Search - Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman :: Complete Recordings 1941-1947

Wonderful portrait of an artist and era

L. F. Ribeiro | North Hollywood, CA USA | 06/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A long time Benny Goodman fan, I nevertheless had nothing but a few singles with Peggy Lee on vocals scattered throughout my collections. Then I heard her wistful and moving "Where or When" and went on a rampage to find it. Thankfully, I found this double CD set. As others mention below, this is not the distinctive Peggy Lee of later years, but a young singer coming into her own while still very much part of a particular musical era. Hints of her famous sass and spirit push through on familiar tunes ("Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love," complete with prickly opening lyrics, "Blues in the Night" and her signature "Why Don't You Do Right?"), while some renditions sound unusually polite and restrained ("Sunny Side of the Street," "How Long Has This Been Going On?"). That isn't a fault, just a fascinating study in an artist's development. Its grand to hear some classic favorites given the Lee/Goodman treatment, such as: "Elmer's Tune," "You're Easy to Dance With," "How Deep is the Ocean?". Although most of the songs are outstanding, one of Peggy's last tunes recorded with Goodman, in a brief return to the band in 1947, is a delicious find: "Keep Me in Mind." Have a listen, you'll never want to turn it off."

A wonderful legacy

David A. Bede | Singapore | 01/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I write this having just read in the paper that we've lost Peggy Lee, after many years of declining health. Too often remembered only for "Fever," she leaves behind decades worth of recordings that prove she retained her sultry voice longer than we'd have a right to expect. But I keep coming back to these earliest of her sides as the most essential ones. This album is the definition of great torch singing, in my opinion.It's hard to say what I like best about this collection. The sound quality is remarkable given the vintage of these recordings, and to the extent that they do sound muffled, it simply adds to the atmosphere provided by the beautiful songs. Close your eyes and it almost feels like you're sitting by the jukebox at the corner soda fountain circa 1942 - except that the sound is probably better now than it was then! But Lee's uniformly excellent singing is the real star here, of course. It's hard to believe she was barely out of her teens on some of the ballads. Her smoky performances on "Not Mine" and "Blues in the Night," among others, provide a more than adequate reminder of some of the hard times she'd known even at that young age, while the breathy, almost-whispered delivery of "Where or When" (my favorite song on the collection) is nothing short of surreal. There's plenty of upbeat material here too, with a wide variety of beats and styles as befits a key part of Benny Goodman's catalog, and Lee's youthful enthusiasm makes up for any uncertainty in her performances of the faster numbers.Most poignant of all, in light of recent events, are the two wartime songs. "Let's Say a Prayer" and "The Freedom Train" do sound a bit dated, but they're heartfelt performances all the same and they're as relevant as ever today - which is surely what Lee herself was aiming for. The swing revival may be over, but she'll never be forgotten."