I. Peggy Lee's Pre-recording Career, 1934-1941
Peggy Lee was born Norma Deloris Egstrom on May 26, 1920. She began singing professionally in 1934, when she was 14 years old. For the next seven years, the budding vocalist performed extensively in diverse music venues and with various types of backing, including piano and organ accompaniment, trios, small combos, and big bands. Thus Lee had already acquired solid experience in "the minor leagues" when she joined Benny Goodman's nationally famous orchestra in 1941, thereby hitting "the big time." As the biographical capsules offered below will make amply evident, the teenager had pursued her profession of choice with an unflinching resolve that would pay off for the rest of her long career.II. In The Beginning
The future Peggy Lee spent her childhood and adolescence in North Dakota, moving from Jamestown (1920-1928) to Nortonville (1928-1934), and then to Wimbledon (1934-1937). In her late pre-teens and early teens, the young Norma Deloris was employed in a variety of temporary jobs -- most frequently, as a farm hand, occasionally also as a babysitter. "I had my first job away from home when I was eleven," she said during an interview conducted in 1974. "I worked on a farm and I did just about everything – milking cows, housekeeping, taking care of a newborn baby – I pretended it was a doll ... the lady was quite ill. And so I was sort of a nurse too." Later, while in high school, Norma took the role of editor of the school paper. Moreover, the teenager often helped her father, a railway station agent, with tasks such as filling per diem reports and lugging lignite for the station's stoves. Decades later, people who had known her from childhood and adolescence would recall that she was "singing all the time" and trying to write tunes, too. According to the vocalist herself, singing had become her dream by the age of 10.III. The High School Years
In the early 1930s, Norma Deloris Egstrom was an aspiring though professionally untested vocalist. In public, Norma's singing experience had been limited to the school's glee club, the church choir, and a few assorted special occasions, such as the occasional recital, talent contest, or PTA meeting.IV. Fargo, Chapter 1
Norma Deloris' next move was to an even bigger city. In Fargo, she again combined radio work with manual labor, this time as a bread slicer and as a waitress -- barely allocating a few hours for sleeping.V. Hollywood, Chapter 1
In early 1938, Lee made an even more ambitious move: a trip to Hollywood. Results were mixed. She initially found jobs only of the white collar type: as seller of gardenia flowers, short-order cook, waitress, even carnival barker. Eventually, the teenager was hired to sing at the Jade Supper Club in Hollywood Boulevard. Nevertheless, throat problems forced her to return to her hometown later that year and to undergo a tonsillectomy that was incompetently performed. The surgical procedure caused hemorrhaging and required hospitalization. Fortunately, her vocal chords were not damaged.VI. Fargo, Chapter 2
After a short period of recuperation, Lee spent well over a year back at Fargo, working for WDAY again. She also began singing daily at The Powers Hotel's Coffee Shop, accompanied by a young organist named Lloyd Collins.VII. Minneapolis
In 1939, Peggy Lee moved to another big city. In Minneapolis, she regularly sang at the Radisson Hotel's Flame Room (and, non-regularly, at other venues) with the local Sev Olsen Orchestra, a nine-piece band. Lee was also heard on radio shows sponsored by Standard Oil and broadcast over the city's KSTP station.VIII. Hollywood, Chapter 2
IX. The Peggy Lee Singing Style, Take 1
X. Chicago
At the Doll House, Lee's performances were enjoyed by Frederick and Lois Mandel, a couple of visiting Chicagoans. He was one of the owners of Chicago's Mandel Brothers department chainstore, and had recently bought the Detroit Lions franchise. After watchng Lee onstage, the Mandels talked to their friend Frank Bering, who was also in town with them. Bering co-owned Chicago's Ambassador East and West Hotels. It so happened that the facilities of the Ambassador West included an ideal venue for Lee: The Buttery Room, which specialized in romantic, intimate-sounding music.XI. Benny Goodman
Another bandleader who came to see Peggy Lee at The Buttery was Benny Goodman. He did so at the request of his fiancée, Lady Alice Duckworth, who had attended one of Lee's previous performances. Mindful of Goodman's imminent need to hire a new canary for the band (his canary Helen Forrest had recently given a few weeks' notice), Lady Duckworth thought of Lee as a possible choice. In August of 1941, Goodman personally phoned Lee to offer her the job, which she accepted immediately.XII. The Peggy Lee Singing Style, Take 2
Granted that it proved enormously important for the progress of her career, Peggy Lee's year and a half with Benny Goodman was nonetheless a step backwards in one important area of professional growth: the evolvement of a personalized style of interpretation. Most of the singer's vocals with The Benny Goodman Orchestra project little of her individual style -- little of the intimacy and bluesiness for which she would become known as a solo artist. The exceptions are the ballads that she did with Benny Goodman's small combos, "Where Or When" (December 24, 1941) and "The Way You Look Tonight" (March 10, 1942). Her soft, bluesy approach in both of those numbers probably exemplifies the style that she had previously cultivated in nightclubs, supper clubs, and smaller venues.XIII. "These Foolish Things"
Also indicative of Peggy Lee's early stylistic leanings is a bluesy-sounding 1942 version of "These Foolish Things" that she performed with The Benny Goodman Orchestra, and which has been preserved as part of one radio broadcast. "These Foolish Things" was in fact the song that Lee had chosen, years earlier, for her audition at Fargo's WDAY radio station. It was moreover one of the numbers that she sang at The Buttery Room on the night when Goodman came to see her act. Hence "These Foolish Things" qualifies as a fundamental tune from the early years of Peggy Lee's career.XIV. Songs From Peggy Lee's Pre-Recording Period
Among the tunes that Peggy Lee herself confirmed to have sung (or, otherwise, implied to have sung) before her days with The Benny Goodman Orchestra were:1. "Body And Soul"
audition number for The Sev Olsen Orchestra
2. "Clouds"
music contest, 1937
(an Ernest Charles composition)
solo (not group) vocal rendition
3. “Come Sweet Morning” ("Viens Aurore")
high school graduation commencement ceremonies, 1937
(presumably the English version by R. H. Elkin)
4. "Deep In A Dream"
frequent request at The Powers Hotel Coffee Shop; accompanied by organ
5. "Goody Goody"
Lee implied to have sung it at WDAY
6. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"
audition number for The Will Osborne Orchestra
7. "I Never Had A Chance"
a favorite as a very young child
8. "The Glory Of Love"
amateur contest, around 1935
9. "Heaven"
a favorite as a very young child
10. "His Coming" ("Eh Ist Gekommen")
music contest, 1937
(a Robert Franz - Friedrich Rückert composition)
11. "I Thought About You"
Lee implies to have sung it at The Powers Hotel Coffee Shop, and to have considered it a favorite
12. "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen"
semi-classical Sunday matinee at the Powers Hotel Coffee Shop
13. "The Man I Love"
probably at WDAY; also as an audition number for Frank Bering
14. "Moonglow"
a favorite as a child; also sung while with The Doc Haines Orchestra, 1934
15. "The Music Goes Round And Round"
frequent request at The Powers Hotel Coffee Shop; accompanied by organ
16. "Solitude"
a favorite as a child
17. " 'Tain't What You Do"
sung at The Powers Hotel Coffee Shop; accompanied by organ
18. "These Foolish Things"
audition song (see comments in this page's previous sub-section)
19. "Twilight On The Trail"
amateur contest, around 1935
20. "Wishing (Will Make It So)"
an avowed favorite of Lee's; thus I am presuming that she sang it
21. "Would God I Were A Tender Apple Blossom"
semi-classical Sunday matinee at the Powers Hotel Coffee Shop
22. "You Oughtta Be In Pictures"
audition for KVOC and The Doc Haines Orchestra, 1934
23. "Thanks For The Memory"
another avowed favorite of Lee's; probably sung around 1937 or 1938, when the song was brand new, and in ensuing years
24. "Deep Purple"
probably sung in 1939, when the lyric became a hit, and in the ensuing two years
Regrettably, none of the singer's vocals from the 1934-1940 period are preserved. Peggy Lee's earliest extant performances date from her years with The Benny Goodman Orchestra (1941-1943).
XV. Nota Bene
Not all sources agree on the order and chronology of the above-listed biographical events. When confronted with discrepancies, I have put my trust in the sources with the best track record of reliability.