1. All The Things You Are (Orchestral Introduction)
2. You Was Right, Baby
3. Waitin' For The Train To Come In
4. I've Got A Walkie-Talkie
5. I Don't Know Enough About You
6. I Can See It Your Way
7. I'm Glad I Waited For You
8. A Reasonable Facsimile Of You
9. All The Things You Are
10. Smoke Dreams
11. You Call Everybody, Darlin'
12. Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere
13. Love Somebody
14. Maybe You'll Be There
15. Little Jack Frost, Get Lost
16. So Dear To My Heart
17. Hold Me
18. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
19. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
20. A Little Bird Told Me
21. It Only Happens Once
22. You Can Depend On Me
23. So In Love
24. On A Slow Boat To China
25. I Cried For You
26. The Money Song
27. You Was
28. (I Want To Go Where You Go) Then I'll Be Happy
29. Smoke Dreams
Vocals by:
Peggy Lee
Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers
Jo Stafford and the Starlighters
Frankie Laine
Dean Martin
Jerry Lewis
Accompanied by:
Lloyd Shafer Orchestra
Dave Barbour and his Orchestra
One of the reference books which I consult frequently is The New Grove Encyclopedia of Jazz. It is a cornucopia of information and generally very reliable. However, it is not infallible, and it omits many artists I would expect to find in an authoritative encyclopedia. Omissions include George Gershwin, Les Paul, Benny Green, Francy Boland, and several singers whose work embraces jazz as well as popular music. These number Jo Stafford, Martha Tilton, Lena Horne, the Four Freshmen and Peggy Lee. Peggy is certainly a jazz vocalist - just listen to the albums Black Coffee (with Pete Candoli and Jimmy Rowles) and Beauty and the Beat (with George Shearing).
Unfortunately, this CD, taken from transcripts of the broadcast series "The Chesterfield Supper Club" in the late 1940s, concentrates on the "pop" rather than jazzy side of Peggy's vocals. She sings with her usual purity and precision but mostly without much jazz influence. In fact I never realised that so many forgettable songs were current in the 1940s: numbers like I've Got A Walkie-Talkie and A Reasonable Facsimile Of You which have sunk without trace. Other songs deserved to stay in currency for longer, such as I Don't Know Enough About You and Maybe You'll Be There.
A few tracks have more of a jazz feeling, including On The Sunny Side Of The Street (where Peggy duets with Frankie Laine) and On A Slow Boat To China. Peggy Lee's husband Dave Barbour leads the orchestra on many of the tracks, among them I Cried For You where Peggy is backed by a sextet containing Ziggy Elman and Nick Fatool. One track, The Money Song, features "the country's newest comedy sensations", Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Dean does a duet with Peggy in You Was.
Peggy Lee is worth hearing in whatever style she sings, so her admirers will want this CD along with all of her other recordings.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Sounds of Yester Year DSOY 854
