What recordings of Peggy's do you not like?

Merry Christmas Peggy fans,

I'm listening to Peggy's Mink Jazz CD - the one with the previously unreleased tracks. This has to be one of her best. I like her recording of Where Can I Go Without You on this release better than the Decca one. My Silent Love, Days Of Wine And Roses, Close Your Eyes - all wonderful.

Two of the previously unreleased ones, Please Don't Rush Me and My Little Boat are so Peggy, therefore so wonderful, but there is a misstep in I Didn't Find Love. Just wondering if anyone has found some songs they didn't like on a Peggy recording. For me, there are a few, The Seventh Son being one I listened to earlier today.

This has been a Peggy day. I find that when I have housecleaning to do, she is very motivating - at least she makes it more palatable.

Merry Christmas to all,
Ron

Quote:

Ron
I find that when I have housecleaning to do, she is very motivating

You "can rub and scrub this old house til it's shinin' like a dime"?

Oh, Father Ron, enticing us into making heretical confessions....

I'll confess. In Peggy's entire catalogue, there's only one song that I can't stand. It's called "Neon Signs."

Not knowing any better, when I started buying Peggy Lee releases I snatched lots of Public Domain CDs. Naturally, nearly all of them included "Mañana." I got sick of it. Nowadays, when my Peggy LP-and-CD-buying days are past, I've gone back to enjoying the song ... except when I hear it in the album All Aglow Again. I hate -- no, not just "hate," but rather, I HATE -- that the song is part of the album.

"Didn't Find Love": I don't mind it at all, but I can easily understand why listening to a song of that type could be a jarring experience, especially when you are playing the Mink Jazz CD. "Didn't Find Love" is a novelty that has been sandwiched amidst evocative, romantic or sophisticated songs. But I for one would never be able to complain about this particular novelty, and here's the reason why I wouldn't: if the makers of the CD had not included it, we might have never heard it. The song might still be lying unheard in the vaults. Besides, the principle under which the song was included is, in my opinion, laudable: the CD gives us all the songs that were recorded during the Mink Jazz sessions. (Obviously, "Didn't Find Love" was not meant for the album itself, but it certainly was recorded at one of that album's sessions.)

I don't go crazy with excitement when I listen to "Seventh Son" but neither do I mind it. To me, it's one example of Peggy's successful adaptation to the groovy music trends of the 1960s ...

Ivan

Quote:

Ron Mabe
I find that when I have housecleaning to do, she is very motivating

Quote:

Paul Brownsey
You "can rub and scrub this old house til it's shinin' like a dime"?

Ha. Well, since our friend Ron was doing some housecleaning around Christmas time, here's hoping that he trimmed the house and trimmed the tree and did not forget to leave a little bit of cheese somewhere around the house... for the Christmas mouse!

Ivan

Well, I had to give this topic some thought, but I never really liked Peggy's version of Jobim's How Insensitive. I heard others which are much better to my ear. I remember that I really wanted to hear Peggy's version on this song, but I was disappointed after hearing it for the first time. Some of her recordings from the early seventies become boring after listening for a couple of times. Songs like: I've Never Been So Happy in My Life, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Always Something There to Remind Me. Finally I'm not a great fan of Peggy's Bridge Over Troubled Water. I've heard better versions and it's not a favorite song of me anyway.

Richard.

Dear All - this is an interesting and dangerous topic!

I agree with Ivan that Neon Signs is high at the top of my "don't like" list of Peggy recordings but others that I always skip include Yeah, Yeah, Yeah and all the songs except My Shining Hour on the Harold Arlen album - I just don't like her voice on this album and cannot understand why it has been so elevated! Another song I do not like PL's recording of is A Robin Song. and I have never liked her version of I've Got You Under My Skin.

Fortunately 99% of Peggy I love so there is still plenty to listen to.

Happy 2013 listening.

George McGhee

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to ALL on this board!

I have to agree Robin Song is not a favorite. Ms. Lee could have chosen so many other songs by Michael Franks to add her interps to. Let's Love never reached me. Maybe I need to listen again? Almost could release Harold Arlen album as I too don't like the way she was recorded. Songs never released before, in my opinion, because they were not that good to begin with. Not impressed with I've Never Been So Happy as well. Why did she ever record I Go to Sleep? Wish she would have recorded Hey Babe What Would You Say?. Saw her perform this at the Waldorf and it was just right for her. Fortunately there are soooo many songs that I do like that she recorded. Big fan of Seventh Son. Love the groove! Believe it or not I adore her singing!

Ivan you are an amazing, dedicated lover of Miss Lee's and it shows in all the effort you put into her work.

Regards,
michael

I do like the Harold Arlen album! I guess in the end it's a matter of personal taste. I have to mention that I don't like Peggy's last album Moments Like This. I really wish she hadn't record this one. Her voice is weak and she sounds tired. I much prefer her recording with Benny Carter (I See You) as a perfect closer at the end of Peggy's career (instead of Moments Like This).

Richard

Oh, Richard: I love Peggy's version of each and every one of the songs that you mention. "How Insensitive," in particular.

Michael, thanks. It so happens that, as with the songs picked by Richard, the numbers that you mentioned are all to my liking (but not as much as Richard's picks are).

And George, "I've Got You Under My Skin" is absolutely, thoroughly wonderful to me.

Definitely cases of different strokes + matters of taste, etc., etc.

In many cases, we might not be objecting to Peggy's vocal per se, but to the song's genre or to the style in which she covered the song. That's definitely the case with "Neon Signs" and me. If I were to judge "Neon Signs" within the country dance genre to which it belongs, I would not call it a bad interpretation by any means. On the contrary. (What's more, recently a friend who is a fan of both Peggy and country music singled out "Neon Signs" as one of his favorites. I just do not like country dance music at all.)

Albums are a different matter... I am glad that she made and released the Arlen album, but yes, my liking of it is more a matter of principle than real enthusiasm. The only interpretation that truly catches my full attention is that of the one non-rare song, "My Shining Hour." (There might be something to Michael's point about the way she was recorded. Interesting comment.) The Moments Like This album has its fans, and I'm very grateful for that. Being such a fan of Peggy, I'm always delighted when I learn that others like any material of hers on which I am not too keen. "I See You" definitely comes off as a stronger conclusion to her storied recording career.

Ivan

You have got to be kidding, there is no such thing as a bad Peggy Lee recording.

First, let me say I love you all for participating in a painful exercise. But... even though we love our mothers, wives, lovers, etc. don't we still find some things a bit irritating?

I really appreciate the opportunity to share memories, thoughts and musings about someone we all love and appreciate so much. Some of these posts have raised other questions which I hope we can address in other posts (Peggy's '70s recordings, etc.).

Let me say outright that there is nothing Peggy could have done that would make me love her any less. Those nights, watching her cast her spell over many audiences were some of the greatest memories of my life. Most of the recordings that I don't care for were never released while she was with us. There is no defending the songs we like - we just like them. I do think that we are all such PL lovers that we should be allowed to have very open discussions here on this board with complete freedom.

Thank you all for loving Peggy and for being here on this board, and for open discussions.

Ron

It has been many years ago since everyone was opining on which song was her worst. I will add my two cents anyway. I have only recently found this site so I have a lot of catching up to do. "Manana" by far is the most irritating song she ever purred since there was no purring involved. Just can't get into it. Every time it comes on my CD I hit the next button. I personally loved her newer renditions than her starter songs, if you catch my drift.

Sing - I hate this song and it's on Peggy's Where Did They Go? album. It's sandwiched in between two classics, Goodbye Again and I Was Born In Love With You.

Sing, is that the song the Carpenters put out? I didn't like it then either, if it is.