Paying Homage to Peggy Lee

Cover of the album being discussed, showing Ann Hampton Callaway musing over the blonde Peggy Lee

When I was growing up, there were very few records in the house that were not performances of classical music. Most of them were 78s, including a collection of performances by Al Johnson and the music for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Where the new long-playing records were concerned, I do not think I had a chance to listen to a jazz vocalist until Peggy Lee showed up on the the soundtrack album for Lady and the Tramp. (She also appeared on television to demonstrate how she was able to sing with herself for the duo of Siamese cats.) Once I had my own radio, I could listen to stations that carried content other than classical music. So, when “Fever” was released, I realized that I was listening to Lee again.

What I did not realize at the time was that Lee was as active in the jazz genre as she was with pop. It was only much later that I discovered how productive she was. Over the course of her lifetime she wrote or co-wrote over 270 songs; and, by the time she died at the age of 81 on January 21, 2002, the number of songs she had recorded came to about 1,100.

One week from today, Palmetto Records will release a tribute album for Lee. As usual, Amazon.com has already created a Web page for processing pre-orders. The vocalist is Ann Hampton Callaway, who has already released tribute albums for Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

The title of the album is Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration. As expected, “Fever” is the opening track. The total number of tracks is fourteen; and, sadly, very little information about the production seems to have been released.

Two of the tracks account for compositions that have never been recorded. The first of these involves a poem that Lee wrote entitled “Clair de Lune.” Callaway composed music for singing the text; and, as might be guessed, there is a polite nod to Claude Debussy in the introduction. The other new track is “The Other Part of Me.” Lee wrote this with Paul Horner for the autobiographical Broadway music Peg, which ran in 1983.

The most frustrating element is the lack of information regarding the other performers on the album. “The Glory of Love” is given a duet performance with Calloway singing with John Pizzarelli, who is also contributing his guitar licks. Other contributing musicians are Ted Rosenthal, Tim Horner, Martin Wind, and Bob Mann, none of whom are recognized for what they are contributing. Fortunately, there is more than enough to enjoy simply from listening to Calloway and her mix of familiar and less familiar tunes.