The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography's Picture Gallery:
Radio Transcriptions
by Iván Santiago-Mercado

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Scope And Contents

Peggy Lee recorded for three transcription services: MacGregor (1945), Capitol (second half of the 1940s), and World (early to mid-1950s). All such transcription performances were originally made for syndicated radio broadcast, not for retail. Eventually, however, most of them wounded up in commercial issues (cassettes, LPs, CDs, etc.). This page separates all relevant issues into three main sections, according to the service for which Lee recorded the featured performances. There is also a fourth section in which the "hybrids" are covered: releases that combine transcriptions from two or all three services. (As for Peggy Lee issues that mix radio transcriptions with studio recordings and other types of performances, they can be located not here but in a page currently under construction -- a Bootleg And Public Domain Compilations page.) Finally, an index of the specific albums under scrutiny may be found at the very bottom of this page.

I. MACGREGOR RADIO TRANSCRIPTION ALBUMS




Album Covers Shown:

1 & 2. Title: September In The Rain / Format: Collectors' Pressing LP / Label: Norma / Cat. Num.: (Japan) Nlp 1010 / Rel. Year: 1998 / Note: At an unknown time in the 1950s, the American label Candlelite released (or at least produced for release) a Peggy Lee album entitled September In The Rain. In 1998, Norma Records re-released it on LP in Japan -- as displayed above. The re-release was part of the label's so-called "Rare Item Collection" series. Norma has also reissued other Candlelite albums on CD, but so I have found no indication of a September In The Rain digital version.

Related Album Cover, Not Shown (But Identical To The One) Above:

3. Title: September In The Rain / Format: 10" LP / Label: Norma / Cat. Num.: unknown / Rel. Year: unknown; possibly 1950s / Note: The above-shown front and back covers belong to a reissue of this 10" LP. Original and reissue are believed to feature identical artwork. In both its Candlelite and Norma versions, September In The Rain contains 8 of the 17 numbers that Peggy Lee recorded for the MacGregor transcription service.





Album Cover Shown:

4. Title: You Can Depend On Me / Format: LP / Label: Glendale (Distributor: Legend) / Cat. Num.: Gl 6023 / Rel. Year: 1981 / Note: Includes 14 of the 17 titles that Peggy Lee recorded for the MacGregor transcription service -- i.e., almost her entire MacGregor output. The LP's annotator describes all the album's selections as "released for the first time. Material licensed from the archives of C. P. MacGregor Library." The claim that this is the first release of Lee's MacGregor transcriptions does not seem to be entirely accurate; see #3 above. (Nonetheless, this 12" LP seems to be a legitimate, licensed issue, unlike #3.)

5. Title: Peggy Lee With The Dave Barbour Band ("The Jazz Collector Edition" Series) / Format: CD / Label: LaserLight - Delta / Cat. Num.: 15742 / Rel. Year: 1991 / Tracks: 14 / Note: A reissue of #4 above. This CD's sound quality is quite fine, though everything else, from the artwork to the absence of substantial liner notes, is either wanting or unappealing. However, no better digital option is available to collectors of Lee's MacGregor transcriptions.





Album Covers Shown:

6. Title: Peggy Lee With The Dave Barbour Band; Nat King Cole Trio 1943-49, The Vocal Sides / Format: CD / Label: Capriole / Cat. Num.: (Germany) Hmr 1009 / Tracks: 14 + 13 = 27 / Rel. Year: 1997 / Note: This CD combines 14 of Peggy Lee's MacGregor transcriptions (previously released on #4 and #5 above) with 13 transcription numbers by Nat King Cole. This twofer of sorts is more precisely a reissue of two American CDs on Laserlight. From Laserlight's Peggy Lee With The Dave Barbour Band (1991), Capriole took every track. From Laserlight's Nat King Cole Trio 1943-49 (1990), Capriole took only the vocal sides, leaving out that disc's five instrumentals. Common to the American and the German label that released the CDs under comparison is their parent company (or distributor?), Delta.


Other Albums, Not Shown Above:

7. Title: I've Had My Moments / Format: cassette / Label: Starline (Distributor: Legend) / Cat. Num.: Slc 61008 / Rel. Year: 1987 / Tracks: 10 / Note: Of the 17 performances that Peggy Lee recorded for the MacGregor transcription service, 14 are included in the previously listed items (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6). This cassette contains 2 of the 3 performances missing from those other issues. (The other performance has not been commercially released.)

II. CAPITOL RADIO TRANSCRIPTION ALBUMS




Album Cover Shown:

1 & 2. Title: The Complete Peggy Lee & June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions / Format: CD / Label: Mosaic / Cat. Num.: Md5 184 / Rel. Year: 1998 / Tracks: 72 + 27 = 99 / Volumes: 5 / Note: This boxed set contains Peggy Lee's entire output for Capitol's radio transcription service -- except for one number ("I'm In The Mood For Love," which remains commercially unreleased as of 2011. It boasts superior sound quality. Consisting of 16 pages, the album-size booklet features detailed discographical information, Will Friedwald's extensive session-by-session essay, and various b&w photos. As indicated by its title, this set also includes the 27 numbers that June Christy did for Capitol's radio transcription service.





Album Cover Shown:

3 & 4. Title: Trav'lin' Light / Format: CD / Label: CAPITOL Jazz / Cat. Num.: 7243 5 23567 2 0 / Rel. Year: 1999 / Note: An official sampler that contains 15 of the 72 Lee masters issued in item #1. Image #4 shows the CD's inner tray artwork.





Album Cover Shown:

5. Title: A Musical Marriage; Peggy Lee & Dave Barbour / Format: CD / Label: Jasmine / Cat. Num.: (England) Jascd 355 / Rel. Year: 1999 / Note: An unauthorized, Public Domain sampler that contains 22 of the 72 Lee masters issued in item #1.

6. Title: The Complete Capitol Small Group Transcriptions / Format: CD / Label: Disconforme / Cat. Num.: (Spain) Jfcd 22822 / Rel. Year: 2001 (date found in my copy; there might have been an earlier print) / Tracks: 54 / Volumes: 3 / Note: This issue is a shameless appropriation of the bulk of the tracks that Mosaic Records originally issued in 1998 (item #1 above). Mosaic spent a fortune researching, remastering and paying fees for the release of the original boxed set. Disconforme was, on the other hand, able to swipe Mosaic's work for its own use without having to make any such payments, and without even identifying the original releaser. At the very least, the European PD label could have waited for the official box to go out of print. But there was no such (minimal) courtesy on their part: Disconforme put its budget-priced knockoff in the market while there were still many unsold copies of the Mosaic set, thereby competing for potential customers. In any case, notice that there are some significant differences between the two issues. As suggested by the inclusion of the words Small Group in the title, Disconforme's 3 CD set excludes the big band tracks which Lee sang with the Frank DeVol Orchestra. In other ewords, it contains only numbers with backing by Dave Barbour's combo. Furthermore, the tracks that are marked in Mosaic's box as "previously unissued" were left out from the Disconforme knock-off, obviously because their appropriation could not be justified through the otherwise lax copyright laws in the Andorran region of Spain. (As for the June Christy numbers found in the Mosaic box, they were also appropriated by Disconforme, and released in a separate CD).











  Album Cover Shown:

  7. Title: Them There Eyes / Format: Cassette / Label: Starline (Distributor: Legend) / Cat. Num.: Slc 61189 / Rel. Year: 1990 / Tracks: 9, all of them also found in #1 above.

III. WORLD RADIO TRANSCRIPTION ALBUMS




Album Covers Shown:

1. Title: Peggy Lee Sings For You / Format: CS & CD / Label: Avid / Cat. Num.: (England) Avc 514 / Rel. Year: 1992 / Tracks: 20

2. Title: Taking A Chance On Love / Format: CD / Label: Flare / Cat. Num.: (England) Roycd 269 / Rel. Year: 2008 / Tracks: 24

General Note:
Ownership of the two above-shown issues will supply 41 of the 49 numbers that Peggy Lee recorded for the World transcription service. (Unfortunately, the sound quality of both issues is mediocre.) Ownership of item #3 below will add 5 more numbers to the count, for a total of 46. As for the other three World numbers, they have yet to be commercially issued.





Album Covers Shown:

3 - 5. Title: The Uncollected Peggy Lee, 1948 / Format: CS & LP & CD / Label: Hindsight / Cat. Num.: Hsc 220 & Hsr 220 & Cdhsr 220 / Rel. Year: 1985 [CD released in 1994] / Tracks: 12






Album Cover Shown:

6 & 7. Title: Peggy Lee ("The Gold Collection" Series) & Peggy Lee ("Gold Collection" Series, "Deluxe Edition") / Format: CD / Label: Deja Vu - Retro / Cat. Num.: (EEC) R2cd 94034 / Rel. Year: 1996 [first edition]; 2001 [second edition / Volumes: 2 / Tracks: 40 / Note: As shown above, this Public Domain set has been issued in two editions. The so-called Deluxe Edition substantially improves on the sound quality of the first edition. Both editions are out of print by now.

This set includes 18 of the 20 World transcription performances that Avid originally released in the CD Peggy Lee Sings For You (#1 above), as well as 22 tracks taken from other sources. For listeners wishing to sample Peggy Lee's World output, this is the better-sounding of all the available commercial choices so far. I am only referring, however, to the 2001 deluxe edition, which sonically is a vast improvement over the 1996 edition. (Please be aware that I'm not praising the sound quality of the deluxe edition as exceptionally good; I am only saying that all other choices are comparatively worse. An official, good-sounding release of Lee's World transcription numbers is still much needed.)





Album Cover Shown:

8. Title: It's A Good Day / Format: CD / Label: Riff City Entertainment / Cat. Num.: Rcd 50 286 / Rel. Year: 2004 / Note: All numbers in this 2004 issue had been previously issued in either #1 or #3 above.

IV. MISCELLANEA: TRANSCRIPTION ANTHOLOGIES




General Note:
Like those covered in previous sections, the issues itemized herein contain radio transcriptions. However, this section's issues differ from the ones above in that their track listing consists of transcriptions from multiple services, rather than just one service.

Album Covers Shown:

1. Title: Old Favorites / Format: CS & CD / Label: Music International / Cat. Num.: P 6014 & 6002 / Rel. Year: 1992 / Tracks: 6 MacGregor transcriptions + 4 World transcriptions = 10

2. Title: Gone With The Wind / Format: CD / Label: Musicrama - Actual / Cat. Num.: (England) 7 85118 2 / Rel. Year: 1995 [re-pressed in 2001] / Tracks: 6 World transcriptions + 5 MacGregor transcriptions + 1 Capitol transcription + 2 radio tracks taken from the Hindsight album The Uncollected Peggy Lee = 14

3. Title: Portrait Of Peggy Lee / Format: CD / Label: Penny Newsound / Cat. Num.: (England) Pycd 148 / Rel. Year: 1996 / Tracks: 9 MacGregor transcriptions + 1 World transcriptions + + 1 radio track taken from the Hindsight album The Uncollected Peggy Lee + 5 radio tracks taken from the Souns Rare album If I Could Be With You = 18

4. Title: Golden Hits / Format: CS & CD / Label: Masters Music / Cat. Num.: (The Netherlands) Ma Cs 61078 4 & Cd 61078 2 / Rel. Year: 1996 / Tracks: 6 MacGregor transcriptions + 5 World transcriptions + 1 radio track taken from the Hindsight album The Uncollected Peggy Lee = 12 / Note: Although 1996 is the earliest date that I have found for this issue, I would not be surprised to eventually discover an earlier pressing.

INDEX

Listed below are the issues whose front covers are shown in this page. The Roman numeral that follows each title indicates the section in which the issue is located.

Complete Small Group Transcriptions, The: II
Complete Peggy Lee & June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions, The: II
Golden Hits: IV
Gone With The Wind: IV
I've Had My Moments: I
It's A Good Day: III
Jazz Collector Edition, The (Peggy Lee With The Dave Barbour Band): I
Musical Marriage, A; Peggy Lee & Dave Barbour: II
Old Favorites: IV
Peggy Lee Sings For You: III
Peggy Lee With The Dave Barbour Band ("The Jazz Collector Edition" Series): I
Peggy Lee With The Dave Barbour Band; Nat King Cole Trio 1943/49, The Vocal Sides: I
September In The Rain: I
Taking A Chance On Love: III
Them There Eyes: II
Trav'lin' Light: II
Uncollected Peggy Lee, The, 1948: III
You Can Depend On Me: I


SCOPE AND COMPLETENESS

The present page concentrates on issues whose entire track listing consists of radio transcriptions. Issues with more mixed listings will be found in a pictorial page that is currently under construction, and which will focuse on Public Domain compilations.

Furthermore, this page is exclusively dedicated to material that was recorded for radio syndication. For material taped for or sung during radio shows, see the Radio Broadcasts page.

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