration for this suspicion of mine. It could still be that the performances are different, despite sounding so similar.

I further suspect that, once Capitol deemed the June 10 transcription worthy of commercial issue, the company's engineers (re)mastered it for release on 78 and tagged it to this July 15 date. In other words, Derwin and Lee might have not shared this session, after all; the Lee master might have just been conveniently tagged to the DeVol - Derwin session.

Notice, incidentally, the curious circumstance that the listed master take of "A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues" is the very first one. Most other masters tend to be the second or third take or higher. This is another reason why I'm inclined to think that master #1203 is a remastered version of the original transcription number.)

In any case, Capitol assigned two master numbers and two recording dates to Peggy Lee's recording(s) of "A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues;" I have followed suit herein.


Personnel

1. Dave Barbour
2. Frank DeVol
The following note is found in The Capitol Label Discography, compiled by Michel Ruppli, Bill Daniels and Ed Novitsky with assistance from Michael Cuscuna: "This title was listed in artist file as with Dave Barbour and his Orchestra. Credit to Frank De Vol appears in Capitol CD release."

3. Source
Aside from the vocalist and the conductor, this session's personnel should be deemed tentative. Relying on the above-mentioned likelihood that this performance is the same one recorded for Capitolk's trnascription service, I have transferred the full personnel from that session to this one.


Arrangements

An arrangement of "A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues" is extant in Capitol's library of music scores. Frank DeVol is credited as its author.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Henry J. "Heinie" Beau (cl), Unknown (cl, t, tb, b, p, d), Dave Barbour (g), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

"It's All Over Now" In The Music Charts
After entering Billboard's charts during the week of November 23, 1946, Peggy Lee's version of this song reached #10. It was her fifth solo hit. Scoring higher than Lee, with a #6, was Columbia's Frankie Carle, whose version had a vocal by Marjorie Hughes. (n. b.: For Lee's sixth solo hit, see above, session dated July 12, 1946.)


Masters And Songs

1. "I've Had My Moments"
This is the song that Peggy Lee recorded most often during the 1940's: five times. The two earliest versions were originally recorded exclusively for radio broadcasting, even though they ended up being commercially issued at a much later time. (See pages for both MacGregor and Capitol radio transcriptions.) The other three versions are Capitol studio recordings, two of them unreleased so far. (See sessions dated July 12, 1946 and November 26, 1947.)


Arrangements

This session's arrangements are kept in Capitol's library of music scores. The library credits them to Heinie Beau.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (sax, t, tb, g, b, p, d), Peggy Lee (v)

Issues (Collectors' Corner And Cross-references)

1. "Cast" And Songwriter Albums From Capitol
2. Jerome Kern's Music [78/45/10" album]
In its original configuration, Jerome Kern's Music was a 78 set that contained four discs. Later, Capitol also issued it as a 45 set which included three discs, and as a 10" LP.

This album has never been released on compact disc. Granted that it is too brief to be released as one CD, such an objection could be bypassed if the album were to be combined with another one. An ideal companion for Jerome Kern's Music would be Somebody Loves Me: The Beloved Songs Of Buddy De Sylva, which is also awaiting CD issue. (For details about Somebody Loves Me, see notes under session dated January 29, 1947.) There is actually a precedent for a twofer of this type. In 2008, DRG Records issued a CD that combined two other early Capitol albums, Kiss Me, Kate and South Pacific, each with songs interpreted by members of the label's roster of artists. (For Lee's contributions to South Pacific, see sessions dated March 11 and April 18, 1949). DRG would thus be an ideal candidate to issue the Kern and De Sylva albums; such a reissue would amount to a sequel from the esteemed record company.

The songs and artists featured in Jerome Kern's Music are:

Side 1
The Way You Look Tonight - Paul Weston And His Orchestra
A Fine Romance - Johnny Mercer and Martha Tilton
Look For The Silver Lining - Margaret Whiting
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Nat King Cole Trio

Side 2
She Didn't Say Yes - Peggy Lee
The Touch Of Your Hand - Hal Derwin
Who - The Pied Pipers
All The Things You Are - Clark Dennis

3. "She Didn't Say Yes" [45, 78]
In the original 78 album version of Jerome Kern's Music (catalogue number Cd 41), "She Didn't Say Yes" is on one side of 78 #10075. The flip side contains the above-listed instrumental that was performed by Paul Weston and His Orchestra ("The Way You Look Tonight").

In the 45 album version of Jerome Kern's Music (Ccf 210), "She Didn't Say Yes" is in 45 #15501, whose other side features "A Fine Romance" as sung by Johnny Mercer and Martha Tilton, in a duet version.

Notice that, although sometimes found in record sellers' listings as single units, Capitol never issued 45 #15501 and 78 #10075 as singles. Both are instead pieces from the Kern album.

4. Peggy Lee: Songwriter [CD]
5. "He's Just My Kind"
BMG's promotional song disc wrongly credits the song "He's Just My Kind" to Dave Barbour and Peggy Lee. As shown in the entry above, this song was actually written by Floyd Huddleston and Mark McIntyre.


Arrangements

Capitol's library of music scores includes an arrangement of "He's Just My Kind," but it has no author credit.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

The New York Recording Sessions: Peggy Lee And Dave Barbour's Debut Album?

During a successful engagement in New York at The Paramount Theatre, Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour took the opportunity to record a couple of sessions at Capitol's studios in the Big Apple. Therein, the husband-and-wife team seem to have been given freer rein than in California. Their two Manhattan dates comprise tunes that they probably were performing in concert, and which might have been favorites of them.

When heard in toto, the eight recorded numbers make for a cohesive set. A jazzy, lightly swinging approach is sustained through four of the songs. The other four titles are ballads sung in a heartfelt and bluesy manner. There were no commercial ditties or "plug tunes" in the mix. The repertoire includes two standards from the pop-jazz world, one famous jazz melody ("Nuages") with then-brand-new lyrics in English, various blues-oriented Traditional tunes, two tasteful creations co-written by the Barbour-and-Lee team, and one standard-to-be by a favorite songwriter of Lee's, Alec Wilder.

I suspect that the plan was to release the entire repertoire as a Lee-Barbour album. If such a record was truly under consideration, obviously the project did not proceed as planned. It would have been Peggy Lee's first original album, predating her next one (Rendezvous With Peggy Lee) by two years. Unfortunately, I have not come across any further details that can confirm or deny the possibility that such a hypothetical album was truly planned.

It is worth adding that all of these New York masters were initially left unissued. (Two of them had to wait three to five years to leave the vaults; the other six were not released until the CD era.) My aforementioned hypothesis (i.e., a cancelled 78 album set) could gain further credibility from the fact that Capitol passed over the entire batch, not picking any of these eight songs for single issue until years later.


Masters, Songs And Cross-references

1. "Don't Be So Mean To Baby", Master #1240
For another version of "Don't Be So Mean To Baby," see session dated July 12, 1946. (That earlier version is the one that was released for the first time in 2008.) The reason why Lee re-recorded this tune three months after her first try is unknown. Since both versions sound good to my ears, I can only speculate that Lee and Barbour were eager to try the song with musicians from the New York area. Bear also in mind my previously mentioned speculation that this session's songs were intended for an album release. (Of the two, the version that strikes me as superior is the one under discussion, on master #1240.)

This session's performance of "Don't Be So Mean To Baby" was first issued in 1948, while a recording ban had led to scarcity of newly recorded material. Hence the ban compelled record labels to release old, previously unissued masters from their vaults. In the case of Peggy Lee's self-penned "Don't Be So Mean To Baby," the fact that Duke Ellington had previously recorded a well-received version -- with a vocal by Al Hibbler -- might have served as extra impetus for Capitol to make it available during the ban period.

2. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", Master #1241
This version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was not issued until 2008. For the version that Capitol released in 1947, see session dated January 29, 1947.


Arrangements

1. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
No arranging credit for this session's version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" has been located, but a later version (1947) of this traditional number is known to have been adapted by Peggy Lee and her husband Dave Barbour. Given the strong similarities of the two arrangements, chances are that the couple is also responsible for the one from this date.

Peggy Lee's sheet music library contains two arrangements of this song. One, known to have been written for a Decca master, is by Neal Hefti and Peggy Lee. The other library arrangement is of greater interest to this session: it is credited to Billy May, but no further details are known about it.


Musicians

The musicians that accompanied Barbour and Lee in this session are unknown. It stands to reason, however, that they are the same ones, or mostly the same ones listed in the next session.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Hank D'Amico (cl), Jake Koven (t), Dave Barbour (g), Bob Haggart (b), Sanford Gold (p), Johnny Blowers (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Recording Session

Because Lee and Barbour recorded this and the previous session back-to-back in two consecutive days during a brief sojourn to New York, and because the total amount of resulting masters is eight (i.e., the usual number of tracks in albums from the 1940s), I suspect that these masters were planned for release on a prospective Lee-Barbour 78 album. If so, plans for the album must have been abandoned. See related comments under previous session.


Songs And Songwriters

1. "(It's) The Bluest Kind Of Blues"
2. Django Reinhardt
In the Capitol CD Rare Gems And Hidden Treasures, annotator Gene Lees erroneously refers to this song as a vocal version of the Theme for The Jackie Gleason Show. "(It's) The Bluest Kind Of Blues" is instead a vocal version of "Nuages," the celebrated instrumental by guitarist Django Reinhardt, whose birth name was Jean Baptiste -- hence the songwriter credit above.

3. "Trouble Is A Man"
Peggy Lee made one of the earliest recordings of "Trouble Is A Man," a number composed by her friend Alec Wilder. (It was possibly the earliest of them all.) Lee also sang and promoted the number on radio and in concerts. Regrettably, Capitol never issued Lee's version. As a result, music listeners became better acquainted with the 1947 recordings of Sarah Vaughan and Ginnie Powell. The Peggy Lee treatment was finally released by the label Collectors' Choice in 2008.


Dating

1. "You Can Depend On Me"
Whereas "You Can Depend On Me" is dated October 17 in the Capitol CD set Miss Peggy Lee, Peggy Lee's Capitol session files list it under this October 18 date. I have put more trust in the session file.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour (con, g), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Henry J. "Heinie" Beau (cl, as), Dave Cavanaugh (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Red Nichols (c), Bill Davis (b), Tommy Linehan (p), Nick Fatool (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. "Everythin's Moving Too Fast" In The Music Charts
After entering the Billboard charts during the week of February 8, 1947, "Everythin's Moving Too Fast" became the third song composed by the Barbour-Lee team that climbed the music charts. The tune, which was also the vocalist's seventh solo hit, peaked at #21.


Arrangements

This session's arrangements are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. The library credits "It's Lovin' Time" to Heinie Beau. The arrangement of "Everythin's Moving Too Fast" does not identify its author.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (sax, t, tb), Dave Barbour (g), Phil Stephens (b), Edwin "Buddy" Cole (p), Tommy Romersa (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Issues, Masters And Sources

1. Somebody Loves Me: The Beloved Songs Of Buddy De Sylva [78 album]
This album has never been issued on compact disc. If paired with the similarly oriented Jerome Kern's Music (see session dated September 23, 1946), it could make for a fine CD twofer. DRG Records would be a prime candidate to issue such a twofer. That noteworthy record company has already released a disc which similarly combined two 1940s albums featuring Capitol's roster of artists at the time: Kiss Me, Kate and South Pacific. (For details about the latter, see 1949 sessions dated March 11 and April 18).

The songs and acts featured in Somebody Loves Me: The Beloved Songs Of Buddy De Sylva are:

If I Had A Talking Picture Of You - Johnny Mercer and Martha Tilton
Just A Memory - Andy Russell
You're The Cream In My Coffee - The Nat King Cole Trio
Somebody Loves Me - Peggy Lee
Avalon - The Pied Pipers
April Showers - Margaret Whiting
When Day Is Done - Hal Derwin
Together - Clark Dennis

The album consists of four 78s. Peggy Lee's "Somebody Loves Me" can be found on 78 #10085, whose flip side has the Andy Russell performance.

2. Trav'lin' Light [CD] And "Somebody Loves Me"
3. The Capitol Label Discography
According to The Capitol Label Discography by Michel Ruppli et al., this session's master of "Somebody Loves Me" can be found in a CD with catalogue number 5 23567 2. That's the Capitol Jazz CD Trav'lin' Light. It does contain a performance of "Somebody Loves Me," but it is not the same one that was recorded during this session. It is instead a Capitol radio transcription that Lee waxed on June 11, 1946. This error presumably originates in the official Capitol documentation that Ruppli and company consulted.

4. "A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues" And "Somebody Loves Me"
The 5-CD set A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues includes three tracks titled "Somebody Loves Me." One of them (track #18 of the set's second CD, sub-titled Sugar) is Lee's Capitol studio version (recorded on January 29, 1947). Another version is Lee's Capitol transcription version, which can be found as track #7 on the same CD from this set. The third appearance of "Somebody Loves Me" (track #7 of the set's fourth CD, sub-titled Oh! You Crazy Moon) turns out to be a duplication: it is, once again, the Capitol transcription version.


Personnel

The source for this session's personnel is The Capitol Label Discography. None of my other sources identifies the musicians.


Arrangements

1. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
This version of the traditional song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was adapted by Dave Barbour and Peggy Lee.

Peggy Lee's sheet music library contains two arrangements of this song. One, known to have been written for a Decca master, is by Neal Hefti and Peggy Lee. The other one is by Billy May.

2. "Speaking Of Angels"
3. "Somebody Loves Me"
The arrangements for "Speaking Of Angels" and "Somebody Loves Me" are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. Both are credited to Heinie Beau. Another Capitol studio version, recorded on October 17, 1946, was issued for the first time in 2008.


Cross-references

1. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
Lee recorded this number four more times. In addition to this session's studio version, there's an earlier one, dated October 17, 1946. Of her remaining two recordings of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," one was made for Capitol's radio transcription service (June 11, 1946) and the other for the Decca label (in a markedly different style and arrangement; January 6, 1956).

Benny Goodman (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), The Benny Goodman Sextet (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Dave Barbour (g), Harry Babasin (b), Tommy Todd (p), Ernie Felice (pac), Tommy Romersa (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Recording Location

My source for this date's recording location is the booklet of Mosaic's set The Complete Capitol Small Group Recordings Of Benny Goodman, 1944-1955, which lists Radio Recorders as the location for all 1947 Capitol sessions by Benny Goodman.


Masters (And Royalties)

1. "Eight, Nine And Ten"
Benny Goodman, who had joined Capitol in January of 1947, recorded "Eight, Nine And Ten" twice during his first year on the label. Peggy Lee sang only in this version. In the second version, which was recorded on June 3, 1947, Goodman himself fulfilled vocal duties.

The official paperwork indicates that royalties for this March 28, 1947 date were to be split between Goodman and Lee. Could this financial arrangement account for Goodman's decision to re-record the tune with himself as vocalist? See also personnel notes under session #818, dated December 2, 1947.

2. Non-Lee Masters
3. Benny Goodman
Also recorded during this Benny Goodman date were the following instrumentals:

1800-6 The Bannister Slide
1802-3 I Never Knew


Cross-references

1. Benny Goodman With Peggy Lee
For other Capitol collaborations between Lee and Goodman, see 1947 sessions dated September 12 (session #695) and December 2 (session #818).

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

"Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba" In The Music Charts
This novelty was assigned to Peggy Lee at Capitol, to Perry Como at RCA Victor, to The Charioteers at Columbia, and to Blue Barron at MGM. Como, the king of novelties at this point of his career, took it to the top spot. Peggy Lee's version, which was in more of a lullaby mode and included even three or four words in Italian, entered the chart on the week of June 28, 1947, and reached #10. The two other versions peaked at #14 (Blue Barron) and #16 (The Charioteers).


Arrangements

The arrangements for this session are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. Both are credited to Heinie Beau.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour All-Stars (acc), Unknown (sax, g, b, p, cel), Ray Linn (t), Peggy Lee (v)

Arrangements

1. Source
Capitol kept the arrangements for this session's performances of "It Takes A Long, Long Train With A Big Caboose" and "Just An Old Love Of Mine" in its library of music scores. In both songs' cases, the library is the source for the credit to Heinie Beau.


Personnel And Instruments

1. Source
My source for the identification of this session's musical instruments is The Capitol Label Discography.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Frank DeVol (con), Frank Devol and His Orchestra (acc), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

Sessions And Masters

1. A Date With Frank DeVol
2. Non-Lee Masters
Session #669 is essentially a Frank DeVol date in which his conducting was shared by Margaret Whiting and Peggy Lee. Whiting's two masters from the session are:

2160-3 So Far
2161-3 Lazy Countryside


Arrangements

1. Frank DeVol
The arrangement for this session's performance of "There'll Be Some Changes Made" is extant in Capitol's library of music scores. The library is the source for the credit to Frank DeVol.

Lee Gillette (pdr), Paul Weston And His Orchestra (acc), Leonard "Lenny" Hartman, Herbert "Herbie" Haymer, Herbert "Happy" Lawson, Julian "Matty" Matlock, Fred Stulce (r), Benny Goodman (cl), Charles Griffard, George Seaberg, Ray Woods (t), Bill Schaefer, Elmer Smithers, Allan "Al" Thompson (tb), George Van Eps (g), John "Jack?" Ryan (b), Milt Raskin (p), Nick Fatool (d), Peggy Lee, Johnny Mercer, The Pied Pipers, Margaret Whiting (v), Hal Hopper As Member Of The Pied Pipers, June Hutton As Member Of The Pied Pipers, Chuck Lowry As Member Of The Pied Pipers, Clark Yocum As Member Of The Pied Pipers (bkv)

The Recording Session

In her autobiography, Margaret Whiting talks about this recording session: "During the war, Johnny Mercer gave me a cryptic message. Be down at the studio at seven o'clock. Tell no one where you are going. And be there promptly! There were a lot of these messages during the war. When I got there, I found Johnny, Benny Goodman, Paul Weston, and his band, the Pied Pipers, and Peggy Lee all standing around as though preparing to embark on a secret mission. The secret mission was this: Irving Berlin had written a song called The Freedom Train. Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters had already recorded it for Decca. The plan was that if we could record it fast, we could get our version out first. Again, away we went. There was a patter, a riff, where we all had to reel off the names of the performers in rhythm: There-was-Johnny-Mercer-Peggy-Lee-Benny-Goodman-Margaret-Whiting-the-Pied-Pipers-and-Paul-Weston's-band ... Peggy and I could not get it together. We kept screwing up on the names, and it came out Peggy-Whiting-Margaret-Piper ... Oh, it was awful, and the more mistakes we made, the more we kept laughing. They finally had to call a dinner break. Everyone looked at Peggy and me as if we were sabouteurs. We were certainly not helping the war effort. After dinner, we came back and performed it brilliantly. I was ready to pack up and go home with the rest, when I was told, Just a minute, you're not through. There's the flip side of the record. You have to sing 'God Bless America'. Kate Smith Whiting did her duty. Well, our record came out quickly. And the Crosby-Andrews Sisters record came out quickly. And two bigger bombs were never heard throughout the entire war, which was extraordinary, for this was during the peak of war patriotism."

Peggy Lee was probably also referring to this date when, during a conversation with radio broadcaster Fred Hall, she made the following comment: "And one time we had an all-star group of all the singers on the whole label on that record. And something happened. We got the giggles in the middle of trying to record this thing, and one would laugh, and then two more, and finally about ten of us were laughing, and it got to be where you can't stop laughing. And we finally had to absolutely stop the session and take a half-an-hour break to get ourselves straightened out."

(These amusing recollections by both singers have a few details that are off or which are in discrepancy from one another -- not surprisingly, given the fact that four decades had elapsed when both Lee and Whiting shared their memories. Even so, each recollection offers the same basic outline.)


Personnel

1. George Seaberg or Seaburg
The last name of this trumpet player is spelled as Seaberg in some sources, Seaburg in others. I have not been able to determine which spelling is correct.


Masters

1. Non-Lee Masters
2. Margaret Whiting
As stated by Margaret Whiting in her above-quoted anecdote, this session generated two masters. The second master (#2248) indeed was Whiting's rendition of "God Bless America."


Arrangements

The arrangement for this session's performance of "The Freedom Train" is extant in Capitol's library of music scores, but it has no author credit.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (t, b, p, d), Dave Barbour (g), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs And Issues

1. Capitol #15009 [78] In The Music Charts
Both sides of Capitol #15009 entered the charts. "Golden Earrings" did so first, during the week of November 15.

2. "Golden Earrings" In The Music Charts
According to Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954, "Golden Earrings" peaked at #2 and stayed in the Billboard charts for 18 weeks. It was Lee's highest solo chart hit to date. (Notice the emphasis on the words solo and to date. Back n 1941, Lee had shared a #1 hit with the band for which she was then singing, The Benny Goodman Orchestra. As for her #2 peak achievement as a solo artist in 1947, Lee would beat her own record soon enough: in early 1948, with her #1 hit "Mañana.")

Competition in the Billboard charts came from Columbia's Dinah Shore, whose version of "Golden Earrings" peaked at #25, and from Decca's Bing Crosby, whose masculine take on the song enjoyed smaller chart action. (Abroad, in countries like England, where there was no distribution of Capitol Records until late 1948, Shore's version might have fared much better.)

During the week of November 22, 1947, Peggy Lee's "Golden Earrings" also entered the popular radio program Hit Parade, a top 15 countdown. Herein Lee's recording peaked at #2, too, just as it had done in Billboard. Incidentally, its peak happened on the same week in which the singer's next hit ("Mañana") debuted.

According to various estimates, Lee's version of "Golden Earrings" fared similarly well abroad. In Brazil, the Hot100Brasil online project ranks it as the 40th most popular song of 1949. For Europe, a similar project deems it the 79th performance of the entire decade of the 1940s.

There is more. "Golden Earrings" ranked #13 in Capitol's Top 25 Records 1942-1951, a countdown published by Billboard magazine in its January 5, 1952 issue, as part of a special section commemorating Capitol Records' 10th anniversary.

3. "I'll Dance At Your Wedding" In The Music Charts
"I'll Dance At Your Wedding" entered the Billboard charts during the week of December 20 and peaked at #11. Competition came from a Columbia version by Ray Noble with Buddy Clark, which reached #3, and from an RCA Victor version by Tony Martin, which reached #23.


Arrangements And Arrangers

1. "I'll Dance At Your Wedding"
2. "Golden Earrings"
The arrangements for those two performances from this session are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. Both are credited to Heinie Beau. Capitol's library does not have an arrangement of "Sugar."

3. "Sugar"
4. Benny Carter
Peggy Lee kept a Carter-credited arrangement of "Sugar" in her sheet music library. Because it has not been inspected, I cannot guarantee that the arrangement in Lee's library is the same one used for this session's version of "Sugar." Since Carter worked with Lee at later stages of her career, both in the studio and in concert, the library arrangement could date from a later period -- the 1960s, in particular. Hence my credit to Benny Carter for this session's arrangement should be deemed tentative.


Masters, Instruments, Sources And Cross-references

1. "Golden Earrings": Released Versus Unreleased Master
For the version of "Golden Earrings" that was commercially issued, see next session. This session's version was apparently deemed unsatisfactory. Looking at the available paperwork from the two sessions, one difference becomes apparent when a comparison of the two sessions' instrumentation is made. Flute and strings are listed for the next date only.

Decades later, Lee reminisced that, on this session, the song had been mistakenly recorded in major, and that on the next day it was correctly re-recorded in minor. Because so many decades had passed since the events took place, Lee's recollection might or might not be accurate. A music insider once told me that there is no such significant difference between the issued and the unissued masters. Even if such is the case, Lee's recollection could still be, at least, partially correct. Maybe takes in both major and minor were recorded during this date. Maybe the takes in minor were erased when the mistake was discovered, and maybe Lee did not remember that both days had produced takes in major.

2. Sources
A discrepancy between two of my sources should also be pointed out. Whereas Capitol's Peggy Lee session file indeed labels this master as unissued, the Capitol Label Discography lists two issues under it. I am assuming that those issues have been erroneously placed, and that they should actually be under next session's master. The issues are identified as Capitol Sl 6914 and Sl 6947. Unfortunately, I have not been able to track down further information about either one. I presume them to be various-artists compilation LPs made by Capitol's Special Markets division.

3. Take Number
The Capitol Label Discography is also my only source for the take number of this date's "Golden Earrings."

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (f, b, str, p, d), Dave Barbour (g), Peggy Lee (v)

Sessions And Masters

1. Non-Lee Masters
2. Andy Russell
This singles session was actually shared by Peggy Lee and Andy Russell. He recorded the following masters:

2276-3 Muchachita
2277-5 Love For Love


Arrangements

Copies of Heinie Beau's arrangement for "Golden Earrings" can be found in Capitol's and Peggy Lee's respective libraries of music scores. Also in Lee's library is an arrangement of "Golden Earrings" by the composer himself, Victor Young.


Cross-references

For an unissued version of "Golden Earrings," see previous session, dated September 23, 1947, including notes.

Lee Gillette (pdr), Paul Weston (cl), Eddie Miller (as), Benny Carter (ts), Dave Cavanaugh (bar), Dave Barbour (t), Billy May, Bobby Sherwood (tb), Hal Derwin (g), Frank DeVol (b), Red Norvo (p), Peggy Lee (d)

The Recording Session

An all-star roster got together for this Lee Gillette-produced date. The session was entirely dedicated to the two above-listed instrumentals, which feature a novel twist: each musician performed a different instrument from the one for which he was known. Joining the ten male instrumentalists was Peggy Lee, who instead of singing played the drums.

On the next day, nine of the ten participants met again for a sequel in which they billed themselves as Red Norvo's Nine, and in which they played their own instruments. The missing tenth was Peggy Lee, unfortunately. The session (#729) generated two masters, both of them instrumentals: #2345 ("Hollyridge Drive") and #2346 ("Under A Blanket Of Blue").


Personnel

1. Ten Cats And A Mouse
On the label of the original 78, this session is credited to Ten Cats And A Mouse. Peggy Lee is billed as The Mouse.


Songwriters

1. Felis Domestica
Original 78 issue #15015 credits "Three O'Clock Jump" to "Felis Domestica." That name is a tongue-in-cheek pseudonym which designated a non-existing individual: "Felis Domestica" is Latin for "domestic cats" (or "domesticated cats") and hence another allusion to the sessions' musicians.


Songs

1. "Three O'Clock Jump"
2. "Three-Thirty Jump"
In The Music Of Billy May: A Discography, author Jack Mirtle states that master #2344 was just "an untitled blues at the time of recording." Perhaps the lack of a pre-existent name and the informality of the session explain why the song can be found with two different though similar titles. Generally reliable sources such as the Capitol CD set Miss Peggy Lee and the Capitol Label Discography identify this master as "Three-Thirty Jump." Still other reliable sources (the Mosaic sets and, reportedly, the original 78) call it "Three O'Clock Jump".

Presumably, the title was meant to convey memories of the Count Basie jazz standard "One O'Clock Jump," recorded in 1937. A "Two O'Clock Jump" had been recorded as well, and it had proven popular in 1943. Furthermore, Joe Marsala And His Delta Four had come up with a "Three O'Clock Jump" in 1940. Knowledge of the 1940 Marsala number could have dissuaded Capitol from giving the exact same name to the company's 1947 song.

It may also be that the title given to the Capitol master is a reference to the time in which the recording of the performance was begun.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Henry J. "Heinie" Beau (cl), Benny Carter (as), Herbert "Herbie" Haymer (ts), Ray Linn, Rubin "Zeke" Zarchy (t), Unknown (tb), Dave Barbour (g), George "Red" Callender (b), Edwin "Buddy" Cole (p), Red Norvo (vib), Nick Fatool (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Issues

1. The Rendezvous With Peggy Lee Album
In mid-November 1947, Peggy Lee did three consecutive sessions (November 12, 19, 20) with what sounds like the same personnel of jazz-oriented instrumentalists. Five songs from those dates were released in a 78 set titled Rendezvous With Peggy Lee, which was Lee's very first album; this six-song set also included a number that was recorded just a few weeks later, on December 2, 1947. (An earlier album might have been planned but, if so, it was ultimately left unproduced. See notes under session dated October 17, 1946.)

Rendezvous With Peggy Lee has a somewhat complicated issuing history. Over a 12-year span, Capitol released and re-released it in multiple configurations -- a sure indication that it was a popular seller. Its initial release took place on March 29, 1948. At that time, it was issued as a cardboard 78 album which was part of Capitol's Criterion series (CC 72) and which consisted of three discs. The discs and the songs were:

Cap. 10118 - I Can't Give You Anything But Love / Why Don't You Do Right?
Cap. 10119 - Stormy Weather / Them There Eyes
Cap. 10120 - 'Deed I Do / Don't Smoke In Bed

In the late 1940s, a 45 album box (CCF 151) that contained the same six songs was also issued. (Its release year is unknown to me; I presume it to be 1949. The songs were distributed over three 45s that came inside said box.)

In 1951, Capitol re-released some of the album's songs in various singles (#1601, #1602, #1667).

In June 1952, the album was expanded from six to eight songs. The newly added titles were:

While We're Young (recorded November 27, 1947, and thus from the same months as the other six songs)
I Don't Know Enough About You (a hit that had been recorded well before all other songs in the album -- on December 26, 1945)

This eight-song version of Rendezvous came out in two configurations: as a 10"LP (H 151) and as a 45 album (EBF 151).

As shown in the just-given data, two 45 album versions of Rendezvous With Peggy Lee exist: the earlier one (CCF 151) which has six songs, and the later one (EBF 151) which has eight. EBF 151 is presumed to be a double EP; that is, it should consist of two 45s with two songs on each side. Unlike the earlier release (CCF 151), this EP is probably in a gatefold cover, not inside a box. (I hasten to add that I have yet to see a physical copy of EBF 151. It is listed in Capitol's files, but the files do not spell out its format or configuration. Hence my description relies not on the official documentation but on my understanding of the meaning that Capitol bestowed on the B prefix, and on word of mouth to the effect that EBF has eight songs. )

Next, on April 1, 1955, the album was expanded again, so that it could fill the 12" LP configuration. In addition to the eight songs already mentioned, the 12" LP included (a) one more song from the original sessions and (b) three more well-known hits by Lee:

(a) Hold Me (recorded November 19, 1947)
(b) It's A Good Day (recorded July 12, 1946)
(b) Mañana (recorded November 25, 1947)
(b) Golden Earrings (recorded September 23, 1947)

2. Capitol #511, #512, #513 [45s]
A clarification. Although those three 45s are often found and sold separately nowadays, Capitol never issued them as singles. Instead, all three were originally part of the (boxed) 45 album Rendezvous With Peggy Lee. With the passing of time, they have become separated from the box that initially contained them. (Their full catalogue numbers are actually Cap. 54-511, 54-512, and 54-513.)


Songs

1. "Talking To Myself About You" In The Music Charts
"Talking To Myself About You" became Peggy Lee's 15th solo hit, and her 25th overall hit. This number entered Billboard's charts during the week of April 17, 1948, and peaked at #23. It was released on Capitol #15048, as the flip side of the also-charting "Laroo Lilli Bolero" (recorded November 25, 1947).


Arrangements

1. Heinie Beau, Benny Carter
2. Billy May, Harold Mooney
For this session, Peggy Lee's session file offers arranger information that is problematic. The file lists four arrangers without specifying which of the men is responsible for each arrangement. The four credited men are Heinie Beau, Benny Carter, Billy May, and Harold Mooney. If the file's information is accurate, then the most logical assumption would be that each arranger is responsible for just one of the four arrangements.

Capitol's library of music scores tells a partially different story. Therein, only Heinie Beau and Benny Carter are credited, each for two specific masters. Until more information comes along, I am tentatively trusting the library's claim, and herein I have thus credited Beau and Carter as shown in the library.

(Could it be that May and Mooney are credited in Lee's session file because they had some sort of secondary involvement in arrangements that were by Beau and Carter? I doubt that such was the case, but there's no evidence to either prove or disprove the possibility.)

Neither Berger's discography of Benny Carter nor Mirtle's discography of Billy May include credits for any of this session's arrangements.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (str), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

Issues

1. The My Best To You Album
The 1950 album My Best To You is a rather curious grab bag of songs from many sessions. Two of the songs come from this date; the other six are each from a different session. The eight-song batch can be logically divided, however, into two categories. Half of them are numbers that Lee turned into hits ("Why Don't You Do Right?," "It's A Good Day," "Golden Earrings," "Mañana") and the other half are superior interpretations which did not achieve the widespread popularity that they deserved ("A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Hold Me," and "While We're Young").

Given the album's title, the possibility that Peggy Lee had some degree of participation in its making cannot be discarded. However, I am more inclined to believe that Capitol Records put it together without any heavy input from the vocalist. Ultimately, the album comes off as a shortchanged attempt at condensing Lee's previous decade of recordings into a mere handful of selections.

2. My Best To You [78 Album?]
One of my secondary sources indicates that My Best To You was issued as a 78 album with catalogue number Cd 204. No such 78 album is listed in Peggy Lee's session file, nor in other reliable sources. The only two configurations of which I am aware are the 10" LP (containing 8 songs) and the EP set (containing 6 songs).

3. The Rendezvous With Peggy Lee Album
November 12, 19, 20, 1947. See further comments in Issue notes under November 19 session.


Songs

1. "Hold Me"
2. "Rapsodie Spagnole"
According to some attentive listeners, the melody of "Hold Me" is a variation on Ravel's "Rapsodie Spagnole" -- especially its instrumental introduction. (However, the credits given in official Capitol issues do not corroborate this alleged inspiration from the classical world.)

3. "Why Don't You" [Club Version] In The Music Charts
A big hit for Peggy Lee and The Benny Goodman Orchestra in early 1943, "Why Don't You Do Right?" returned to the charts in the twenty-first century, under the guise of a club house version simply titled "Why Don't You." During the week of March 7, 2010, "Why Don't You" climbed to #1 in The Official UK Dance Chart. It also made The UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at #12. "Why Don't You" made another strong dent in Ultratop Top 50 Singles, the official Dutch chart (Flanders, Belgium), peaking at #7. It also received substantial airplay in other parts of Europe, as well as in Australia.

Despite the fact that "Why Don't You" features the exact same 1947 Peggy Lee performance of "Why Don't You Do Right?" (i.e., this session's master) no credit is given to her, or to the backing by Dave Barbour et al. The only credited act is Gramophonedzie, the disc jockey who re-built the number's beat for dance club consumption.

During an interview for the music blog Electroqueer, Marko Milicevic (aka Gramophonedzie) revealed that, although he himself is a fan of big band, jazz and swing music, "[m]y girlfriend is really the one to blame for this track because she is really a fan of Peggy Lee who sings the vocal on this one ... My girlfriend was really into this song and begged me to make a club track out of this song. It was a challenge - I was trying hard to make a groove out of it and it took a good two weeks. Then one day I sat down and did the breaks and it just happened. I really wanted to keep the original track too so that it would be playable in clubs. I didn't quite anticipate it would be this popular or get this big."


Arrangements

1. "Why Don't You Do Right?"
Copies of this session's arrangement of "Why Don't You Do Right?" can be found in Capitol's sheet music library, and also in Peggy Lee's own library. Billy May is the credited arranger. Interestingly, Capitol's library holds not one but two Billy May arrangements for this master. May also receives credit in Gene Lees' notes for Time-Life's Peggy Lee set from the "Legendary Singers" series.

2. " 'Deed I Do"
3. "Hold Me"
Also extant in Capitol's library of music scores are the arrangements of " 'Deed I Do" and "Hold Me." Johnny Thompson, an arranger who is otherwise unmentioned in Peggy Lee's canon, is credited with " 'Deed I Do." In the case of "Hold Me," there is no author credit.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Benny Carter (as), Herbert "Herbie" Haymer (ts), Dave Barbour (g), Unknown (b, d), Edwin "Buddy" Cole (p), Red Norvo (vib), Peggy Lee (v)

Issues

1. The Rendezvous With Peggy Lee Album
November 12, 19, 20, 1947. See further comments in Issue notes under November 19 session.

2. Capitol Cl 13003 [78; England]
Capitol Cl 13003 ("For Every Man There's A Woman" by Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee / "On A Slow Boat To China" by Benny Godman with vocal by Al Hendrickson) was part of the first batch of Capitol 78s ever issued in England. For further details, see Issues notes under session dated November 25, 1947.


Songs

1. "Baby, Don't Be Mad At Me" In The Music Charts
This song entered Billboard's charts during the week of June 5, 1948 and peaked at #21. It was released on Capitol #15090, as the flip side of the also-charting "Caramba! It's the Samba" (recorded November 25, 1947). "Baby Don't Be Mad At Me" became Lee's 18th solo hit.


Arrangements

With the exception of "Fooling Nobody But Me," arrangements for this session's performances are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. As indicated above, all three arrangements are credited to Heinie Beau.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour (con, g), Dave Barbour And The Brazilians (acc), Unknown (f), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

The Recording Session

1. Photos
A photo from the session is included in Peggy Lee's autobiography.

2. Carmen Miranda And Her Brazilians
3. Board Fade
In her autobiography, Peggy Lee writes that "Carmen Miranda was often a guest with Durante [i.e., Jimmy Durante, on whose radio show Lee was the regular vocalist from 1947 to 1948], and she had called me about using her musicians. She also recommended classical guitarist Laurindo Almeida, who played with me for quite a while. What a dear lady Carmen was, and The Brazilians were perfect for Mañana. When we recorded the song, we used what I believe was the first board fade ... a gradual turning down of the volume on the studio recording equipment until the sound completely fades out. In this case, though, The Brazilians actually sambaed out of the studio and down the street, playing and singing mañana, mañana, mañana is soon enough for me!" [n.b.: I have not been able to corroborate Lee's belief that "Mañana" was the earliest recording to use a board fade. Given the fact that two decades of recording history preceded this session, chances are that it wasn't. I would appreciate receiving any information about earlier recordings that use this technique.]

4. False Starts
Capitol has issued two breakdowns from this session. Both are charming windows into the date's trial-and-error proceedings.

In the case of "Caramba, It's The Samba," producer Lee Gillete stops the take when Lee sings a few lines in what might have sounded like gibberish to him. Queried by Gillette, Lee explains -- in a good-natured, humorous manner -- that she was "singing in Portuguese." Then the singer adds that she just could no longer hear the flute, which she jokingly calls "my one salvation." Afterwards, they proceed to take #3.

The "Mañana" breakdown occurs as the musicians are chanting the title word. Producer Lee Gillette stops the take and asks the musicians to sing again, without instrumentation. A few seconds into this vocal testing, two of the musicians are asked to change places. Gillette addresses one of them in particular: you, sing down, don't sing loud, 'cause your voice is sticking out. The musician responds with an okay, and Lee with a polite, sympathetic laugh. Thereafter, they proceed to record the next take -- which, also in this case, happens to be #3.


Location

The identification of this session's recording location is based on an oral comment made by Peggy Lee. During a 1970s radio interview, broadcaster Fred Hall asked if she had recorded at Melrose Studios for Capitol. Lee responded that she had indeed recorded at Melrose, and went on to mention that "Mañana" had been done there.


Personnel

1. The Brazilians
The Brazilians was the billing given to the musicians of Carmen Miranda, on loan for this Peggy Lee date only.


Songs

All three novelties from this lively singles session made the Billboard charts.

1. "Mañana" In The Music Charts And In The Polls
Lee's 11th solo hit made its debut during the week of January 24, 1948 and was the first of her 9 chart entries for that year. (Among those other entries was the flip side of the 78 that contained "Mañana." See next session).

"Mañana" was one of the top hits of 1948 and one of that year's million sellers -- a 2.5 million seller, according to uncorroborated press reports from the period. As tabulated by Joel Whitburn in Pop Memories 1890-1954, the song remained for nine weeks in the #1 position and for twenty-one weeks in the Billboard charts. Billboard also named it Top Disc Jockey Record Of The Year.

In the very popular radio show Hit Parade, "Mañana" made its first appearance during the week of January 24, 1948. That week's top ten actually included two Peggy Lee performances. "Golden Earrings" was at #2, "Mañana" at #9. Six weeks later, on March 6, 1948, "Mañana" claimed the top spot, where it stayed for 9 weeks.

According to various estimates, Lee's version of "Mañana" also fared well abroad. In Brazil, the Hot100Brasil online project ranks it as the 11th most popular song of 1948 -- a feat, especially when considering that all 10 acts above her are Brazilian. (Lee of course counted with the backing of Carmen Miranda's musicians, who were of Brazilian origin.) For Europe, a similar project deems "Mañana" the 89th performance of the entire 1940s decade.

In yet another high accolade, "Mañana" was ranked #2 in Capitol's Top 25 Records 1942-1951. That countdown was part of a Billboard supplement, published as part of the magazine's January 5, 1952 issue, in which Capitol commemorated its 10th anniversary.

2. The Origins And Ethos Of "Mañana"
In her autobiography, Peggy Lee described the joyful circumstances that ultimately led to the creation of the song. After Dave Barbour survived a nearly fatal ulcer (possibly brought about by his addiction to alcohol), he and his wife celebrated by taking a long-postponed vacation as part of his recuperation : "we packed our luggage and ourselves into our convertible and drove to the Rosarita Beach Hotel, down between Tijuana and Ensenada ...[...]... After all the stress we had been under, it was also a perfect change. The totally relaxed attitude of the people was just what we needed after the tension in the hospital ...[...]... I was so impressed with the seemingly happy, relaxed spirit of the place that ... you might have guessed ... it inspired me to write the song Mañana. David got his guitar out, and we had so much fun putting it together."

A current of optimism is common to many of Peggy Lee's self-penned hits from the 1940s. Lyrics like "It's A Good Day" and "Everything's Moving Too Fast" center on enjoying life, no matter how hectic or chaotic it might be. "Mañana" offers a picaresque variation on the same theme. The lyric portrays a blissfully content señorita who breezily procrastinates at every occasion. More generally, the song's brand of humor exemplifies a comedic style that was favored on 1940s radio programming -- including The Jimmy Durante Show, which had hired Lee herself as its regular vocalist.

3. "Mañana" In The Midst Of Controversy
The success of "Mañana" brought about a few drawbacks for Barbour and Lee. For one, it elicited an unsavory case of opportunism. The Barbours were hit with a three-million-dollar lawsuit from a banjo player who claimed to have written the melody of "Mañana" back in 1919. The banjoist's claim was discredited during the court proceedings, which Lee recounts in humorous fashion in her autobiography. Among those who testified in favor of the Barbours were comedian-pianist Jimmy Durante and ASCAP's then-president Deems Taylor.

Another drawback stemmed from the portrait of the song's main character. Lee brings her to life in the Mexican-sounding accent that was typically used by comedians of the time. As a result, the number was met with a few complaints from listeners who mistook the señorita's "self-confessed" procrastination for cultural mockery or, worse yet, an accusation of laziness. Although the reaction was by no means widespread, it was still a source of distress for the singer. From her viewpoint, the character was by no means representative of an entire culture or race, but merely a humorous portrait of one happy-go-lucky individual. If anything, her wacky character's attitude (a combination of laissez faire and joie de vivre) was to be envied rather than criticized, she felt. In years to come, the singer would repeatedly express regret over the matter, and would protest that no sense of malice had been involved.

Lee enjoyed imitating voices and accents. On the matter of "Mañana," she further commented that the accent she used would have probably been different if the vacation that inspired the song had taken place elsewhere. The accent could as well have been Swedish/Norwegian (per her own heritage) or German (which she tried in an appearance on the TV show "What's My Line?") or Italian (used in another recording of hers, "Who's Gonna Pay The Check?") or German (which she tried in an appearance on the TV show "What's My Line?").

4. "Mañana": Other Versions
As had been the case with the first of Lee's self-penned hits to ever chart ("I Don't Know Enough About You"), her fourth composition was also recorded by The Mills Brothers on Decca Records. Edward Foote Gardner's Popular Songs Of The Twentieth Century: A Charted History shows that the Brothers' version of "Mañana" enjoyed minor, unspecified chart action, as did a version that Edmund Ros made for London Records.

5. "Caramba! It's The Samba" In The Music Charts
Musically a sequel to "Mañana," "Caramba! It's The Samba" entered the charts on the week of June 5, 1948, and peaked at #13. It was Lee's 17th solo hit. Enjoying smaller chart action was a competing version on RCA Victor, interpreted by Fred Martin, with a vocal by Stuart Wade.

6. "Laroo Lilli Bolero" In The Music Charts
Peggy Lee's 14th solo hit made its appearance on the week of April 3, 1948. Once more she was competing against "novelty king" Perry Como. (Their previous competing number had been "Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba"; see session dated April 21, 1947). This time around, Peggy Lee gave Capitol a #14 hit, whereas RCA and Perry Como had to settle for a #20 hit.


Arrangements

1. Source
The arrangements for this session's three performances are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. All of them are credited to Heinie Beau.

2. "Mañana"
Peggy Lee's sheet music library includes two arrangements of "Mañana." One of them is by Victor Young, the other by Leon Pendarvis. Both were probably written years after this recording date took place.


Issues

1. Capitol Cl 13001 and 13003 [78s; England]
In December 1948, the 10" Capitol 78 Cl 13001 ("Mañana" / "All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart") became the first single ever released by Capitol in England. (There was also a 12" series of 78s which was introduced later, and which used 11000 instead of 13000 numbers. Stan Kenton And His Orchestra premiered that 12" series.) At this point in time (1948), EMI did not own Capitol, nor was there any involvement between the UK and the US companies; British Decca issued and distributed all pre-1955 Capitol material in England and in other European lands.

Among the other Capitol 78s released in December 1948 was Cl 13003, by Benny Goodman. This issue included an Al Hendrickson vocal ("On A Slow Boat To China") and, as its main side, Peggy Lee's hit vocal with Goodman, "For Every Man There's A Woman."

Thanks to my friend Ed Chaplin for verifying these details with the help of research conducted by the late Tony Cox. [n.b.: For a full list of Peggy Lee's British releases, including all Capitol 78s, see British Issue Listings page in this discography's Miscellanea section.]

2. The Hits Of Peggy Lee [LP]
3. "Mañana"
Capitol LP St 2887 (The Hits Of Peggy Lee) is a 1968 stereo release that includes one 1947 master among its tracks: "Mañana" is heard in electronically processed stereo.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs And Cross-references

1. "All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart" In The Music Charts
Peggy Lee's 12th solo hit made its debut during the week of January 31, 1948 and peaked at #21.

2. "I've Had My Moments"
For earlier studio recordings of "I've Had My Moments," one of them issued, see sessions dated July 12 and 23, 1946, including notes.


Arrangements

The arrangements for this session's performances of "I've Had My Moments," "So Dear To My Heart" and "All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart" are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. They are credited to Heinie Beau. An arrangement of "Ain't Doin' Bad Nothin' " is also extant at Capitol's library, but it does not include author identification.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Dave Barbour (g), Hal Schaefer (p), Peggy Lee (v)

At The Recording Session

1. "While We're Young"
In his essay for Capitol's set The Singles Collection, Will Friedwald quotes some comments made by pianist Hal Schaefer during a conversation that the two of them had. On the matter of recording "While We're Young," Schaefer told Friedwald that "[w]e made a couple of takes and Peggy wasn't happy. She wasn't satisfied. She didn't get the song the way she wanted to. She had a saying -- she used to say, I don't own it, yet. I guess that something happened there in the studio and she couldn't get in the mood. It was a piano solo in the background. There was no rhythm section. There were a couple of things in her act that she did with me alone which was very wise because it was a change from having a constant quartet sound. So we got this rubato thing going, and then she thought of turning all the lights out in the studio. I said to the engineer, That's okay with me. I've been playing the piano since I was four years of age. I don't need to have the lights to see, you know. I can play in the dark. I already knew the song, so I didn't have to sight read."


Personnel And Musical Instruments

1. Personnel Mostly Unknown
2. "While We're Young": Vocal-And-Piano Duet
3. Hal Schaefer
Peggy Lee's version of "While We're Young" is a piano-and-vocal performance, except for a few notes from Barbour's guitar. For my reason to identify Hal Schaefer as this session's pianist, see his own comments, quoted above.

Other than Schaefer's comment (and the general credit to a so-called The Dave Barbour Orchestra), my sources offer no information that can help in identifying the personnel for this session.

Schaefer is known to have been Lee's regular concert pianist during the late 1940s. He could well be the unidentified piano player in many of Lee's recording sessions from this period, too.


Masters And Takes

1. "While We're Young"
A producer's note in Capitol's CD Rare Gems And Hidden Treasures states that, because the master of While We're Young has "long suffered from an unsatisfactory tape transfer made in 1950," it has been "remastered for this album from the original discs." This point is amplified by Will Friedwald in his essay for The Singles Collection: "[t]he track was remastered for this set from a newly discovered disc to tape transfer with de-noising kept to a minimum to retain the nuances of the original."

The main problem in the originally issued version is background hiss or surface noise, audible during the track's intro, in particular. That sonic defect is common to the original 78 and to all LPs that contain the song.

Also in reference to "While We're Young," it is worth noting the allusion to various attempted takes in Hal Schaefer's previously quoted comment. Paradoxically, the master take of "While You're Young" is identified as #1 in Capitol's session files, and I have found no evidence of additional takes. The most logical explanation would be that the earlier attempts were discarded or erased, and that the remaining take was then numbered as #1 by default.


Songs And Songwriters

1. "While We're Young"
2. Alec Wilder
3. Willard Robison
During the 1940s and 1950s, Peggy Lee was not only a fan but also a friend of songwriter Alec Wilder. (According to some accounts, Wilder even had a crush on Lee.) However, her recording of "While We're Young" drew visceral criticism from Wilder, who did not take kindly to any changes on his songs, and who is known to have been equally unforgiving in the case of other singers. In reaction to Lee's alteration, Wilder wittily remarked: "The next time she gets to the bridge, she ought to jump off." In a radio interview, Lee offered: "I sang one note incorrectly. He was so fussy, because it wasn't a bad note that I sang. Just different than he had written, and he wanted it the way he had written it." Three years later, Lee re-recorded the song, probably to Wilder's satisfaction. In that 1950 version (see page for Snader telescriptions, once it opens for viewing), Lee not only sings the melody correctly but also approaches it in a simpler and more overtly sentimental manner -- one which is also likely to have pleased Wilder.

By the time that her second version of "While We're Young" came out, Lee and Wilder had apparently patched up their differences. Wilder became a regular visitor of Lee's home. "He's family to me," she said to an interviewer, in 1950. That same year, the singer told a Metronome interviewer that she would "like to do Willard [Robison] and Alec [Wilder] all the time." A couple of decades later, Wilder went on to make enthusiastic comments about Lee's recording of another of his songs, "Goodbye, John." (For his comment about that performance, and for a coda to this account of the relationship between singer and songwriter, see notes under session dated June 3, 1949.)


Arrangements

1. "A Hundred Years From Today"
Peggy Lee's sheet music library includes an arrangement of "A Hundred Years From Today" by Billy Byers. It was probably written many years after this recording session took place.

Benny Goodman (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Benny Goodman (con, cl), The Benny Goodman Orchestra, The Benny Goodman Sextet (acc), Jack Dumont, Paul McLarand (as), Bumps Myers (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), John Best (t), Sinclair Lott (frh), Al Hendrickson (g), Artie Shapiro (b), Mel Powell (p), Red Norvo (vib), Tommy Romersa (d), Louis Kievman (vl), Peggy Lee (v)

Personnel And Cross-references (+ Royalties)

1. Benny Goodman
This is a Benny Goodman date. Peggy Lee was featured on two of its four masters. Later on this same day, Peggy Lee recorded her own date sans Goodman, as shown below. For other Capitol recordings involving Lee and Goodman, see sessions dated March 28, 1947, and September 12, 1947.

2. Royalties
D. Russell Connor, bio-discographer of Benny Goodman, discloses that "Benny's royalties were to be shared with Peggy Lee and Harry James, for those sides in which they participated."

3. "Keep Me In Mind"
This performance is a sextet performance. In addition to Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee, "Keep Me In Mind" features Red Norvo, Mel Powell, Al Hendrickson, Artie Shapiro, and Tommy Romersa.


Recording Location

Mosaic's CD The Complete Capitol Small Group Recordings Of Benny Goodman 1944-1955 lists Radio Recorders as the location for all 1947 Capitol sessions by Benny Goodman. It is my only source for the recording location given to this date.


Masters And Issues

1. "Keep Me In Mind"
2. Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
In Columbia's 1999 issue Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947, "Keep Me In Mind" is listed as previously unissued. Such a labeling is not entirely accurate, because the commercial debut of "Keep Me In Mind" happened many years before 1999, through the collectors' label Blu-Disc. Thus Columbia's release of the master qualifies not as "never previously issued" but as "previously unissued by Capitol, Columbia or any other record company with access to the original master." (Blue-Disc presumably transferred the master performance from a reference tape owned by one of the session's participants, whereas Columbia definitely used the original master disc.) The official labels' tendency to ignore non-official releases is understandable, of course.

3. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session were master #2722 ("Shirley Steps Out, an instrumental") and #2724 ("Give Me Those Good Old Days," featuring a vocal by The Sportsmen).


Songs

1. "For Every Man There's A Woman" In The Music Charts
2. "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" In the Music Charts
This collaboration between Peggy Lee and her former boss Benny Goodman became the singer's 13th hit for Capitol Records. It debuted in the Billboard charts during the week of February 28, and reached #25. Tony Martin's competing version, on RCA Victor, reached #30.

"For Every Man There's A Woman" also added to the string of hits that Goodman and Lee had had together -- the previous ones on Columbia Records.

After "For Every Man There's A Woman," which was Lee and Goodman's 11th joint success, they had one more Billboard entry together. That 12th chart hit was not a newly recorded number, however, but a re-entry: in June 1948, Columbia re-released "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place," which had been a #1 hit for Goodman and Lee's back in 1941. On its second time around, it peaked at #30.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (sax, f, o, g, b, str, p, d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Recording Session

1. "Don't Smoke in Bed" As Part Of Peggy Lee's Song Canon
Peggy Lee had to bargain for the right to record "Don't Smoke In Bed." As she told radio broadcaster Fred Hall: "I remember that I made a deal with [producer] Lee Gillette. He said, That song is too arty, or words to that effect. And I said, Well, I'll do one of those things you want me to do if you let me do this song. He said, Fair."

The title of the song that Lee agreed to do in exchange remains a mystery. Presumably, it was a novelty. Among the more logical suspects is this session's "Bubble-loo, Bubble-loo," a pleasant but vapid ditty which benefits from the care and flair with which Lee approaches it. Other possibilities include the obscure tunes that she recorded later this month, especially "What'll Getcha."

This was only one of various times in which Lee's song suggestions were met with opposition from company executives. Two other notable instances happened when she wanted to record the songs "Lover" and "Is That All There Is?" Both numbers went on to become significant hits for her. Further details can be found in the notes under sessions dated May 1, 1952 and January 24 & 29, 1969.


Songs And Songwriters

1. The Writing Of "Don't Smoke In Bed" And Its Placement in The Charts
2. Willard Robison
In the 1940s and 1950s, Peggy Lee repeatedly named Willard Robison as one of her favorite songwriters. In addition to genuine admiring his skills, Lee was good friends with Robison -- and so was Dave Barbour.

Though officially credited to Willard Robison only, much of "Don't Smoke In Bed" was actually composed by Barbour and Lee. Robison contributed the idea, the title, and the line "goodbye, old sleepyhead" before he fell too ill to continue. (It is not clear if the illness in question was connected to Robison's ongoing battle with alcoholism.) Robison is said to have offered a songwriting co-credit to the couple, who graciously declined.

Rather surprisingly, the dark rumination that is "Don't Smoke In Bed" made the charts, becoming Peggy Lee's 16th hit for Capitol, and validating her faith in the number's worth. After debuting on the week of May 15, 1948, the recording reached a #22 peak. (n.b.: In the notes of the CD Capitol Jumps ("From The Vault" Series), Lee's recording of "Don't Smoke in Bed" is oddly given a #94 peak. The CD credits its chart information to "BPI Communications [owner of Billboard magazine] and Joel Whitburn's Record Research Publications." Yet the #24 peak that I have herein given to "Don't Smoke in Bed" is taken from Whitburn's own publications. This is not the only discrepancy between the Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954 and the information found in the CD. Nellie Lutcher's version of "Fine Brown Frame" peaked at #21 according to Whitburn's book, at #33 according to the CD's annotator. In the case of Johnny Mercer's recording of "My Sugar Is So Refined," there is agreement, on the other hand: both sources give it a #11 peak.)

Of Barbour and Lee's compositions, "Don't Smoke In Bed" was their fifth to make the charts.

2. "Bubble-loo, Bubble-loo" In The Music Charts
Peggy Lee's gentle reading of this Hoagy Carmichael novelty entered the charts during the week of July 3, 1948, and peaked at #23. It became Lee's 19th solo hit.


Arrangements And Cross-references

1. Source
With the exception of "Don't Smoke In Bed," the arrangements for this session's performances are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. They are credited to Heinie Beau.

2. "Don't Smoke In Bed"
3. Mike Melvoin, Hal Mooney, Marty Paich
My source for the arranging credit to Hal Mooney is the Peggy Lee set from Time-Life's "Legendary Singers" series, whose informative liner notes were written by Gene Lees.

A copy of the arrangement is kept in Capitol's sheet music library. It does not identify its arranger.

Lee's sheet music library contains three other arrangements of this song. None of them credits Mooney. One of them bears no arranger credit; it could conceivably be by Mooney.

One of the other two arrangements credits Marty Paich. Since Lee is not known to have worked with Paich before her Decca period, I presume that his work was meant for her concert performances in the 1950s.

The third arrangement, written for Lee's haunting 1969 re-recording of "Don't Smoke In Bed," is credited to Mike Melvoin. See session dated October 15, 1969.

Unknown (acc), Peggy Lee (v)

Masters And Issues

1. Databases And Archival Matters
This date's masters remained not only unissued but also unknown until 2008, when producer Jim Pierson located them in a phono reel and proceeded to rescue them from the vaults. Part of their utter obscurity resulted from the fact that they were omitted in Peggy Lee's session files, although they are actually listed in other Capitol documents.

The reason why these masters are unlisted in Lee's file is unknown. Perhaps Capitol's hectic pre-ban recording schedule caused oversights such as this one in some of the company's files. (In connection to this point, see also Masters And Songs note located below, before the final General Note). Another factor which contributed to their burial is the type of reel in which they were kept. Phono reels typically hold masters by various artists, not just one. Such reels were reserved for performances slated to be released on singles -- not in albums. Since "Love Ye" and "What'll It Getcha" were not listed in Lee's own file, and since they were not to be found in reels bearing her name, the only way to locate them was by consulting other company documents, or otherwise by happenstance.

2. "Love Ye": Take Number
I am confronted with three sources which each gives a different take number to master 3082; #3, #4, #5. I have chosen to enter the number found in Capitol's documentation.


Dating

When I originally added the present session to this discography, its recording date was unknown. Back then, I entered a date that was a calculation based on the sequence of master numbers. More recently, my consultation of the The Capitol Label Discography (by Michel Ruppli, Bill Daniels and Ed Novitsky, with assistance from Michael Cuscuna) has revealed that my calculation was on the mark.

Notice that the Collectors' Choice CD The Lost '40's & '50's Capitol Masters gives a slightly different date to the session. That date was also a calculation, made before the publication of the aforementioned CD-ROM text by Ruppli et al.


Arrangements

The arrangements for this session's two performances are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. Both are credited to Heinie Beau.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (t, b, p, d), Dave Barbour (g), Peggy Lee (v)

Arrangements

1. Source
2. "I Wanna Go Where You Go"
With the exception of "Bye, Bye, Blues," the arrangements for this session's performances are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. The library is the source for the arranger credits indicated above. In the case of "I Wanna Go Where You Go," the arranging credit seems to be only for what the library calls an "intro."

Masters And Songs

1. "Darn That Dream"
Found in Capitol's vaults is a various-artists reel (i.e., a phono reel) that lists a version of "Darn That Dream" recorded by Peggy Lee and identified as master number 3148. Unfortunately, aural inspection of the track has revealed that the reel's information is definitely erroneous: the female who interprets the song is not Peggy Lee. The actual singer, otherwise unknown to me, is named Emma Welch.

There is no recording date in the reel's label. Based on the sequence of master numbers, my assumption is that the master was recorded on December 31, 1947 or thereabouts.

I do not know why Peggy Lee's name was attached to this "Darn That Dream" master. I am left to wonder if Capitol actually asked Lee to record this standard, and if she was ultimately unable to come to the studio on the assigned date.

GENERAL NOTES

Capitol Records: Rise In Popularity, 1946-1948

During this period, Capitol Records pursued a more overtly commercial approach to recording than it had done before. Probably led by executive president Glenn Wallichs, this initiative must have aimed at elevating Capitol to the top level occupied only by the East Coast majors (Columbia, Decca, Victor). Although the plan was a round success, the results did not meet the full approval of everyone involved. In later years Dave Dexter, Jr., who had originally brought Peggy Lee to Capitol as part of his New American Jazz project, derisively referred to the "covey of lawyers and ivy league business majors" who took over Capitol Records from the late 1940s onwards.

The company's re-orientation probably gained momentum during the temporary absence of Johnny Mercer, who was the most artistically oriented of the company's three owners. Early in 1946, Mercer was busy writing his St. Louis Woman show and overseeing that musical's development before its New York premiere. At some point during Mercer's absence or shortly after his return, the corporation went public and acquired stockholders. In Skylark: The Life & Times Of Johnny Mercer, Philip Furia states that the songwriter felt deep disappointment over the direction that the label had begun to take. Furia also gives some hard facts about the record label's financial situation at this point in time: "[o]riginally a small, elite company that maintained the highest artistic and technical standards, Capitol now expected to sell 3 million records a month. By the end of 1946, its net sales were $13, 082, 927, nearly double its sales for 1945 and more than all the money the company had earned since it was founded in 1942. Capitol sold 42 millions that year — one-sixth of all the records sold in the United States. The company, which had until then been renting recording space, floated a $3 million stock issue in order to buy its own recording studio; instead of being controlled by three men, Mercer, Wallichs, and DeSylva, Capitol would become 'Capital,' with stockholders interested not in artistic quality but in the size of the dividends."

Furia continues by quoting Billy May's recollection of Mercer's reaction. "John got upset when the company got so successful. He liked it when it was just a little company, and he could write a song in the morning and record it in the afternoon and have it a hit a week later ... [...] ... He got mad when they started competing with the majors and everything like that ... [...] ... And Glenn [Wallichs] was, of course, the other way. Glenn was a business man: 'Let's get ahead here and make it' ... [...] ... John got upset when the company violated his policy of not covering hit songs by other companies with versions by their own artists. And this was one of the things that got John mad about Capitol because they started recording pop tunes. Decca would have a hit and Capitol would cover it ... And it was fast, you know, 'Get the tunes in.' ... And we would do them, and sometimes we were more successful, but John didn't like the competitive business that the record industry became." (For an example of the modus operandi described by May, see the session dated September 12, 1947 in this discography.) The upshot of this situation was that Mercer -- who had never been too willing to spend his time doing office paperwork -- ended up giving up the title of company president to Wallichs. Thereafter, Mercer was only informally active in the company. According to Furia's main source (Billy May), the former president "still sat in on recording sessions and gave advice," but was even suspected of falling asleep during them.

Among the new men who became part of the label's change in orientation was Alan Livingston. He began working for the company in January 1946, in the newly created children's record division. By the early 1950s, he was fulfilling the A&R role that Mercer had basically vacated; eventually he would rise to the top positions of company president and chairman of the board.

Also very prevalent at Capitol in the mid- to late-1940s was the presence of producer Lee Gillette, who was responsible for the immense majority of the label's popular sessions by artists such as Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee. Among the other recording producers working for the company during this time were Paul Weston (particularly in the 1943-1945 period), James Conkling, and the aforementioned Dave Dexter, Jr. Of the label's engineers in the 1940s and 1950s, John Palladino remains its most celebrated.

Capitol Records reached its first height of commercial success in 1948, when four of the label's hits enjoyed extended positions at the top of the chart lists. Paradoxically, those twelve months were problematic ones for most of the record industry. A year-round recording ban forced companies to resort to music which had been recorded either in haste (at the end of 1947) or by unorthodox means (abroad, overdubbed, a cappella). Yet Capitol, far from suffering, reaped benefits through the year thanks especially to the four aforementioned blockbuster recordings: "Mañana" (Peggy Lee), "Nature Boy" (Nat King Cole), "A Tree In The Meadow" (Margaret Whiting) and "Twelfth Street Rag" (Pee Wee Hunt).


Peggy Lee, Capitol Artist: Career Comeback And Rise In Popularity, 1944-1948

Peggy Lee had clearly done well for Capitol Records during the 1944-1945 period, when she had been championed by Johnny Mercer, the primary artistic mind behind the enterprise. However, her Capitol output had been very limited in those two years: only four sessions. This scarcity of recording activity suggests that she had not yet officially committed to a career comeback.

As that couple of years went by, various factors must have heightened Lee's interest in coming back to a full-time career in singing. For starters, the Barbours' household was in financial need, further compounded by the birth of their baby. She must have also factored in the support of those who were close to her. At a time when Lee had to fulfill responsibilities brought on by motherhood, her completion of the various tasks at hand was doubtlessly facilitated by the consistent encouragement of her husband, and by their decision to work together as a music team. Then there was the lure of a career to which Lee had already dedicated a decade, and the advantage that such extensive professional experience could give if she decided to com back.

Lee's confidence in her own artistic capabilities was probably boosted by the positive peer reception of her self-penned work, too. ("I Don't Know Enough About You," for instance, generated successful versions by Lee's former boss Benny Goodman and by the very popular Mills Brothers. "What More Can A Woman Do?" found favor from Sarah Vaughan and Joe Mooney, whose versions date from 1945 and 1947, respectively.)

Still further, there was no denying the pattern of commercial success evinced by the few solo recordings that she recorded while still in semi-retirement. By the singer's own account, the radio airplay given to her 1944 sides with The Capitol Jazzmen ("Ain't Goin' No Place," "That Old Feeling") was highly gratifying. Bona fide hits also came from her two ensuing, 1945 Capitol dates ("Waitin' For The Train To Come In," "I Don't Know Enough About You," "I'm Glad I Waited For You"). The successful string of hits continued with the only session that she did during the first half of 1946 ("Linger In My Arms A Little Longer, Baby"). Even a belatedly released cut from her Benny Goodman years ("How Deep Is The Ocean," recorded in 1942) entered the 1945 airplay lists.

When all the above-mentioned factors are taking into consideration, it should come as no surprise that, during the second half of 1946, Peggy Lee finally returned to the music business in full force. From then on, she recorded studio sessions at a steady rate, participated in numerous radio shows, and did concert appearances with Barbour in both coasts.

After showing the makings of a successful solo artist in her earliest years with Capitol (1944-1945), Peggy Lee continued to do very well in the more commercially oriented environment that permeated the record label during the 1946-1948 period. In fact, Lee more than met the company's expectations, generating hit after hit, including two bestsellers ("Golden Earrings," "Mañana"). She thereby turned into one of the label's top hit acts during the late 1940s. Yet she still maintained a balance in the ratio of commercial/artistic material, as shown by the combination of standards and 'quality' selections that are listed, along with novelties and plug tunes, in this discographical page. (For an example of the negotiations that Lee had to make in order to achieve this balance, see notes about the song "Don't Smoke In Bed," under session dated December 2, 1947.)


Popularity: Peggy In The Polls

As mentioned in the previous page's final note, Peggy Lee had placed at #4 in Downbeat's 1945 poll for female singers. Ahead of her had been Jo Stafford (#1, with 838 votes), Billie Holiday (#2) and Dinah Shore (#3).

In 1946, Peggy Lee topped the poll. She received 1145 votes. Behind her were Stafford (1027 votes), Holiday (830 votes), Shore (730 votes), and Anita O'Day (685 votes). Newcomer Sarah Vaughan (479 votes) took the #6 spot, followed by Margaret Whiting (443 votes) and Ella Fitzgerald (443 votes; transferring from the Band, Female poll to the poll for female solo artists). Lee also topped Metronome's 1946 Singer Of The Year poll.

In 1947, the 870 votes sent on behalf of Peggy Lee placed her at #2 in Downbeat's female singers poll. With 472 votes, Jo Stafford dropped to #3 and, with 308 votes, Billie Holiday also went down one notch, to #5 . Ella Fitzgerald jumped from #8 to #4 (433 votes). Climbing from #6 all the way to #1, thanks to 1192 votes, was Sarah Vaughan.


Statistics: Total Number Of Masters

This discographical page shows a total of 70 masters, all of them recorded for Capitol Records between 1946 and 1947. Three of those 70 masters are listed in Capitol's files as rejected or re-recorded: "Golden Earrings," dating from September 23, 1947, and two versions of "I've Had My Moments," one from July 12, 1946, the other from November 26, 1947. All other 67 masters have been commercially issued during the digital era. Also included in this page are two breakdowns, both of them commercially released as well.