The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography And Videography:
The Capitol Years, Part 5
by Iván Santiago-Mercado

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Peggy Lee's Recording Career, 1960-1962

Peggy Lee (ldr), Emmanuel "Manny" Klein (om), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Billy May (con), Billy May and his Orchestra (acc), Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett, Meyer Rubin (b), Lou Levy (p), Stella Castellucci (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Arnold Belnick, David Frisina, James Getzoff, Ben Gill, Anatol Kaminsky, Murray Kellner, Dan Lube, Nathan Ross, Marshall Sosson, Joe Stepansky, Gerald Vinci, William Weiss (vn), Alvin Dinkin, Cecil Figelski, Virginia Majewski, Paul Robyn (vl), Charles Gates, Ralph "Ray" Kramer, George Neikrug, Eleanor Slatkin (vc), Peggy Lee (v)

The Pretty Eyes Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: February 15, 18 and 19, 1960.


Personnel

1. Billy May
During the first half of 1960, Peggy Lee entrusted the arranging and conducting of her sessions to the man who she would later name her favorite arranger.

Their earliest work together dated back to the singer's first year as a Capitol artist (1944). At that time, May was playing trumpet in combos led by Lee's husband, Dave Barbour.

Billy May was particularly proud of the work that he did during the sessions for the ballad album Pretty Eyes. As for Lee's assessment, she loved May's conducting and arranging not only for Pretty Eyes but also for the batch of subsequent sessions that resulted in the album Christmas Carousel (February and June 1960). Most of all, Peggy Lee admired Billy May's versatility, amply evident in his arrangements for his 1960 sessions for her.

2. Alvin Dinkin versus Alvin Dinken
This musician's last name is given as Dinkin in some sources, Dinken in others. Herein I have chosen to enter his name as "Dinkin" because that's the spelling used in the more reliable sources.


Arrangements

1. Source
The Capitol LP Pretty Eyes credits all arrangements to Billy May. Ten of the album's twelve scores (including all four from this session) are also extant in Capitol's library, and May is the credited arranger for all of them.

2. "Remind Me"
Peggy Lee's sheet music library contains not only the May's arrangement of "Remind Me" but also a Benny Carter arrangement of the same song.

3. "Pretty Eyes"
In the case of "Pretty Eyes," Capitol's library of scores has a copy of Billy May's arrangement, but Lee's library does not. Instead, her library holds a Johnny Mandel arrangement, which was presumably written years after the one by May.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Billy May (con), Billy May and his Orchestra (acc), Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett, Meyer Rubin (b), Lou Levy (p), Stella Castellucci (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Arnold Belnick, David Frisina, James Getzoff, Ben Gill, Anatol Kaminsky, Murray Kellner, Erno Neufeld, Nathan Ross, Marshall Sosson, Joe Stepansky, Gerald Vinci, William Weiss (vn), Joseph Di Fiore, Alvin Dinkin, Virginia Majewski, Paul Robyn, Abraham Weiss (vl), Naoum Benditzky, Charles Gates, Kurt Reher, Eleanor Slatkin (vc), Peggy Lee (v)

The Pretty Eyes Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: February 15, 18 and 19, 1960.


Songwriters

1. "I'm Walking Through Heaven With You"
The number of songwriters that contributed to "I'm Walking Through Heaven With You" is in dispute. Pianist Joe Turner is the only one credited in the Capitol LP Pretty Eyes. Similarly, the Library of Congress gives credit to Turner for both words and music. I have trusted those two sources.

However, BMI credits the tune to Joe Turner and to Ruth "Rozz" Gordon. She is also listed at the Library of Congress, but not as a co-writer; Gordon is instead identified as one of the song's 'claimants.'

Meanwhile, numerous CDs credit not only Turner, but also Jimmy Lunceford, whose band first recorded the song in 1934 (and again in 1940 or 1941).


Arrangements

1. Source
The Capitol LP Pretty Eyes credits all arrangements to Billy May. Corroboration comes from Capitol's sheet music library, where ten of the album's twelve scores are also extant, with May indeed credited as arranger on all of them. (From this particular session, the library misses only the arrangement for "Because I Love Him So.")

2. "As You Desire Me"
Peggy Lee's sheet music library contains an arrangement of "As You Desire Me" that is not by Billy May, but by Bill Holman. I am assuming that the Holman arrangement was not the one used in this studio session. It might have been used for a 1966 televised performance, or else in concerts.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Billy May (con), Billy May and his Orchestra (acc), Arthur "Art" Fleming, Jules Jacob[s], Ronnie Lang, Theodore Nash aka Theodore Nash, Wilbur "Willie" Schwartz (sax), Bobby Gibbons (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Stan Levey, Carlos Mejía (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Pretty Eyes Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: February 15, 18 and 19, 1960.


Songs (Cross-references)

1. "Moments Like This"
For Peggy Lee's two other Capitol versions of "Moments Like This," see sessions dated February 5 and March 1, 1961. See also session dated September 8, 1992.


Arrangements

1. Source
The Capitol LP Pretty Eyes credits all arrangements to Billy May. Ten of the album's twelve scores are also extant in Capitol's library, and May is the credited arranger on all of them. (From this session, the library misses only the score for "You Fascinate Me So.")

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Jimmy Joyce (vdr), Harry Klee, Ronnie Lang, Wilbur "Willie" Schwartz (r), George Van Eps (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Stella Castellucci (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Harry Bluestone, Harold Dicterow, Jacques Gasselin, Anatol Kaminsky, Murray Kellner, Marvin Limonick, Joseph Livoti, Nathan Ross, Felix Slatkin (vn), Alvin Dinkin, Virginia Majewski, Alex Niemann, Abraham Weiss (vl), Charles Gates, Edgar Lustgarten, David Pratt, Joseph Saxon (vc), Peggy Lee (v), Jimmy Joyce Children's Choir (bkv)

The Christmas Carousel Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 15 and 19, 1960. Also singles session, dated October 10, 1959.


Arrangements And Arrangers

1. Christmas Carousel [LP]
2. Happy Holiday [LP]
3. Billy May, Part 1
In her autobiography, Peggy Lee writes that Billy May "did all the wonderful arrangements" for the albums Christmas Carousel and Happy Holiday. Lee's statement is accurate only as a generalization.

May indeed was the chief arranger for the main sessions of Christmas Carousel (held on June 15 and 19, 1960) but not for an earlier session (October 10, 1959) whose songs were incorporated to the album long after they had been originally released on a single.

As for Happy Holiday, three of its songs come from a July 9, 1965 session whose songs were arranged by Sid Feller. (The rest of Happy Holiday is a reissue of the earlier LP, Christmas Carousel, minus a few songs.)

4. Billy May, Part 2
5. Jimmy Joyce
Billy May is identified as the arranger of this session's five titles in various sources: the album Christmas Carousel, Lee's autobiography, and Jack Mirtle's The Music Of Billy May: A Discography.

Further corroboration comes from Capitol's sheet music library, in which eleven of the twelve arrangements are kept. May is credited in all of them. Missing from the Capitol library is the score for the album's titular song.

Copies of eleven of the twelve arrangements can also be found in Lee's own sheet music library, where the score for "The Christmas Song" is the one missing. Of the four masters from this session, the scores of "White Christmas" and "The Christmas Waltz" do have May's name but the arrangement of "Christmas Carousel" gives no author information. More problematically, the arrangement for "The Star Carol" is credited not to May but to Jimmy Joyce, the session's vocal director. In this discography, I have decided to jointly credit the "Star Carol" score to Joyce and May.


Masters, Alternate Takes And Issues

1. "Christmas Carousel"
The existence and availability of the above-listed alternate take of "Christmas Carousel" should be deemed possible, rather than definitive. The information that I have about the take and about its alleged release seems reliable but is still in need of corroboration. (The same degree of tentativeness applies to a master from the next Christmas Carousel session.) Since I have not been able to track down the 8-track cartridge where the alternate can supposedly be found, I would appreciate any assistance on this matter.

2. "The Star Carol" [Masters #33978 And #33998]
According to the Capitol Label Discography, "The Star Carol" bears the number 33978 in at least one Capitol file. At some point, the number was changed to 39998, and it appears as such in most other Capitol files. This alteration was made in order to fix an inadvertent duplication: the same number had also been used for the first master from the next session (#9491, by Dwayne Hickman).

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Jimmy Joyce (vdr), Billy May (con), Billy May and his Orchestra (acc), Arthur "Art" Fleming, Jules Jacob[s], Harry Klee, Theodore Nash aka Theodore Nash, Wilbur "Willie" Schwartz (sax), James "Jim" Decker, Vincent DeRosa, Richard "Dick" Perissi (frh), Clarence Karella (tu), George Van Eps (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Stella Castellucci (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Emil Richards, aka Emil Radocchia (per), Peggy Lee (v), Jimmy Joyce Children's Choir (bkv)

The Christmas Carousel Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 15 and 19, 1960. Also singles session, dated October 10, 1959.


Masters, Alternate Takes And Issues

1. "Don't Forget To Feed The Reindeer" [Master #34026 Or Master #34027?]
According to Billy May discographer Jack Mirtle, the personnel files at the American Federation of Musicians identify the master that contains "Don't Forget To Feed The Reindeer" as #34026. In Capitol's session files, it is given as #34027, and master #34026 is skipped. A minor sequencing error -- either at Capitol or at AFM -- seems to be at play.

2. "Jingle Bells (I Like A Sleighride)"
The existence and availability of the above-listed alternate take of "Jingle Bells (I Like A Sleighride)" should be deemed possible, rather than definitive. The information that I have about the take and about its alleged release seems reliable but is still in need of corroboration. (The same tentativeness applies to a master from the previous Christmas Carousel session.) Since I have not been able to track down the 8-track cartridge where the alternate can supposedly be found, I would appreciate any assistance on this matter.


Songs And Songwriters

1. "Jingle Bells (I Like A Sleighride)"
2. James Pierpont
Most issues, including Peggy Lee's own albums, list this master simply as "I Like A Sleighride." In truth, the actual performance consists of two lyrics: the traditional holiday song "Jingle Bells" combined with a few newly written lines, perhaps by Lee herself.

Although the songwriting credits for "Jingle Bells" often list it as a "Traditional" -- thus giving the impression that it is a folk song or a centuries-old anonymous tune -- this number was actually written in 1857 by American composer James Pierpont (1822-1893).

3. "Deck The Hall(s)"
This traditional number exists in more than one variant, each with a set of partially different choruses. The set sung by Lee is the one that mentions boughs of holly, a burning yule log and the mistletoe.

The title itself has two variants, one singular, the other plural. In the covers of the Capitol LPs Christmas Carousel and Happy Holiday, the title was printed in singular. However, in the vinyl of Christmas Carousel the plural was used -- not, however, in the vinyl of Happy Holiday. As for the CD version of Christmas Carousel, it lists the track as "Deck The Halls." Since the word that Peggy Lee clearly sings is halls, I have chosen to use the plural.


Arrangers

1. Billy May
2. Dave Cavanaugh
Capitol's sheet music library contains the arrangements for this session's "Jingle Bells (I Like A Sleigh Ride)," "Deck The Halls" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town." All three of them are credited to Billy May. As for this session's two other songs, their arrangements can be found instead in Peggy Lee's sheet music library, but neither one has an author credit. In secondary sources, including Jack Mirtle's The Music Of Billy May: A Discography, May is named as the arranger of all five titles.

3. "Jingle Bells (I Like A Sleighride)"
In the LP Christmas Carousel, the words "arr. & adapted by Billy May and Dave Cavanaugh" can be found under this song's title. Hence I have credited both men for the arrangement. The LP's credit is not reproduced in the CD version.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Joe Harnell (con), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

The Olé Ala Lee! Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: July 16, 23, and 24, 1960.


Issues

1. Olé Ala Lee! [British LP Versus American LP]
2. "Together Wherever We Go"
The American edition of the album Olé Ala Lee! (Capitol 1475) contains twelve tracks. All twelve titles are listed in the album's back cover, and on the vinyl itself.

The British edition of Olé Ala Lee! bears the same catalogue number and the same artwork as the American original, but differs in one respect: the back cover lists only eleven tracks. The missing number is "Together Wherever We Go." It turns out, however, that all twelve tracks are heard in the actual vinyl of the UK edition. (The label on the vinyl lists all of them, too.) My thanks to Yvan Tarbouriech and to Steve Dodd for confirming these details. Steve has further corroborated that the above-described situation applies to both the mono and stereo versions.

I do not know the reason for the omission of "Together Wherever We Go" from the back cover of the British edition. It could have been merely an inadvertent error. It could also be that, when the cover went to press, EMI intended to skip the track. The likeliest reason for such hypothetical exclusion would have been contractual. "Together Wherever We Go" came from the 1959 Broadway show Gypsy, which had yet to make its British debut in 1961, when Olé Ala Lee! was originally slated for release in England. EMI might have lacked permission to issue any versions of the show's songs until after the show's British debut. (A similar situation had happened with the album Latin Ala Lee!. "Till There Was You" had to be skipped from the 1960 British edition of that LP because the song had originated in The Music Man, a show which did not premiere in England until 1961. As for Gypsy, it actually had to wait until 1973 for its British debut.)

Oddly, the EMI CD Latin Ala Lee! / Olé Ala Lee! (produced in England) identifies its "Together Wherever We Go" as a bonus track, thereby implying that the track had not been previously issued in British land. Presumably, the producers of the CD made this incorrect claim because they took a look at the track listing only in the back of the LP, not on the label of the vinyl itself.

To further complicate the picture, the British LP edition of Olé Ala Lee! did not actually come out until around 1965 -- five years after the American original. Steve Dodd speculates that the delay might have been due to a couple of factors, including the assumed restrictions over "Together Wherever We Go." The artwork of Olé Ala Lee! might have posed an additional challenge. To quote Steve,

"in the UK ... album covers were almost exclusively printed with a laminated coloured front, flipped over a non-laminated b&w reverse ... It now seems to me more likely that the album was prepared for release back in 1960, with a black & white reverse and "Together Wherever We Go" omitted because Gypsy had not yet opened in the U.K. I don't know why it was finally released in 1965, but by then there would have been no restrictions on "Together Wherever We Go," and it was possible to include it. Perhaps they then decided to use the original back cover artwork [listing only 11 tracks] - for reasons of economy, or because it just wasn't noticed that a track had been omitted from the listing; by 1965, the standard number of tracks on a pop album had been reduced from twelve to eleven, anyway. (Sugar 'N' Spice, which also had a humorous double-sided colour sleeve, defeated them completely and the album was never released in the U.K.) Calling Together Wherever We Go a 'bonus track' on the twofer CD decades later might be because [record store owner] Ray Purslow, who supplied the original artwork for the CD, sent them only the cover and not the record! Or maybe they didn't check the record, having the eleven-track precedent of Latin Ala Lee! in front of them."


Masters

1. "Come Dance With Me"
According to Michel Ruppli et al in the Capitol Label Discography, "Come Dance With Me" was first attempted on this date (the 16th) and then remade later, on the 23rd. Nevertheless, Peggy Lee's session file lists master #34209 only under this July 16 session, and includes no later remake.

Here is a reproduction of the data given by Ruppli et al:

July 16, 1960
34209 Come Dance With Me - unissued

July 23, 1960
34209 Come Dance With Me (remake) - Cap. T/ST 1475 [etc.]

As can be seen, the Ruppli data would seem to suggest that the song is preserved in both versions, with the same master number.

Since Peggy Lee's session file does not back up the suggestion that a remake happened, I have listed "Come Dance With Me" only once, under this session -- not under the 23rd. (This decision does not mean that I am dismissing the possibility that the remake took place. On the contrary, I am inclined to think that it did. But stronger confirmation is needed. I hope to be able to inspect the session's AFM report one day, since such an inspection would probably settle the matter. There is also need to listen to the Capitol master reels that contain takes of #34209, to determine if all takes are from the same date or from two different ones.)


Arrangements

1. Joe Harnell
Capitol's library of scores contains all the arrangements for the album Olé Ala Lee!. They are uniformly credited to Joe Harnell.


Personnel

This date's musicians are unknown, but presumed to be mostly the same ones who participated in a later Olé Ala Lee! session, dated July 23, 1960.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Emmanuel "Manny" Klein (om), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Joe Harnell (con), Justin Gordon, Jules Kinsler, Harry Klee, Wilbur "Willie" Schwartz (sax), Henry Miranda, Alfonso "Al" Rojo, James Salko (t), Tony Reyes (b), Eduardo "Eddie" Cano (p), Fred Aguirre, Eduardo Aparicio, Carlos Mejía, Ray Rivera (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Olé Ala Lee! Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: July 16, 23, and 24, 1960.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Joe Harnell
2. Marty Paich
3. "I Can't Resist You"
The back cover of the Capitol album Olé Ala Lee! includes the collective credit "arranged & conducted by Joe Harnell." All 12 album arrangements are extant in Capitol's music sheet library, where they are uniformly credited to Harnell. However, an arrangement of "I Can't Resist You" kept in Lee's sheet music library is credited to Marty Paich.

Unfortunately, I have not inspected the Paich arrangement; hence I do not know whether it is the same one heard in this session. I suspect that it is the same. I can imagine any number of reasons why Capitol might have inaccurately credited Harnell with all of the scores -- for instance, Paich's ties to another record company, or the possibility that Harnell farmed out the arrangement, or a scribe's lax behavior in the handling of the label's paperwork.

Leaving my suspicions aside, the most logical assumptions would be that (a) Paich wrote his arrangement for Lee's concert performances, perhaps back during her Decca years, and (b) that Harnell's identification as the author of this session's arrangement is accurate.

Until the Paich score is inspected and compared with the performance on master #34245, I am following the most logical option.

(Lee recorded another version of "I Can't Resist You" in 1979. The arrangement for that version is credited to Dick Hazard.)


Personnel

1. Ray Rivera
This musician is chiefly known as a guitarist. However, the official documentation for this and in other Peggy Lee sessions lists him as a drum player.


Issues

1. Olé Ala Lee! [EPs]
Capitol released two EPs from the Olé Ala Lee! sessions. They were issued in both mono (Eap) and stereo (Sep).

For Lee's previous album sessions, Capitol had tended to produce a total of three EPs with three or four songs each, thereby covering the entire album's output. In this case, I know of no third EP. Had there been one, it would have included the four songs that were left out of the other two EPs: "You're So Right For Me," "Together Wherever We Go," "Just Squeeze Me," and "By Myself." It seems that buyers' interest in the EP market was dwindling. Most of Lee's subsequent albums sessions actually generated only one EP -- some none.

2. Olé Ala Lee! [45s?]
In contrast with just about every previous and subsequent Lee album on Capitol, there was no 45 release from the Olé Ala Lee! sessions. (The above-shown list of issues
contains some 45, but none of them were commercial issues for public sale. They were
instead sent out to clubs, for play in their commercial jukeboxes. Also listed in some of these Olé Ala Lee! dates are 45s that were manufactured by the AFRS strictly for radio airplay in their military service stations.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Joe Harnell (con), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

The Olé Ala Lee! Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: July 16, 23, and 24, 1960.


Personnel

This date's musicians are unknown, but presumed to be mostly the same ones who participated in an earlier Olé Ala Lee! session, dated July 23, 1960.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Joe Harnell
All arrangements for the album Olé Ala Lee! are extant in Capitol's music score library. They are uniformly credited to Joe Harnell.

2. "Olé"
Peggy Lee kept a copy of Harnell's "Olé" arrangement in her sheet music library.


Masters And Sources

This discography's June 24, 1960 date actually holds the contents of two Capitol file sessions which I have conflated into one. Below is the sessions data as it appears in the Capitol file. My reasons for the conflation are also given below.

First entry

Peggy Lee (vo) with Joe Harnell's Music.
LA, July 24, 1960
(Session #9564)
34253 Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me) - (see master 34296)
34254 Non Dimenticar - Cap. Eap 1 1475 [etc.]
34255 Olé - (see master 34297)
34256 By Myself
All titles issued on Cap. T/St 1475.

Second Entry

Peggy Lee (vo) with Joe Harnell's Music.
LA, 1960
Prob. remastered from session #9564
34296 Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me) - (see master 34253)
34297 Olé - (see master 34255)
All titles issued on Cap. T/St 1475.


I have decided to list the contents of the two entries together in one session because

a) arguably, Capitol's file does not fully treat the second entry as a separate session. No session number is given to the entry, and no full date is provided either. (It is worth noting, however, that the files do not have a session #9565. Maybe that number was intended for this entry, but it was inadvertently left unused.)

b) the file itself states that the second entry probably consists of remasters of the previous session, not new performances.

c) I am told that, in a different document (a Capitol inventory) only masters #34296 and #34297 are listed -- not masters #34253 nor #34255. This piece of information further strengthens the likelihood that the song titles common to the first and second entries refer to the same Lee performances.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Bill Holman (con), Bill Holman and His Orchestra (acc), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

The 1960-1962 Singles Sessions And The Extra Special! Pick-up Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: July 26, 1960. September 1, 1960. May 19, 1961. November 14, 1962. These were the only singles sessions that Peggy Lee held between 1960 and 1962. (Of course, there were various other Lee singles that were released during this period. But the songs on those singles were taken from her album sessions, and were thus partially meant to support those albums, rather than being fully considered as 'stand-alones.' A partial exception can be found in the album session dated March 24, 1962, where one of the masters was issued as a single only; the single's flip side was issued in both formats.)

Released in 1967 and posing as an original album, the LP Extra Special! actually picked up songs that had been recorded earlier in the decade. From the year 1960, all of this session's masters were included, along with one master recorded on September 1, 1960. The album's other entries are from the years 1961 (May 19), 1962 (April 2), 1963 (May 29), 1965 (February 19), and 1966 (May 21 & September 13). Aside from 1964, every preceding year of the decade was covered.

All the Extra Special! numbers had originally come out on singles, except for three that had never been issued before 1967: "The Shining Sea," "Oh! You Crazy Moon," and this session's "Call Me Darling, Call Me Sweetheart, Call Me Dear."


Songs And Cross-references (Film)

1. "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' "
2. Anatomy Of A Murder
The melody of "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " is the "Main Title Music" of Otto Preminger's film Anatomy Of A Murder, which premiered on July 1, 1959. That courtroom thriller featured a full score by Duke Ellington, recorded between May 29 and June 2, 1959. According to Peggy Lee in her autobiography, "[o]ne day Duke Ellington brought me the tape with the theme music from the movie Anatomy Of A Murder, and I was impressed. He just said, Here you are, your Highness - write this, and he left." Elsewhere, Lee has chucklingly remarked that Ellington vanished before she even uttered a word, leaving her standing there, all by herself.

"I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " is actually a vocalese number of sorts. Explains Klaus Stratemann, in his exhaustive text Duke Ellington: Day By Day And Film By Film: "Peggy Lee, vocalist and poetess, composed a set of lyrics to go with the main title of Anatomy Of A Murder. To be more precise, she took the obstinato saxophone figure with brass interjections that follows Quentin Jackson's opening 'Wah-Wah' trombone statements and used this as thematic material for a song that came to be titled I'm Gonna Go Fishin'. It was recorded by its lyricist, of course, but by several others as well."

The persona of Lee's lyric is a woman whose man has lied to (and possibly cheated on) her: "Woke up this morning', / Wanted to cry. / ... / He's a real good one / For having his cake, / ... / Sweet-talking liar / Spin me your yarn, / Tell me a story / Big as a barn. / Gonna stop list'nin', / I won't hear you out, / ... / Sweet-talking liar/ You're in for a fall, / You tell me a story, / You talk to the wall! / Gonna go my way / On down the highway / ..." The woman of this lyric also follows the common adage that 'there are plenty more fish in the sea,' as she proclaims that she's out to find herself a new, better man: "Yeah, I'm gonna go fishin' / That's what I'll do. / Think about nothing, / Not even you. / Catch a real big one / A big speckled trout / Snapping in the water / I'll pull him on out! / ... / Here in the water / Look at him shine, / There goes a big one, / That one is mine!" Simple yet sharp, this lyric can be said to be an update of old blues numbers with which it shares a "my-man-done-me-wrong" thematics.

The film itself inspired the basic concept that permeates Peggy Lee's lyrics: fishing as a metaphor. In Anatomy Of Murder, Jimmy Stewart plays a small-town lawyer for whom fishing is a way to both relax and meditate on how to solve his cases. Throughout the movie, he is dealing with a rape-murder case that compels him to also do some detective work. The movie's fishing scenes inspired Lee to conceive of the lawyer-detective as a fisherman for whom the fish represented the elusive perp that he is trying to catch. It was such a parallel -- or, as she calls it, poetic symbol -- that guided Lee during the writing of her own set of words.

"I finished the lyric and gave it to Duke Ellington," she adds in her autobiography, "The Duke liked it all, and that was enough for me."

3. "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " (And Anatomy Of A Murder) At The Grammys
On April 12, 1961, the third Grammy Awards ceremony was held. This time, two separate awards had been created for the category of Best Vocal Performance, Female. One honored albums, the other "single records or tracks. For the third consecutive year, both Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee received nominations -- in both categories. The other nominees in the singles category were Doris Day, Eileen Farrell and Brenda Lee. As had previously been the case, the winner was Fitzgerald, thanks to her endearing concert performance of "Mack The Knife."

During the previous ceremony (1959), the original Anatomy Of A Murder movie soundtrack had been the winner of three Grammys. In Duke Ellington: Day By Day And Film By Film, Klaus Stratesmann further points out that Gerry Mulligan's instrumental version of I'm Gonna Go Fishin' "gained the distinction of being nominated for a Grammy award [the next] year, in the category of Best Jazz Performance - Large Group (DB: 25.5.61)." Apparently left unmentioned in the Downbeat quote that is his source (and in Stratemann's otherwise comprehensive comments) is the aforementioned fact that Peggy Lee's vocal version was also Grammy-nominated on that same year.

Lee's name was connected to yet another nomination at the Grammy ceremony; see notes under session dated August 14, 1959.


Dating

1. "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' "
Oddly, discographies list Gerry Mulligan's version of "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'" as recorded on May 21, 1960, which is two months earlier than Lee's version. It could well be that Mulligan, like Lee, had received a music tape from Ellington. But why is his instrumental also entitled "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'," if Lee had yet to record and publicize her original lyrics? Since I do not have an answer to this question, I can only speculate. Perhaps the Mulligan instrumental was not originally entitled "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'," but was so re-named after Peggy Lee's lyric became popular. Or it could be that musicians such as Mulligan were aware of the prospective title through exchanges with Ellington and/or Lee. This last scenario is a logical one because Lee actually wrote the lyric in 1959 -- i.e., at least half a year before she and Mulliagan recorded their respective versions. She could have also performed the song in concerts long before she actually recorded it.


Issues

1. Capitol #4449 [45]
2. Capitol #4498 [45]
This session generated songs for two singles which were given somewhat similar numbers, 4449 and 4498. More curiously, and unlike previous Lee 45s, those two singles lack the prefix F. (It is absent from Capitol session sheets, and it is missing in the vinyl itself.) The songs on the flip side of each single were recorded on September 1, 1960.



Masters And Takes

1. "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'"
The Capitol Label Discography lists "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " under two dates: July 26 and September 1, 1960. In both cases, the master is identified as #34271. Under September 1, "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " is described as a remake and the following note has been supplied: "this title is listed in artist files, but issues are listed as using the July 26 version (see session #9570)."

On the other hand, Capitol's Peggy Lee session file lists "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " only under July 26.

As elsewhere, I have given priority to the data in the session file, even though I am actually inclined to believe that the master was remade on September 1 -- just as the documentation consulted by Ruppli and company indicates. Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to corroborate this bit of divergent data. Definitive confirmation (or denial) won't probably be forthcoming until AFM's session report is consulted.

Also of note is the fact that, whereas some Capitol documents identify the master take of "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " as #23, others list it as #12. This discrepancy could well be an indication that there are two master takes of "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " extant in Capitol's vaults, one from this date and the other from the September 1 session.

3. Master #34272
Notice that this session contains three songs whose master numbers are 34269, 34270, and 34271. According to the Capitol Label Discography, Capitol's session files do not have any information for master #34272. Ruppli et al presume that the master number was simply left unused. Perhaps so; maybe Lee and the musicians exhausted their pre-scheduled session time. ("I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " seems to have required a particularly high number of takes.) Another possibility is that Lee and company did use master #34572 for a performance that was ultimately scrapped.


Arrangements And Sources

1. Bill Holman
2. "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' "
The source for this session's arranging credits is the back cover of the LP Extra Special!. Bill Holman's authorship of the arrangement for "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " is further confirmed by the existence of the score, credited to him, in Capitol sheet music library.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Nancy Wilson (v), The Chipmunks (bkv)

Toys For Tots: The Humanitarian Campaign Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: August 19 and September 1, 1960. Peggy Lee was one of various Capitol artists who recorded a promotional spot in support of the Marine Reserve charity campaign Toys for Tots, which distributes toys to children in need. Other artists to do so were Nat King Cole, Vic Damone and Nancy Wilson. In their respective versions, the same "Toys For Tots" musical performance is heard. All four singers may have thus sung their interpretations to a pre-recorded track. All "Toys for Tots" singles are likely to have been sent directly to Marine Corps facilities and to radio stations, and not sold in commercial stores.


Song, Dating, And Issues

1. Capitol Kb 2820 [single]
2. Capitol Tb 2497-2498 [single]
Only the first of these two singles is listed in Peggy Lee's Capitol session file, where it is actually given the wrong catalogue number (2830). I should add that the release year which I have entered for this 45 is tentative, and thus in need of more solid confirmation.

As for single Tb 2497-2498, I learned of its existence through secondary sources, including an ebay auction. The time span within which Tb 2497-2498 was sent to radio stations can not be circumscribed to anything more specific than 1966 or the second half of 1965. (Nancy Wilson recorded her version in June 1965.) The release year that I have entered for Tb 2497-2498 is thus tentative, too, and subject to alteration.

3. Christmas Cocktails [CD]
4. Secret Track: The Three-Singers Edit Of "Toys For Tots"
The Capitol CD Christmas Cocktails (the first out of two in the "Ultra Lounge" series) contains three secret tracks. (That is to say, none of those three numbers appear in the CD's track listing.) The trio of surprise numbers is positioned at the very end of the disc, after track #18. One of them is "Jingle Bells," sung by Johnny Mercer, and another is a tongue-in-cheek version of "Violets For Your Furs," spoken by a 1950s act known as The Continental.

The remaining secret track is a special version of "Toys For Tots," sung by Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, and Nancy Wilson, who are heard in that order. The track is a mix of those artists' separate versions of "Toys For Tots" and was presumably put together specifically for inclusion in the Christmas Cocktails CD. So clever is this mix that listeners might be left with the impression that all three singers gathered together for one single performance. But no such event happened: Cole recorded his "Toys For Tots" (master #17965) on November 22, 1957, and Wilson did hers (master #53805) on June 4, 1965.


Personnel

1. The Chipmunks
For her "Toys For Tots," Lee is accompanied by an uncredited group that talks in the manner of the cartoon rodents who, along with David Seville, sang novelty hits such as "The Chipmunk Song" and "The Witch Doctor" in 1958. (Seville created those Chipmunks vocals by recording a trio of human voices at half-speed, and then playing them back at normal speed.)

Since Lee's is the only voice credited in the official documentation that I have consulted, my identification of the group as The Chipmunks is tentative. Independently of whether Seville was or was not involved, the vocal style is identical to the one heard in his Chipmunks recordings. Hence the backing voices of Lee's track must have been created essentially through the same engineering methods that Seville used.

October 2009 addendum to this note: a belated consultation of the Capitol Label Discography has now strengthened the claim that I made in the previous paragraph (originally written in the late 1990s). Ruppli's text lists The Chipmunks as the accompaniment for this session.


Masters And Sources

1. Master #34349 And Master #34350
Notice that, in this session, I have listed together two masters that are separately found in Capitol vaults: #34349 and #34350. Master #34350 is identified in Peggy Lee's Capitol session files as a 'voice track.' Master #34349 apparently contains the pre-recorded, instrumental component of the track.

2. "Toy For Tots" [sic]
Capitol's Peggy Lee session file lists the title of this master as "Toy For Tots." Evidently, the plural particle has been inadvertently skipped from the first word. The actual single correctly uses the plural for both nouns.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Ralph Carmichael (con), Ralph Carmichael and His Orchestra (acc), Other Individuals Unknown (unk), Peggy Lee (v)

The 1960-1962 Singles Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: July 26, 1960. September 1, 1960. May 19, 1961. November 14, 1962. These were the only singles sessions that Peggy Lee held between 1960 and 1962. (Of course, there were various other Lee singles that were released during this period. But the songs on those singles were taken from her album sessions, and were thus partially meant to support those albums, rather than being fully considered as 'stand-alones.' A partial exception can be found in the album session dated March 24, 1962, where one of the masters was issued as a single only; the single's flip side was issued in both formats.)


Meals For Millions: The Humanitarian Campaign Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: August 19 and September 1, 1960. Peggy Lee wrote and recorded the song "Meals For Millions" in an effort to promote Meals for Millions, Inc., a non-profit organization for which she had become the chairman. This Los Angeles-based organization provided high-protein, multi-purpose food to hunger areas worldwide.


Masters And Issues

1. The Issuing Of "Meals For Millions"

Although no 45 release of the song "Meals For Millions" is listed in Capitol's files, a 45 single was presumably pressed and distributed for promotional, non-commercial purposes. Hence the following remark, made by Gene Handsaker inan interview with Peggy Lee, conducted for the Associated Press: "Peggy Lee spun her latest recording on her turntable. Out came the familiar rich, warm voice pleading not of love or joy in living, but – soybeans!"

2. "Leave It To Love": Master #34416 (September 1, 1960)
3. "Leave It To Love": Master #39916 (May 31, 1963)
Capitol's session files indicate that Peggy Lee recorded the song "Leave It To Love" twice, three years apart, and that the number 34416 was given to one master, 39916 to the other. The 1960 master is shown as the one included in Lee's 1965 album Then Was Then And Now Is Now!, the 1963 master is shown as unreleased.

Nevertheless, a search of Capitol's vaults and a perusal of official paperwork have retrieved no traces of a master #34416. The Capitol Label Discography by Ruppli et al backs up this state of affairs: the note "no information" is found next to that master number.

I believe that a numerical duplication was mistakenly made in the session file: number 3[99]16 was inadvertently re-entered as number 3[44]16. All issues were wrongly listed under that duplicate master number. In this discography, the duplicate has not been entered, and the album Then Was Then And Now Is Now! (along with its derivates) has been re-assigned to master #39916, recorded on May 31, 1963.

This subject matter remains open to further scrutiny, of course. Perhaps a master #34416 will be found one day in the future, even if at the present time it seems unlikely.

4. "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", Master #34271 (July 26 / September 1, 1960)
Peggy Lee's session file lists "I'm Gonna Go Fishin' " under July 26, 1960 only, but the Capitol Label Discography lists also a remake recorded during this September 1, 1960 session. Original and remake show the same master number. Herein, I have listed master #34271 only in the July 26 session; for further details, see that session's masters notes.


Arrangements And Sources

1. "When He Makes Music"
2. "I Love Being Here With You"
The back cover of the LP Extra Special! is my source for this session's arranging credits to Ralph Carmichael ("When He Makes Music") and Bill Holman ("I Love Being Here With You").

February 5 - March 8, 1961

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Joe Harnell (con, p), Bob Donovan (r, f), Danny Stiles, Phil Sunkel, Willie Thomas (t), Ray De Sio, Mickey Gravine (tb), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Abe Rosen (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (bo, cng), Peggy Lee (v)

Dating

In 1961, February 5 fell on a Sunday. Oddly, the words "nightly except Sunday" appears in the few 1961 Basin Street East trade ads that I have seen. If the ads' wording means that the club was invariably closed on Sundays in 1961, then either (a) Capitol's session files show a wrong date or (b) a special concert took place on that night, perhaps with a special audience.


Sources, Masters, And Dating

Due to the complex nature of the Basin Street East sessions, I have provided a supplementary page with raw data about them (e.g, transcriptions of the Basin Street East dates as they appear in Capitol's session file). That supplementary page also includes my analysis of various conflicting or tentative matters, such as my dating and my (live versus studio) identification of the masters.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Joe Harnell (con, p), Bob Donovan (r, f), Danny Stiles, Phil Sunkel, Willie Thomas (t), Ray De Sio, Mickey Gravine (tb), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Abe Rosen (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (bo, cng), Peggy Lee (v), Session Musicians (bkv)

Sources

Oddly, this concert is not listed in Capitol's session files, yet it was found in the company's vaults. My main source of information about it is the CD Peggy At Basin Street East: The Unreleased Closing Night - February 8, 1961, New York City (#294 2), in which the concert was issued. In a note that is part of the CD's booklet, co-producer Cy Godfrey explains that this concert survived in the form of mis-marked tapes, which "might have been destroyed were they not listed in Capitol's computers as backup or safety tapes made on February 16, 1961. It was not until they were examined and played that we realized that they were the long-lost closing night recordings made on February 8, 1961, and that February 16 was a tape transfer date."


Masters And Songs

1. Instrumentals
2. "Overture"
3. "Peggy Lee's Bow Music"
Among the 14 tracks that are part of Collectors' Choice CD #294 2, there are two instrumentals: an "Overture" with which Joe Harnell and the other musicians open the show (timing: 1:32) and a thematic track titled "Peggy Lee Bow Music" (timing: 1:24), obviously played while the singer is taking her bows.

4. Medleys
5. The Hits Medley
6. The Love Medley
This concert includes 4 medleys. Those are not medleys of the 'garden variety' type (i.e. not the kind of superficial medley which circumscribes itself to just two or three lines from each song). Lee sings a fair number of choruses from each song, and interprets each medley cohesively.

The only arguable exception is the fourth medley, which Peggy Lee jokingly calls "a fruit compote." Dedicated to her hits of yore, Lee sings one fast chorus or two from each of the chosen songs. She still brings a fresh twist to them. New arrangements are heard during "Mañana," "It's A Good Day" and, most notably, "Lover." There are partially different phrasing in some of the selections, too. This hits medley is the concert's encore.

The four medleys are:

a) One Kiss / My Romance / The Most Beautiful Man In The World (Timing: 4:15)
b) But Beautiful / The Second Time Around (Timing: 5:46)
c) Ray Charles Tribute, which begins with a sung intro. (I am tentatively crediting Lee as the songwriter of that brief bit of introductory, special material.) / Hallelujah, I Love Him So / I Got A Man / You Won't Let Me Go / Just For A Thrill / Yes, Indeed! (Timing: 14:30)
d) I Don't Know Enough About You / Mañana / Why Don't You Do Right? / Lover / It's A Good Day (Timing: 4:45)

Comments from a concertgoer (who attended on a different night) suggest that Lee sometimes treated the second medley as a three-song arc about love. Without pausing, she would sing back-to-back and complete versions of "But Beautiful," "I've Never Left You Arms," and "The Second Time Around." (In this session's concert, however, she chose to sing "I've Never Left You Arms" separately.)


Issues

1. "You Won't Let Me Go"
2. Peggy At Basin Street East [CD]
The track listing of Collectors' Choice CD #294 2 misses "You Won't Let Me Go," which is part of Lee's tribute medley to Ray Charles.

3. Peggy Lee's Goodbye To Her Basin Street East Audience
4. Basin Street East Proudly Presents Peggy Lee [CD]
Notice that Capitol licensed the entire contents of this session to Collectors' Choice, and that Capitol itself has not released any of it. The material that Capitol has issued on its LP and CD incarnations of Basin Street East Proudly Presents Peggy Lee comes instead from the other Basin Street East sessions listed in this page.

There is, however, one minor exception to the points made in the paragraph above: the instrumental "Peggy Lee's Bow Music" is part of both Capitol and Collectors' Choice releases. Incidentally, Lee is heard at the end of this instrumental, thanking and saying farewell to the audience. Capitol issues end with this farewell but the Collectors' Choice disc continues with one final track -- Lee's encore, aka the hits medley.


Miscellanea

1. Peggy Lee Plugs Frances Faye
2. "It's A Good Day"
While singing "It's A Good Day," Peggy Lee sneaks in the words "don't forget Frances Faye ....... tomorrow!" The winningly raucous performer was indeed scheduled to follow Lee at Basin Street East. (Lee obviously wanted the club to maintain the successful, over-capacity attendance that it had been enjoying during her engagement. And she was fond of Faye as well. I am not completely sure that the singer-pianist was able to start her engagement on the next day, however. I have heard of one Basin Street East engagement that Faye had to postpone due to illness; it could have been this one.)

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Joe Harnell (con, p), Bob Donovan (r, f), Danny Stiles, Phil Sunkel, Willie Thomas (t), Ray De Sio, Mickey Gravine (tb), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Abe Rosen (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (bo, cng), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs And Songwriters

1. "I Got A Man"
Peggy Lee sings a gender-altered variation of the song "I Got A Woman," co-written and popularized by Ray Charles. Heard throughout this feminized version are quite a few modified lyrics, perhaps conceived by Lee herself.

2. Renald Richard
The song "I Got A (Wo)man" is credited only to Ray Charles in many issues, including the original Capitol LP Basin Street East Proudly Presents Miss Peggy Lee. Nonetheless, the song is actually a collaboration between Charles and trumpet player Renald Richard.


Sources, Masters, And Dating

Due to the complex nature of the Basin Street East sessions, I have provided a supplementary page with raw data about them (e.g, transcriptions of the Basin Street East dates as they appear in Capitol's session file). That supplementary page also includes my analysis of various conflicting or tentative matters, such as my dating and my (live versus studio) identification of the masters.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Joe Harnell (con, p), Bob Donovan (r, f), Danny Stiles, Phil Sunkel, Willie Thomas (t), Ray De Sio, Mickey Gravine (tb), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Abe Rosen (hrp), Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (bo, cng), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. Tribute Medley To Ray Charles
2. "I Got A Man"
During regular concerts, Peggy Lee sang "I Got A Man" as part of a medley in tribute to Ray Charles. She does so, for instance, in the full concert from February 8 that was released on CD by Collectors' Choice. For this session she performed "I Got A Man" not as part of a medley, however, but a separate track. (See also parallel comment about "Them There Eyes," in notes under session dated February 28, 1961.)

2. Peggy Lee's Bow Music"
Since master #23467 is an instrumental in which Lee does not play, I have not entered it in this Peggy Lee sessionography. (It was played by the musicians while she was taking her bows.)


Issues

1. Basin Street East Proudly Presents Miss Peggy Lee [CD]
The track listing of this Capitol CD contains a minor mistake. Its last two tracks are listed in the following manner:

12. A Tribute To Ray Charles:
Just For A Thrill
Yes Indeed
13. Peggy Lee Bow Music

The mistake is that the total number of tracks should be 14, not 13. Music-playing systems track "Peggy Lee Bow Music" as #14, "Yes, Indeed!" -- Though part of the tribute to Ray Charles -- as #13.


Collectors' Corner

1. "Yes, Indeed! / Boston Beans" [45]
Capitol 45 F 4576 was issued with a picture sleeve. A smiling Peggy has her arms half raised. Her hands are under the collar of the white blouse that she is wearing.


Sources, Masters, And Dating

Due to the complex nature of the Basin Street East sessions, I have provided a supplementary page with raw data about them (e.g, transcriptions of the Basin Street East dates as they appear in Capitol's session file). That supplementary page also includes my analysis of various conflicting or tentative matters, such as my dating and my (live versus studio) identification of the masters.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Other Individuals Unknown (acc), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. Tribute Medley To Billie Holiday
2. "Them There Eyes"
Through her February 1961 Basin Street East engagement, Peggy Lee sang two tribute medleys. One was dedicated to Ray Charles, the other to Billie Holiday. In all likelihood, Lee sang both medleys on most nights, but
alternated between them: one was done at the early show, the other at the late show. Taped by Capitol, the Ray Charles medley has been preserved, fortunately.

The Billie Holiday medley does not seem to have been taped, unfortunately. "God Bless The Child" and "Loverman" are among the numbers that Lee probably sang as part of this medley. "Them There Eyes" might have been its centerpiece.

At this studio session, Cavanaugh and Lee decided to reprise not the entire medley but its centerpiece. Lee sings the number in full. "Them There Eyes" was actually a song to which Lee returned often during her career, not only in concert but also on record (1946, 1947, 1952) and on TV (1962, 1983).

(See also parallel comment about the Ray Charles Medley and its "I Got A Man," in notes under session dated February 9, 1961.)

3. One Kiss Medley
4. "The Vagabond King Waltz"
5. "The Most Beautiful Man In The World"
Another medley that Peggy Lee did at the Basin Street East club consisted of the songs "One Kiss," "My Romance" and a varying third number. In the February 8 concert that was issued on CD by Collectors' Choice, the medley's third song is "The Most Beautiful Man In The World." In this studio session, it is instead "The Vagabond King Waltz."

In the interest of variety, Lee probably alternated between "The Most Beautiful Man In The World" and "The Vagabond King Waltz" during her live shows. (As already mentioned, she alternated between her Ray Charles and her Billie Holiday medleys, too. There are also two or three other titles, such as "It All Depends On You" and "Moments Like This," which she did not sing on every show during this run.)

6. Ballad Medley
7. "But Beautiful"
8. "The Second Time Around"
In the February 8 concert that was released by Collectors' Choice, Peggy Lee performs "But Beautiful" and "The Second Time Around" as one ballad medley. At these studio sessions, Lee and Cavanaugh chose to record the two numbers separately.


Arrangements

1. "Them There Eyes"
2. Mundell Lowe
3. Marty Paich
In addition to this session's score by Dick Hazard, Peggy Lee kept two other arrangements of "Them There Eyes" in her sheet music library, one by Mundell Lowe and the other by Marty Paich.


Sources, Masters, And Dating

Due to the complex nature of the Basin Street East sessions, I have provided a supplementary page with raw data about them (e.g, transcriptions of the Basin Street East dates as they appear in Capitol's session file). That supplementary page also includes my analysis of various conflicting or tentative matters, such as my dating and my (live versus studio) identification of the masters.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Other Individuals Unknown (acc), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs And Cross-references

1. "Moments Like This"
Lane and Loesser's "Moments Like This" seems to have been a favorite Peggy Lee standard. She taped or recorded quite a few versions. There are three studio masters (February 19, 1960; March 1, 1961; September 8, 1992 ), one extant live performance (February 5, 1961) and one televised broadcast (May 25, 1966).

Of course, she probably sang this number often through her Basin Street East engagement, although not on every show. For the sake of variety, Lee is likely to have skipped "Moments Like This" at times, substituting it with another ballad (possibly "It All Depends On You").



Issues

1. Capitol #4576 [45]
2. "Moments Like This"
3. "Boston Beans"
According to an oral report for which I have no official confirmation, this studio recording of "Moments Like This" was slated for release as a single. Ultimately, however, it was excluded from release not only on 45 but also on any other format. The producers of The Singles Collection made the smart decision of finally releasing it in that CD set, on the rationale that -- though previously unissued -- it had been originally intended for 45 issue, after all.

It occurs to me that "Moments Like This" might have been planned for inclusion in Capitol single #4576. That 45 does include one song from the Basin Street sessions ("Yes, Indeed!"). The flip side features "Boston Beans" (recorded on April 15,1961), which bears no relation to Basin Street East, however.

A Capitol ad for single #4576 suggests that the 45 was rush-released, and that the reason for the rush was the unexpected demand for "Boston Beans," particularly in the Massachusetts record market. If this information is true (rather than mere promotional overstatement), then perhaps Cavanaugh decided to bump "Moments Like This" out of the single in favor of the interest-arising "Boston Beans."

4. The Album Basin Street East Proudly Presents Miss Peggy Lee In The Music Charts And At The Grammys
This long play entered Billboard's Best-Selling Pop LPs chart on the week of September 11, 1961 and thereby became Peggy Lee's 9th album entry. It peaked at #77 and spent 22 weeks in this chart. (For her 9th album entry, see earlier session, dated March 28, 1959).

Held on May 29, 1962, the fourth Grammy awards ceremony downsized its awards for best female popular singer from two to one. The category was renamed Best Solo Vocal, Female. Also, this time all nominations were for albums, none for singles. Those differences aside, tidings in this category went almost as usual: Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee were nominated for the fourth straight year -- Fitzgerald for an album that the Academy listed as Mr. Paganini. (I presume that the album in question is the one officially titled Ella In Hollywood, whose most popular song was "Mr. Paganini.") On this occasion, the winner was not Fitzgerald but Judy Garland, for her concert piece Live At Carnegie Hall. The other two nominees were Billie Holiday and Lena Horne.


Sources, Masters, And Dating

Due to the complex nature of the Basin Street East sessions, I have provided a supplementary page with raw data about them (e.g, transcriptions of the Basin Street East dates as they appear in Capitol's session file). That supplementary page also includes my analysis of various conflicting or tentative matters, such as my dating and my (live versus studio) identification of the masters.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Quincy Jones (con), Benny Carter, Buddy Collette (as), Bill Green, Bill Perkins (ts), Jack Nimitz (bar), Robert Fowler, Conrad Gozzo, Al Porcino, Jack Sheldon (t), Vernon "Vern" Friley, Lewis "Lew" McCreary, Frank Rosolino (tb), Bob Knight (bt), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Frank Strazzeri (p), Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (cng, per), Peggy Lee (v)

The Blues Cross Country Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: April 14, 15, 17 and 19, 1961. May 19, 1961.


Personnel And Sources

My personnel data for the 1961 Blues Cross Country sessions relies on two sources: Capitol's Peggy Lee session files and the booklet of the album's CD issue (Capitol Jazz #724352008827). The data found in both sources is essentially the same, but there are a few divergences. The three most significant variants are:

a) the inclusion of trumpet players Frank Beach and Manny Klein in the Capitol session file. Neither one is listed anywhere in the CD's booklet.

b) the repetition, in the Capitol file, of the same exact personnel on all 4 sessions. The Capitol Jazz CD does not give the exact same personnel in every session. The file's collective personnel lacks some of the names given in the CD issue.

c) the pianist(s) involved. Capitol's file credits each Blues Cross Country session to "Lou Levy or Jimmy Rowles." The CD's booklet shows instead that Jimmy Rowles and Frank Strazzeri alternated sessions.

Points (b) and (c) make it evident that the session file is give general information, whereas the CD's booklet contains specifics. I have thus made the booklet my primary source for the Blues Cross Country dates. (I do not know the source of the personnel given in the Capitol Jazz CD. I am assuming it to be the session's report at AFM, which is considered the most reliable source for personnel.)


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
The Capitol album Blues Cross Country credits all its arrangements to the album's conductor, Quincy Jones. Collective credits such as this one often prove to be inaccurate generalizations. I have thus abstained from crediting Jones, except fro those cases in which Peggy Lee's sheet music library holds arrangements under his name.

2. Dick Hazard
3. "Kansas City"
There is one arrangement of "Kansas City" in Lee's library, and it is credited to Dick Hazard. Because I have not been able to inspect the arrangement or to verify that it is the same one used for the album's version, this credit should be deemed tentative.


Masters And Dating

1. "Goin' To Chicago Blues" [Master #35743]
In Capitol's session file, Lee's performance of "Goin' To Chicago Blues" appears under this session. In the discographical information provided by the Capitol Jazz CD Blues Cross Country, it is found under the next date. Meanwhile, the Capitol Label Discography by Ruppli et al lists the song title under both sessions; the April 15 entry labeled a remake.

It thus seems that Lee and company first attempted "Goin' To Chicago Blues" on April 14, then on the 15th. Since the Capitol documentation gives no indication that both days' performances are preserved, I have included this master only under the April 15 date.


Issues

1. Blues Cross Country [Jukebox EP]
Although I have called it an EP, XE-1671 actually consists of six separate 45s, each with two songs. At the present time, I have very little data about the contents in each 45. I only know that one of them combines "The Grain Belt Blues" with "New York City Blues."

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Quincy Jones (con), Benny Carter, Bill Green (as), John "Plas" Johnson, Bill Perkins (ts), Jack Nimitz (bar), Robert Fowler, Conrad Gozzo, Al Porcino, Jack Sheldon (t), Vernon "Vern" Friley, Lewis "Lew" McCreary, Frank Rosolino (tb), George Roberts (bt), Dennis Budimir, Howard Roberts (g), Max K. Bennett (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (cng, per), Peggy Lee (v)

The Blues Cross Country Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: April 14, 15, 17 and 19, 1961. May 19, 1961.


Songs

1. "The Grain Belt Blues (Orange Blues)"
The Capitol Label Discography is the only source in which I have found the sub-title "Orange Blues" for this song.


Masters And Dating

1. "Goin' To Chicago Blues" [Master #35743]
The inclusion of master #35743 in this April 15, 1961 session is based on discographical information provided by the Capitol Jazz CD Blues Cross Country, and reiterated in the Capitol Label Discography. Peggy Lee's session file, on the other hand, dates the master one day earlier (April 14, 1961). As explained in the previous session, I have given more credence to the information provided by the CD.


Arrangements

Copies of this session's three scores exist in Peggy Lee's music sheet library. All three library arrangements are indeed credited to Quincy Jones.


Issues And Cross-references

1. Single #4576 [45]
2. "Boston Beans"
See commentary under session dated March 1, 1961.


Personnel And Cross-references

See note under session dated April 14, 1961.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Quincy Jones (con), Benny Carter, Bill Green (as), Buddy Collette, Justin Gordon (ts), Jack Nimitz (bar), Robert Fowler, Conrad Gozzo, Al Porcino, Jack Sheldon (t), Vernon "Vern" Friley, Lewis "Lew" McCreary, Frank Rosolino (tb), Bob Knight (bt), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles, Frank Strazzeri (p), Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (bo, cng, per), Peggy Lee (v)

The Blues Cross Country Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: April 14, 15, 17 and 19, 1961. May 19, 1961.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Benny Carter
2. Quincy Jones
The credit to Quincy Jones for two of this session's arrangements is based on the existence of copies of such arrangements, under his name, in Peggy Lee's music sheet library. The source for the Benny Carter credit is Ed Berger's discography of the musician.


Masters And Dating

1. "San Francisco Blues" [Master #35759]
In Capitol's Peggy Lee session files, master #35759 is exclusively listed under this session but in the Capitol Label Discography the same master appears under two sessions: April 17 and April 19, where it is labeled a remake. Presumably, the duplication in the Capitol Label Discography means that, on April 17, attempts at producing a "San Francisco Blues" master were deemed unsatisfactory.

Since there is no indication that this date's "San Francisco Blues" attempts were preserved, I have listed master #35759 under the April 19 session only.


Personnel (Cross-references)

See note under session dated April 14, 1961.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Quincy Jones (con), Benny Carter, Bill Green (as), Buddy Collette, Justin Gordon, Bill Perkins (ts), Jack Nimitz (bar), Walter "Pete" Candoli, Robert Fowler, Conrad Gozzo, Joe Graves, Al Porcino, Jack Sheldon, Ray Triscari (t), Vernon "Vern" Friley, Lewis "Lew" McCreary, Frank Rosolino, Tom Shepard (tb), Bob Knight (bt), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles, Frank Strazzeri (p), Chico Guerrero, Stan Levey (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (bo, cng, per), Peggy Lee (v)

The Blues Cross Country Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: April 14, 15, 17 and 19, 1961. May 19, 1961.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
The credit to Quincy Jones for this session's arrangement of "St. Louis Blues" is based on the existence of a copy of such a score, under his name, in Peggy Lee's music sheet library. The library also has an arrangement of "The Train Blues," but it is uncredited.

2. Benny Carter
Credit to Benny Carter for the arrangement of "San Francisco Blues" is given in various sources, including Ed Berger's bio-discography of the musician.


Issues

1. Blues, USA [acetate]
An acetate of the album Blue Cross Country was once up for auction at ebay. According to the ebay seller, this acetate has a song order different from that of the commercial release, bears the title Blues, USA (not Blue Cross Country), and is dated 5-24-67.

Also, the track listing supplied by the seller shows "Blues Cross Country" as the title of one of the songs, rather than the album's title. But, since there is no mention of "The Grain Belt Blues" in the seller's track listing, I suspect that "The Grain Belt Blues" was wrongly listed as "Blues Cross Country."


Masters And Dating

1. "San Francisco Blues" [Master #35759]
The Capitol Label Discography lists this master under both this date and the previous one. For further details, consult notes under session dated April 17, 1961.


Cross-references (Personnel)

See note under session dated April 14, 1961.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Quincy Jones (con), Benny Carter, Bill Green (as), John "Plas" Johnson, Bill Perkins (ts), Jack Nimitz (bar), Walter "Pete" Candoli, Robert Fowler, Al Porcino, Ray Triscari (t), Hoyt Bohannon, Lewis "Lew" McCreary, Richard T. "Dick" Nash (tb), Bob Knight (bt), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Stan Levey (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The 1960-1962 Singles Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: July 26, 1960. September 1, 1960. May 19, 1961. November 14, 1962. These were the only singles sessions that Peggy Lee held between 1960 and 1962. (Of course, there were various other Lee singles that were released during this period. But the songs on those singles were taken from her album sessions, and were thus partially meant to support those albums, rather than being fully considered as 'stand-alones.' A partial exception can be found in the album session dated March 24, 1962, where one of the masters was issued as a single only; the single's flip side was issued in both formats.)


The Blues Cross Country Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: April 14, 15, 17 and 19, 1961. Also May 19, 1961. Capitol's session file splits the two songs that Peggy Lee recorded on that May 19 date into two sessions, probably because each has a different purpose. One of them ("Los Angeles Blues") was meant for release as a single. The other one ("Los Angeles Blues") was the twelfth and last remaining master for inclusion in the prospective Blues Cross Country album.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
The credit to Quincy Jones for this session's arrangement is based on the existence of a copy under his name in Peggy Lee's music sheet library. Jones is also credited in the back cover of the LP Extra Special!


Cross-references (Personnel)

For general commentary about the personnel of Lee's April and May 1961 dates, see notes under session dated April 14, 1961.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Quincy Jones (con), Benny Carter, Bill Green (as), John "Plas" Johnson, Bill Perkins (ts), Jack Nimitz (bar), Walter "Pete" Candoli, Robert Fowler, Al Porcino, Ray Triscari (t), Hoyt Bohannon, Lewis "Lew" McCreary, Richard T. "Dick" Nash (tb), Bob Knight (bt), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Stan Levey (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Blues Cross Country Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: April 14, 15, 17 and 19, 1961. May 19, 1961.


Arrangements

1. "Los Angeles Blues"
Peggy Lee's music sheet library contains an arrangement of "Los Angeles Blues." It is uncredited.


Cross-references (Personnel)

For general commentary about the personnel of Lee's April and May 1961 dates, see notes under session dated April 14, 1961.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Benny Carter (as), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Unknown (str), Victor Feldman (p, cel), Shelly Manne (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The If You Go Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 22, 23, 24 and 27, 1961.


Personnel, Sources And Musical Instruments

1. My Choice For Primary Source
For the I You Go sessions, I have put greater trust in the details provided by the Cuscuna and Ruppli texts (Blue Note: A Discography and the Capitol Label Discography). Capitol's Peggy Lee file strikes me as less reliable in this case, both because it offers identical personnel in each session and because it does not identify some of the musicians. Furthermore, I believe that Cuscuna retrieved these sessions' details from the archives at the American Federation of Musicians, which is widely considered the most reliable source for the correct identification of session personnel.

2. Collective Personnel
Capitol's Peggy Lee's session files show the same personnel for all the If You Go album dates: Max Bennett, Dennis Budimir, Victor Feldman, Stan Levey, and Chino Pozo, plus unidentified musicians on flute(s), French horn(s), and strings.

3. Drums
4. Stan Levey
5. Shelly Manne
There are various disagreements between my main sources for the personnel of these album sessions. The most notable disagreement pertains to the drummer listed in each source: Stan Levey in Capitol's Peggy Lee session file, Shelly Manne in Michael Cuscuna and Michel Ruppli's Blue Note: A Discography.

6. Celeste
This instrument is plated only on "When I Was A Child."


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
Credit to Quincy Jones for this session's arrangements is based on the existence of copies under his name in Peggy Lee's music sheet library.


Masters

1. "When I Was A Child"
Capitol's inventory of masters identifies "When I Was A Child" (master #36071) as a remake. None of my other sources do.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Benny Carter (as), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Unknown (str), Victor Feldman (p), Shelly Manne (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The If You Go Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 22, 23, 24 and 27, 1961.


Masters And Cross-references

1. "My Guitar"
For the version of "My Guitar" that was issued in the album Guitars Ala Lee, see session dated July 18, 1966. For yet a third version of "My Guitar," see session dated June 24, 1961.


Songs And Issues

1. "Deep Purple"
2. An Unreleased Album?
In his liner notes for the Peggy Lee album that is part of Time-Life's "Legendary Singers" series, Gene Lees writes that the session from which the song "Deep Purple" originated was made "for an album that was never completed." Since the session that contains "Deep Purple" is this one, and since its two other songs were issued in the LP If You Go, there seems to have been a misunderstanding on Lees' part, or on his sources.


Personnel And Cross-references

1. Divergent Sources
For details about discrepancies in the personnel listed by my various If You Go sources, see notes under previous session.

2. Benny Carter
Benny Carter participates in the first two masters from this date; there is no indication that he played in the session's hitherto unissued version of "My Guitar."


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
Credit to Quincy Jones for two of this session's arrangements is based on the existence of copies under his name in Peggy Lee's music sheet library.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Justin Gordon, Jules Kinsler, Theodore Nash aka Theodore Nash, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (f), Tommy Pederson aka Pullman Pederson, George Roberts, Frank Rosolino (tb), John Cave, James "Jim" Decker, Vincent DeRosa, Richard "Dick" Perissi (frh), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Victor Feldman (p, vib), Shelly Manne (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The If You Go Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 22, 23, 24 and 27, 1961.


Personnel And Cross-references

1. Divergent Sources
On the matter of the full personnel who played during the If You Go sessions, my main sources show various disagreements. For details, see notes under the first of the sessions dated June 22, 1961.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
Copies of this session's two arrangements exist in Peggy Lee's music sheet library. Both copies are credited to Quincy Jones.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Justin Gordon, Jules Kinsler, Theodore Nash aka Theodore Nash, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (f), Tommy Pederson aka Pullman Pederson, George Roberts, Frank Rosolino (tb), John Cave, James "Jim" Decker, Vincent DeRosa, Richard "Dick" Perissi (frh), Dennis Budimir (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Victor Feldman (p, vib), Shelly Manne (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The If You Go Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 22, 23, 24 and 27, 1961.


Masters And Alternate Takes

1. "Here's That Rainy Day"
Two takes of "Here's That Rainy Day" have been commercially issued. Differences between them might not be readily apparent, but careful, repeat listening will reveal different phrasing in some lines -- most notably in "where is that worn-out wish that I threw aside." Of the two, the master remains the superior version. My thanks to Steve Dodd for alerting me to the existence of the alternate.

2. "Farewell To Arms"
Two main takes of "Farewell To Arms" are extant in Capitol's vaults. Take #9 contains both the verse and the choruses. Take #14 contains the choruses only. The choruses heard in take #9 are actually very well sung, but Lee and producer Cavanaugh might have been unhappy with a couple of tiny details, such as her elongated sibilant in the word "so," towards the end of the number. (In take #14, there is no such elongation.)

So far released only in the CD Rare Gems And Hidden Treasures, the master of "Farewell To Arms" appears to be a composite of those two takes.


Personnel And Cross-references

1. Divergent Sources
On the matter of the full personnel who played during the If You Go sessions, my main sources show various disagreements. For details, see notes under the first of the sessions dated June 22, 1961.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
Copies of three of this session's arrangements were kept by Peggy Lee in her music sheet library. Quincy Jones is credited in all three of them. The library also has an arrangement of "Farewell To Arms," but it bears no author credit.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Justin Gordon, Theodore Nash aka Theodore Nash (f), Benny Carter (as), Dennis Budimir, Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Victor Feldman (vib), Shelly Manne (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo, Ray Rivera (cng), Mike Gutierrez, Melvin "Mel" Zelnick (per), Peggy Lee (v)

The If You Go Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 22, 23, 24 and 27, 1961.


Masters, Dating, Sources And Cross-references

1. "My Guitar" [Masters #36074 And #36086]
My sources are in disagreement about the number of masters of "My Guitar" that were recorded during the If You Go sessions. Capitol's session file lists only one, recorded on June 22 and numbered 36074. The Capitol Label Discography lists two, the one from June 22 and another labeled a remake, which is listed under June 24. Both dates' performances are identified as master #36074.

A third and more reliable source serves as a corrective to the claims made by the other two sources mentioned. An inventory of Capitol's masters confirms that the company's vault holds versions of "My Guitar" from both June 22 and 24 but deny that they have the same master number: the version from June 24 is numbered 36086, not 36074.

Incidentally, notice that Capitol owns yet another Peggy Lee master of "My Guitar," though it is not part of the If You Go sessions. Recorded on July 18, 1966, this third master was made for the album Guitars Ala Lee.

2. "I Get Along Without You Very Well" [Master #36084]
Once again, my sources are in disagreement about masters that were recorded during the If You Go sessions. Capitol's session file lists only one recording date for "I Get Along Without You Very Well" (June 27) but the Capitol Label Discography lists two, June 24 and June 27, 1961. The performance that resulted from the later date is identified as a remake.

Capitol's inventory of masters lists "I Get Along Without You Very Well" only under June 27, thereby corroborating the information given in the session file. But the inventory introduces a new discrepancy: the date that it gives to "I Get Along Without You Very Well" is neither June 24 nor June 27 but August 14, 1961. I am inclined to think that this third date is a typographical mistake made by the author of the inventory.

I have decided to list "I Get Along Without You Very Well" only under the June 27 session. Unless I find verification that a June 24 performance is also extant, I have no intention to ever enter master #36084 in the present session.

3. Numerical Sequence
For what is worth, notice that there is a break or a "reversal" in the numerical sequence of this and the next session's masters: from 36086, 36087 and 36096, the numbers go not up but down to 36083 and 36084. This relatively unusual numerical break, along with the comments that I just made about "My Guitar" and "I Get Along Without You Very Well," raises suspicions about the accuracy and completeness of the data available for these two sessions at issue. See also related comments under next session.


Personnel And Cross-references

1. Divergent Sources
On the matter of the full personnel who played during the If You Go sessions, my main sources show various disagreements. For details, see notes under the first of the sessions dated June 22, 1961.


Arrangements

1. Sources
Peggy Lee's sheet music library contains arrangements of "Say It Isn't So" and "Maybe It's Because (I Love You Too Much)" but neither one names an author.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Quincy Jones (con), Justin Gordon, Richard T. "Dick" Nash (f), Dennis Budimir, Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Victor Feldman (vib), Shelly Manne (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo, Ray Rivera (bo, cng), Mike Gutierrez, Melvin "Mel" Zelnick (per), Peggy Lee (v)

The If You Go Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: June 22, 23, 24 and 27, 1961.


Masters, Dating And Cross-references

1. "I Get Along Without You Very Well" [Master #36084]
See comments about this master under previous session.

2. Breaks In The Numerical Sequence Of Masters And Sessions
Notice that the master numbers of this session and the preceding one break from the ascending numerical sequence. For additional comments on this matter, see notes under previous date.

The sessions' numerical sequence is broken, too. Whereas the previous If You Go sessions follow the usual ascending order (#10152, #10154, #10160, #10161), this session descends to #10157.

The correct explanation for those numerical breaks might simply be that producer Cavanaugh retrieved older master numbers (and an old session number) that had been left unused and were thus still available to him.

I am still left to ponder, however, if any of these If You Go sessions bear a wrong date, or if there is some other type of error in the extant data.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Quincy Jones
Copies of session's arrangements were kept by Peggy Lee in her music sheet library. Both copies credit Quincy Jones as their author.


Cross-references (Personnel)

1. Divergent Sources
On the matter of the full personnel who played during the If You Go sessions, my main sources show various disagreements. For details, see notes under the first of the sessions dated June 22, 1961.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Benny Carter (con), Justin Gordon (r), Conrad Gozzo, Al Porcino, Clarence "Shorty" Sherock, Ray Triscari (t), Milt Bernhart, George Roberts, Tom Shepard, Kenny Shroyer (tb), Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Emil Richards, aka Emil Radocchia (vib, per), Mel Lewis (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (per), Peggy Lee (v)

The Sugar 'N' Spice Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: March 28 and 31, 1962. April 2 and 4, 1962.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Billy Byers
2. Benny Carter
The Capitol Jazz CD Sugar 'N' Spice collectively lists two men, Billy Byers and Benny Carter, as this session's arrangers. Corroboration that Benny Carter arranged "I Believe In You" comes from Ed Berger's Benny Carter: A Life In American Music, and also from the copy of his arrangement that Peggy Lee kept in her sheet music library.

As for Billy Byers, potential corroboration of his involvement also comes from an arrangement of "Ain't That Love," credited to him, in Lee's library. (I call it "potential corroboration" because I do not know if the library's arrangement truly is the same one used in the album Sugar 'N' Spice, although I presume it to be.)

3. Shorty Rogers
Lee's library has an arrangement of "See See Rider," too. It is credited to neither Byers nor Carter, nevertheless, but to Shorty Rogers.

I am tentatively assuming that the album's arrangement of "See See Rider" is the same one found in the singer's library, even though the CD Sugar 'N' Spice makes no mention of Shorty Rogers' involvement in this particular session. (The CD does credit Rogers, however, with arrangements for another of the album's sessions. See April 2, 1962.)

4. "Loads Of Love"
There is no arrangement of "Loads of Love" in Lee's library. If the CD's collective credits are to be applied to all songs, either Byers or Carter would need to be credited. Then again, "Loads Of Love" could very well be a head arrangement.


Masters And Dating

1. "I Believe In You" [Master #37395]
The Capitol Jazz Discography lists master #37395 under two 1962 sessions (March 28 and 30, 1962) and calls the version from the later session a remake. As in previous instances, I have abstained from entering the same master number twice. (I will alter this practice only if I ever find evidence that both the earlier performance and the remake are extant. So far, no such evidence has been forthcoming in any of these instances.)


Personnel

1. Source
My source for this session's personnel is the discographical data included in the Capitol Jazz CD Sugar 'n' Spice. I believe that the CD's data was transcribed from the session's report at AFM, and is thus highly reliable. As for Peggy Lee's session file, no personnel is listed under this date.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), John Kraus (eng), Benny Carter (con), Benny Carter and Orchestra (acc), Harry Klee (f, af), Jack Sheldon (t), Unknown (c), Herb Ellis, Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Mel Lewis (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Mink Jazz And I'm A Woman Album Sessions (Cross-references)

One song from this session was originally issued in the album Mink Jazz and another in the album I'm A Woman.

Mink Jazz Dates: March 29 and 30, 1962. February 2, 5, 6 and 7, 1963.
I'm A Woman Dates: November 14, 1962. January 2, 3, 4 and 5, 1963. March 29, 1962.


Personnel And Musical Instruments

1. Jack Sheldon
The Capitol Jazz CD Mink Jazz is the only source that lists trumpet player Jack Sheldon as part of this and the next session. (My other sources do not list him as part of this date, but they do list him in the three later Mink Jazz sessions, all from 1963.) There are various reasons why I have trusted the CD's claim that Sheldon is present. One of them is that I hear a muted yet prominent trumpet in both "Please Don't Rush Me" and "I'll Get By." See also next session's notes.

2. Chino Pozo
In the CD Mink Jazz, percussionist Chino Pozo is included as one of this session's players, but in Capitol's session file he is not listed among the participants.

I believe that the Capitol Jazz CD is the source in error: because Pozo was definitely part of other Mink Jazz sessions, the CD's discographer incorrectly and inadvertently added the percussionist to this date as well. Granted that drums play a prominent role in one of the date's three songs --"Please, Don't Rush Me" -- chances are that drummer Mel Lewis was the only member in charge of percussion during that number and throughout the session.

A third source contains a telling note that further tips the balance against the Capitol Jazz CD. In the back cover of the original album issue (Capitol LP #1850), it is stated that Pozo was out on this date and back on the next day.

3. Harry Klee
4. Instruments (Flute, Alto Flute, Trumpet)
Whereas Capitol's session file identifies the instrument played by Harry Klee as a trumpet, the CD Mink Jazz stipulates that he's playing flute (and alto flute) in this session.


Arrangements And Arrangers

1. Benny Carter
The Capitol CD Mink Jazz gives a collective personnel in which Benny Carter is listed as arranger of all of this session's numbers. In Peggy Lee's sheet music library, there is one arrangement of "I'll Get By," and it is indeed by Carter. But her library has no arrangements of the other songs, which seem to have used head arrangements. I have thus abstained from crediting Carter for any of these arrangements, the only exception being "I'll Get By."

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), John Kraus (eng), Benny Carter (con), Benny Carter and Orchestra (acc), Justin Gordon (f, ts), Jack Sheldon (t), Herb Ellis, Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Mel Lewis (d), Francisco "Chino" Pozo (per), Peggy Lee (v)

The Mink Jazz Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: March 29 and 30, 1962. February 2, 5, 6 and 7, 1963.


Arrangements And Arrangers

1. Benny Carter
The Capitol CD Mink Jazz gives a collective personnel in which Benny Carter is named as this session's arranger. Corroboration arguably exists in the case of only one song: Peggy Lee kept in her music sheet library an arrangement of "I Didn't Find Love" which is indeed credited to Carter.

The library also has copies of the arrangements for the session's other three numbers, but no arranger is credited by name in them. Since I have abstained from blindly trusting collective credits throughout this discography, I have given credit to Carter only for the arrangement of "I Didn't Find Love."


Masters And Dating

1. "I Believe In You" [Master #37395]
The Capitol Jazz Discography lists "I Believe In You" under two 1962 sessions (March 28 and 30) and calls the version from the later session a remake. Both versions are given the same master number. As in previous instances where the same pattern is shown, I have refrained from entering the same master twice, particularly because I have found no indication that the original version was preserved. (My general assumption is that, once the remake was recorded and deemed satisfactory, the earlier version was scrapped. In order to confirm or deny this assumption of mine, an aural inspection of the session tapes would of course be necessary.)

2. "I Never Had A Chance"
Mysteriously, the master take of "I Never Had A Chance" is identified as #2 in some Capitol documents, as #3 in others.


Personnel

1. Jack Sheldon
My two main sources for the presence of Jack Sheldon in this session are the book Blue Note: A Discography (by Michael Cuscuna & Michel Ruppli) and the Capitol Jazz CD Mink Jazz, which was also produced by Cuscuna. Sheldon is not listed, on the other hand, in Capitol's session file. See also notes under session dated March 29, 1962.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Benny Carter (con), Justin Gordon (r), Conrad Gozzo, Al Porcino, Clarence "Shorty" Sherock, Ray Triscari (t), Milt Bernhart, Billy Byers, Kenny Shroyer (tb), Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Emil Richards, aka Emil Radocchia (vib, per), Mel Lewis (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Sugar 'N' Spice Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: March 28 and 31, 1962. April 2 and 4, 1962.


Arrangements

1. Benny Carter
The Capitol Jazz CD Sugar 'N' Spice credits all of this session's arrangements to Benny Carter, who also conducted the date. As usual, I have distrusted such a collective credit, all the more so since there is no corroboration for it. Ed Berger's discography of Benny Carter lists none of these arrangements. In Peggy Lee's sheet music library, there are arrangements for two of the songs, but men other than Carter receive authorship credit: Billy May for "Big Bad Bill" and Quincy Jones for "The Best Is Yet To Come." (The library holds no arrangement of "Tell All The World About You.") Hence I am assuming that, because Carter was the session's conductor, Capitol automatically and erroneously listed him as the arranger of the songs. I am tentatively trusting the library's credits. (The tentativeness is due to the fact that, because I have not listened to the library's arrangements, I cannot fully guarantee that they are the same ones heard in the album.)


Masters And Dating

1. "I Believe In You" [Master #37395]
The Capitol Jazz Discography lists "I Believe In You" under two 1962 sessions (March 28 and 31) and gives to the two performances the same master number. Meanwhile, Lee's session file lists it only under one of the sessions. For details about my policy when there are two alleged performances with the same master number, see relevant note under previous session.


Personnel

1. Chino Pozo
According to the discographical notes found in the Capitol Jazz CD Sugar 'N' Spice, percussionist Chino Pozo played on an earlier album date (March 28, 1962) but not on this one. On the other hand, the Capitol Label Discography lists Chino Pozo as one of two percussionists on this date.

The probable reason why the makers of the Capitol Label Discography included Pozo in both March 28 and 31 sessions is that -- under a rationale that I have already explained above -- they list master #37395 ("I Believe In You") under both dates. In this discography, I have placed "I Believe In You" only under the earlier date; thus I have not added Pozo to personnel of this session.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Benny Carter (con), John Cave, Willard Culley, Vincent DeRosa, Sinclair Lott (frh), Clarence Karella (tu), Al Hendrickson (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Mel Lewis (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Sugar 'N' Spice Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: March 28 and 31, 1962. April 2 and 4, 1962.


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Billy Byers
2. Benny Carter
3. Billy May
4. Shorty Rogers
The Capitol Jazz CD Sugar 'N' Spice collectively names Billy Byers, Billy May and Shorty Rogers as the arrangers of this session's numbers.

On the other hand, Peggy Lee's sheet music library credits Billy May with each of the arrangements from this session, except for "I'll Be Around," whose author is identified as Benny Carter. In the case of "Amazing," credit to Billy May is also given in the back cover of the LP Extra Special!.

Since the CD's credits are collective and therefore leave unclear which man wrote which arrangement, I am putting more trust in the more specific credits provided by Lee's library -- at least until additional information comes forth.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh (pdr), Benny Carter (con), Bill Green, Paul Horn (r), Al Porcino, Uan Rasey, Jack Sheldon, Ray Triscari (t), Milt Bernhart, Billy Byers, Tom Shepard, Kenny Shroyer (tb), Herb Ellis (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Lou Levy (p), Mel Lewis, Francisco "Chino" Pozo (d), Peggy Lee (v)

The Sugar 'N' Spice Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: March 28 and 31, 1962. April 2 and 4, 1962.


Songs And Songwriters

1. "Embrasse Moi"
2. Aimé Barelli
3. Peggy Lee
"Embrasse Moi" has lyrics in English that Peggy Lee wrote to a melody by French composer, trumpet player and bandleader Aimé Barelli. With a French lyric written by Marcel Argenon, the song was recorded in 1960 by Barelli's wife, Lucienne Delyle. (There are some sources which state that the French lyrics were co-written by Gerard Gustin and Michel Cassez, both of whom collaborated often with Barelli. But Argenon is named as the author of the French lyrics in most sources, including ASCAP.)

In the Capitol Jazz CD Sugar 'N' Spice, the songwriters credited for "Embrasse Moi" are Barelli and, mysteriously, someone named Larne. Since Marcel Argenon wrote under the pseudonym "Jacques Larue," Capitol Jazz may have actually made a typo in writing "Larne." More alarmingly, the track lister of the Capitol Jazz CD failed to credit Peggy Lee herself.

The original Sugar 'N' Spice issue (Capitol LP #1772) credits Aimé Barelli and Peggy Lee -- not Marcel Argenon or the aforementioned 'Larne.'


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Billy May
2. Billy Byers
3. Benny Carter
The Capitol Jazz CD Sugar 'N' Spice identifies both Billy Byers and Benny Carter as this session's arrangers but doesn't detail which numbers were arranged by either man. Hence I have given more credence to other sources, in which specifics are supplied.

Billy Byers is credited with an arrangement of "The Sweetest Sounds" extant at Peggy Lee's sheet music library.

The singer's library also has two arrangements of "I've Got The World On A String," and one of them is indeed by Byers. Billy May authored the other one. Since I have not consulted the library's actual scores, I can only assume, tentatively, that the Byers arrangement is the one used in this session. The May arrangement may be the one that Lee sang in the 1950s, on radio, with May backing her.

The library also contains arrangements of "I Don't Wanna Leave You Now" and "Embrasse Moi" but neither identifies an author, unfortunately.

As for Benny Carter -- the other arranger credited by the Capitol Jazz CD -- I have found no sources that can vouch for his involvement. However, lack of sources should not be taken as an absolute dismissal of possible authorship. Chances are that an undetermined quantity of Carter's arrangements remains unidentified and therefore, yet to be properly credited. Lee's versions of "I Don't Wanna Leave You Now" and "Embrasse Moi" could be among those.


Issues

1. The Album Sugar 'N' Spice In The Music Charts [LP]
Peggy Lee's 11th album chart entry made its debut during the week of November 17, 1962. It peaked at #40 and spent 21 weeks in Billboard's album chart.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Cavanaugh, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller (pdr), Benny Carter (con), Gene Quill (as), John Pisano (g), Max K. Bennett (b), Mike Melvoin (p), Stan Levey (per), Peggy Lee (v)

The 1960-1962 Singles Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: July 26, 1960. September 1, 1960. May 19, 1961. November 14, 1962. These were the only singles sessions that Peggy Lee held between 1960 and 1962. (Of course, there were various other Lee singles that were released during this period. But the songs on those singles were taken from her album sessions, and were thus partially meant to support those albums, rather than being fully considered as 'stand-alones.' A partial exception can be found in the album session dated March 24, 1962, where one of the masters was issued as a single only; the single's flip side was issued in both formats.)


The I'm A Woman Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: November 14, 1962. January 2, 3, 4 and 5, 1963. March 29, 1962. It is not known whether the success of this session's main song led to the recording of the album, or whether, due to that very success, this song was tagged to (and turned into the leading track of) an already planned album.


The Recording Session

The song "I'm A Woman" was brought to producer Dave Cavanaugh by the songwriters themselves, who were hoping that Lee would record it. In the songwriters' autobiography, Mike Stoller writes: "No response. Months passed. By chance I picked up The New Yorker and noticed an item about Peggy Lee at Basin Street East. Benny Carter was her conductor and, according to the reviewer, the highlight of her show was I'm A Woman."

"I went to see her," continues Stoller. "It was freezing cold and the streets were covered with ice. I barely managed to make my way to the club where, halfway through the show, she sang the song ... After the show, I waited outside the dressing room ... Wonderful job, she said sweetly. Lovely song. And that was it. Next morning I called Cavanaugh. A little flustered, he explained that Peggy did indeed like the song and would soon record it, using only a rhythm section, as she had done it in her live show. How about a little more instrumentation?, I urged. How about a trumpet or a sax? Cavanaugh said, Okay, that won't cost too much. We were invited to the session at Capitol's New York studios. We wound up contributing quite a bit. I wrote a horn chart, voicing the alto sax above the trumpet, something I took from Ray Charles' bag of arranging tricks."

At the session, lyricist Jerry Leiber wanted to tell Lee how to sing the lyric. Among other details, he did not want the vocal to be sung on the beat. If his later involvement with other versions of the song is any indication, he probably envisioned "I'm A Woman" as a number to be interpreted in the rough and raspy "roaring blues mama" tradition. Lee was probably more inclined to record the song in the same successful manner in which she had been singing it at Basin Street East -- which is to say, on the beat and in more of a "mellow" (if still "taunting") blues tradition. When Leiber tried to make her sing it his way, she told him in no uncertain terms to mind his own business. "I immediately saw that you could only push this gal so far," writes Leiber. "Her interpretation was too correct ... I didn't get it." Stoller counter-argues: "I got it. The public got it. I'm A Woman was an across the board hit and put Peggy back in business. It even nabbed a Grammy nomination."

"We never once received a call from Cavanaugh to congratulate us. Years later, jazz [pianist] Mike Melvoin told me that on his first day as Peggy's pianist, he was handed a stack of demos and told to pick out anything good. The only thing he liked was I'm A Woman."

For the next chapter of the Lee, Leiber & Stoller saga, see session dated January 24 (& 29), 1969 in this page.


Songs

1. "I'm A Woman" In The Music Charts And At The Grammys
"I'm A Woman" spent nine weeks in Billboard's Hot 100. After entering the chart during the week of January 5, 1963, it peaked at #54. In Cashbox magazine, it peaked at #71 and spent 6 weeks in the chart. For Lee's next chart entry, see session dated June 26, 1964. The song has gone on to become perennially associated with Lee.

On May 15, 1963, it was time for the Grammy's fifth awards ceremony. Almost as a matter of course, it was also time for Ella Fitzgerald's and Peggy Lee's fifth straight year of nominations. In the category of Best Solo Vocal Performance, Female, Lee was nominated for the song "I'm A Woman," Fitzgerald for the album Ella Swings Brightly With Nelson Riddle. This time the field was crowded, with a total of seven nominees. Diahann Carroll, Lena Horne, Ketty Lester, Sandy Stewart and Pat Thomas were the other singers in the category. Fitzgerald held her crown.


Sessions And Masters (Cross-references)

1. Session's Number
Some official documents identify this session as number 8542, whereas other documents, including Capitol's Peggy Lee sessions file, give it the number 10842. The number 8542 definitely belongs to the New York recording session. As for the higher number, I am assuming that it refers to some undetermined extra work undergone by these New York masters when they were brought to LA.

2. "Close Your Eyes"
Peggy Lee recorded "Close Your Eyes" twice, once during this session and once on February 7, 1963. Only the 1963 master has been issued.

Though the same basic approach is common to the two masters, there are significant differences. Most notably, a relatively long trumpet solo plays halfway through this session's version. The endings of the two masters differ from one another, too. Only in this 1962 master does Lee close with the line "rest your head in my shoulder," which she utters right after singing the words "close your eyes" twice.


Personnel And Issues

1. Leiber & Stoller
2. Dave Cavanaugh
Capitol's session file credits only Dave Cavanaugh as producer of this session. Nonetheless, the songwriters of "I'm A Woman" have stated that they had a substantial if mostly uncredited involvement in the production of "I'm A Woman." According to Jerry Leiber, "[w]e were not credited with being producers, but we were invited in the studio with Dave Cavanaugh, and he abdicated his role as an active, hands-on producer to us." According to Mike Stoller, producer Cavanaugh had "planned to record the song with just a rhythm section, as it was being done [by Lee, in concert] at Basin Street East, but I implored him to add a trumpet and an alto sax as I had a specific idea for an arrangement."

3. Max Bennett
4. Stan Levey
The Capitol Label Discography is my source for the inclusion of these two musicians. As for other sources, Capitol's session file does not list the musicians who played at this session, and I have no access, unfortunately, to the AFM session reports.

5. Mike Melvoin
6. John Pisano
7. Gene Quill
My source for the inclusion of these three musicians is co-producer Mike Stoller, who has also corroborated the presence of Max Bennett and Stan Levey. My thanks to Peter Stoller for his kind sharing of his father's comments on this specific matter.

8. Personnel Listed In The Best Of Peggy Lee, The Capitol Years (Blues & Jazz Sessions)
Capitol CD #724382120421 lists the following personnel for its "I'm A Woman" track: Benny Carter And His Orchestra, including Manny Klein, trumpet; Stan Levey, drums; Mike Melvoin, piano; Max Bennett, bass; John Pisano or Al Hendrickson, guitar. I believe that those names are merely educated guesses. Since the Capitol file does not give a personnel for this November 14, 1962 date , the CD's annotator might have assumed that the participating musicians were the same ones who played in the other I'm A Woman album sessions (January 2-5, 1963). Problematic for that assumption are the facts that (a) those other album sessions took place about a month and a half after this one, and (b) the location differed, too (NY for this date, LA for the later ones). Both the timing and the location increase the likelihood that there were changes of personnel between sessions.

That said, there is not much discrepancy between the personnel reported by Mike Stoller and the group of musicians identified (or proposed) in the CD The Best Of Peggy Lee, The Capitol Years (Blues & Jazz Sessions). Only the suggested trumpet player varies: Gene Quill or Manny Klein. Quill is known to have been primarily a New York session player, while Klein was settled in California. Obviously, Mike Stoller's first-witness testimony is the most reliable of the two sources at hand.


Arrangements

1. "I'm A Woman"
2. Benny Carter
3. Mike Stoller
4. Shorty Rogers
5. René Richards
Ed Berger's discography of Benny Carter credits the composer and saxophonist with arranging "I'm A Woman." Carter also receives credit in a copy of the arrangement that Peggy Lee kept in her sheet music library.

During the session, Mike Stoller's minimalist horn chart was added to Carter's original arrangement for rhythm section.

Lee's library has two additional arrangements of "I'm A Woman," one by Shorty Rogers, the other by René Richards.

GENERAL NOTES

Peggy Lee's Artistic Career, 1957-1959; 1960-1962

Popularity: Peggy In The Polls

Statistics: Total Number Of Peggy Lee Masters

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