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A Century of Peggy Lee

The great Jazz singer Peggy Lee (real name Norma Deloris Egstrom) was born a hundred years ago today, on 26th March 1920.

I couldn’t resist marking the occasion sharing this short clip of her famous live performance at Basin Street East, a nightclub in New York City, in 1961. I picked this not only because it is the tune of which I posted the original version last week but also because it’s a fine example of her vocal artistry and sizzling stage presence. I love the way she slides the notes as she drapes the melody languidly over the sounds from the band.

This entry was posted on May 26, 2020 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Jazz with tags , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “A Century of Peggy Lee”

  1. Unknown's avatar
    A Century of See See Rider | In the Dark Says:
    October 16, 2024 at 7:46 pm

    […] One of the tracks recorded by Ma Rainey in the Paramount studio in New York was called See See Rider. Although not released until 1925, the very first recording of this number was made exactly one hundred years ago today ,on 16th October 1924, by “Ma Rainey and her Georgia Jazz Band”, the supporting musicians Charlie Dixon (Banjo), Buster Bailey (Clarinet), Charlie Green (Trombone), Fletcher Henderson (Piano) and Louis Armstrong (Cornet). The origins of this blues song are lost in the mists of time but it has been recorded a huge number of times, not only by jazz and blues musicians but also by the likes of Elvis Presley; I posted a great version by Peggy Lee here. […]

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