Peggy Lee's Bio-Discography:
The Atlantic Contract (1974)

Date: April 23, 1974
Location: The Record Plant, 8456 West 3rd St, Los Angeles, Los Angeles
Label: ATLANTIC

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Grusin (pdr, p), Peggy Lee (pdr, v), Phil Schier (eng), Other Individuals Unknown (acc)

The Recording Session

The apparent purpose of this session was the production of a single. However, no single was ever issued. Atlantic was probably more interested in releasing the number that Paul McCartney would be producing for the singer (see session dated first week of June 1974).

Lee's versions of "I Wanna Be Seduced" and "I Am His Lady" were not released until the CD era. Both new at the time of this 1974 recording session, the songs subsequently became known through versions by other singers. In 1975, "I Am His Lady" became a minor, #82 Billboard chart hit for r&b singer Melba Moore, who recorded the song for Buddha Records. The song made another appearance in 1976, as a track from Ernestine Anderson's first Concord Jazz album. "I Wanna Be Seduced" was recorded by Leon Redbone for the soundtrack of Richard Dreyfuss' 1978 movie The Big Fix, then sung live by Dreyfuss himself in a televised Saturday Night Live appearance. Redbone re-recorded it for his 1981 album From Branch To Branch. In more recent times, singer Mary Coughlan has also recorded and performed it.


Photos

Two photos of the 2003 Rhino Handmade CD on which this session's songs were issued for the very first time. The disc actually contains Lee's entire output for the Atlantic label (plus one song from a 1970s movie soundtrack).


Songs

1. "I Am His Lady"
2. "Runnin' Like A River"
Atlantic's record files incorrectly list "I Am His Lady" under the title "Runnin' Like A River," which is actually the first line of the song's lyric.


Songwriters

1. Who Composed "I Wanna Be Seduced"?
Various sources mistakenly credit Peggy Lee as the songwriter of "I Wanna Be Seduced." Gary Tigerman, the actual songwriter, was a staff writer for Warner at the time of this session. The error has made its way into the otherwise excellent CD Rhino Handmade #7853.


Personel

1. David T. Walker
The guitar work in the above-listed master of "Let's Love" strongly suggests the working hand of David T. Walker. His presence has actually been officially confirmed for the next Atlantic session (late April 1974). Therefore, the chances that Walker was also present at this April 23 date are very good. My thanks to fellow discographer James Accardi for pointing out the similarity to me.


Masters, Dating And Cross-references

1. "Let's Love"
This master of "Let's Love" (the earliest of three) is not listed in Michel Ruppli's catalogue of Atlantic masters, which is one of my main sources for Lee's Atlantic sessions. Information about the master comes only from Paul Grein's liner notes for Rhino Handmade CD #7853: "Lee and Grusin also produced a version of Let's Love that is slower and more languid than the one that [Paul] McCartney oversaw. They recorded it in April, before they were sure that McCartney would be able to find time to produce the song."

Notice that Grein's quote gives the month, but does not give the exact day on which the song was recorded. Until more specific information comes along, and thus as a temporary measure, I have incorporated this Lee-Grusin version of "Let's Love" in this April 23 session. For the other two versions of "Let's Love," see session dated first week of June 1, 1974.


Arrangements

Preserved in Peggy Lee's sheet music library are the arrangements for the three above-entered numbers. In all of them, Dave Grusin is identified as the arranger.

Date: Late April, 1974
Location: The Record Plant (8456 West 3rd St.) & Westlake Audio (possibly 7265 Santa Monica Boulevard), LA , Los Angeles
Label: ATLANTIC

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Grusin (pdr, con, p, fen, snt, per), Peggy Lee (pdr, v), Phil Schier (eng), Erno Neufeld (ccm), Pete Christlieb (f, ts), Jerome Richardson (ss, as, bar), Charles "Chuck" Findley (t), Frank Rosolino (tb), Vincent DeRosa (frh), Gene Cipriano (o), Dennis Budimir, Dan Ferguson, Lee Ritenour, David T. Walker (g), Chuck Rainey (b), Unknown (str), George Gaffney (p), Dick Borden (d), Harvey Mason (d, per), Bobbye Hall (cng), Jim Gilstrap, Joe Green, Marti McCall, Jackie Ward, Edna Wright (bkv)

The Let's Love Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: Late April and early June 1974.


Photos

Above: serving as promotion for the Peggy Lee album Let's Love, this ad was placed by Atlantic Records on music trade magazines. Also in view is the front cover of the LP itself. (The album contains all the songs listed under this present, all-encompassing June 1974 session.) Below: front covers of three of the items discussed under the Collectors' Corner section.


Dating

The sources at my reach give different dates to the nine songs listed in this session:

July 17, 1974
This is the one date assigned to all twelve album masters in Atlantic's masters file. My source for the date is not the file itself but Michel Ruppli's book Atlantic Records: A Discography (Greenwood Press, 1979). Lee's recording of so many songs on the same day is highly unlikely. Instead, the 17th may have been the day on which all performances were assigned a master, and/or were sequenced for the album. Another possibility, albeit an unlikelier one: July 17 could have been the first of various consecutive days during which the sessions took place.

April 1974
This is the date given in the booklet of Rhino Handmade CD #7853. Both the discographical notes and the essay in the booklet identify April 1974 as the recording period. I assume that the creators of Rhino Handmade CD #7853 retrieved this dating from an Atlantic file different from the one consulted by Ruppli.

In the absence of any further specifics or additional sources, I have chosen April over July. Given the circumstances already explained, my choice should be deemed tentative.


Location And Masters

1. Remixes
This session's performances were recorded at the Record Plant Studio, then remixed at Westlake Studios. The exact studio on which the remixing took place is unknown to me. If in existence at the time, Production Suite would fit the bill best. In current times, the suite is advertised as "perfect for vocal tracking, songwriting, overdubs, and mixing." The location appears to be 7265 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, which also encompasses studio C, D, and E. (The address for studios A and B is 8447 Beverly Boulevard, LA). Also unknown to me: whether Lee attended the remixing sessions. The likelihood that she did is heightened by her credit as a co-producer of the album.


Personnel

1. Erno Neufeld
Erno Neufeld arranged and conducted the of strings only.

2. Dick Borden
3. George Gaffney
The two above-listed musicians played only on "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" and "Always."

4. Background vocals
Background vocals are heard on "He Is The One," "You Make Me Feel Brand New," and "Sweet Lov'liness" only.

5. Vocal Overdub
On "Sweet Talk," and in the main, titular line of "Easy Evil," the female serving as background vocalist seems to be Peggy Lee herself, her voice overdubbed.


Arrangements

1. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight"
"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" was adapted by Peggy Lee and Dave Grusin from an arrangement by Artie Butler.

2. Dave Grusin
The back cover of the LP Let's Love identifies Dave Grusin as the arranger (or, in the case of "Don't Let Me Be Lonely," co-arranger) of all the performances in the album, except for "Let's Love." Furthermore, the album's scores are extant in Peggy Lee's sheet music library; all of them indeed credit Grusin as the arranger.





Collectors' Corner

1. Amemos [LP]
A Peggy Lee album by the title of Amemos is actually a Spanish pressing of the LP Let's Love. Although I myself have not come across physical copies of this Spanish pressing, I have seen photos of its cover online. Except for the title in Spanish, the cover is identical to the American original. The catalogue number that I have seen for it online (Gemma Gx 01 750) is probably erroneous; perhaps it points to an auction at the music website Gemm.

2. Atlantic #3215 [45]
A collectible photo of Peggy Lee graces the front cover of Atlantic single #3215. Although it is the same photo featured in the cover of the album Let's Love, this shot is at a closer range, and thus offers viewers a better look at the singer's face and at the microphone that she is holding.

3. Atlantic #10545 [45]
4. Atlantic #105727 [45]
Generally, this sessionography omits foreign singles which have an identical American original counterpart. (I have listed all such 'omissions' under the Miscellanea section of this discography.) In the case of French Atlantic single #10545, I have entered it in this sessionography for two reasons. The main one is that, although it does feature the same song ("Let's Love") as its American counterpart on one side, on the flip side it features a different number.

The second reason pertains to its sleeve: it is different from the American one, and thus collectible. The front features no photo; it is just a blue background, blank except for the singer's name in white and the words "let's love" in pink. The back includes, on the other hand, the same photo used on the front cover of the LP, though reprinted in very small size. (For a look at a reproduction of this French sleeve, front and back, see the booklet of Rhino Handmade CD #7853.)

I have also seen online photos of German Atlantic single #105727. It shows no significant variations from the American counterpart.

5. Atlantic P 1347A [45]
Another collectible of potential interest to fans of both Lee and McCartney is the Japanese Atlantic single P 1347A: its back cover shows a photo of Peggy Lee and Paul McCartney at the piano. That photo is not found in the American and French counterparts of the single. Otherwise, aside from the photo on the back and the language on the sleeve, the Japanese single shows no major differences with the American original.

Date: June 3-5, 1974
Location: Studio C, The Record Plant, The Record Plant, 8456 West 3rd St, Los Angeles, Los Angeles
Label: ATLANTIC

Paul McCartney (pdr, p), Alan Parsons, Pat Stapley (eng), Other Individuals Unknown (acc), Unknown (str, wds), Peggy Lee (v)

The Let's Love Album Sessions (Cross-references)

Dates: Late April and early June 1974.


Dating

The sources available to me offer two possible dates for this session's masters (and also for all masters on Atlantic LP #18108): early June 1974 (according to Rhino Handmade CD #7853) or July 17, 1974 (according to Michel Ruppli's Atlantic Records: A Discography). I have chosen the date offered by the Rhino Handmade CD, in which liner annotator Paul Grein states: [Paul] McCartney produced the backing track for "Let's Love" at Abbey Road studios in London on May 18. The first week of June, he recorded Lee's vocal at the Record Plant. Atlantic invited some press people to a photo and playback session.. The CD's discographical notes give the early June dating as well.

One of Grein's sources is clearly an article titled "The Generation Bridge," published by Zoo World magazine on July 18, 1974. Len Epand, the article's writer, mentions that Lee and McCartney were producing the song one day the first week of June. Within the Beatles fan community, experts in McCartniana have pinpointed the dating more specifically, circumscribing it to one of three possible days -- the third, fourth, or fifth of the month of June. I can add that a June 8, 1974 article in Radio World magazine states that "Pal and Linda McCartney will arrive in los Angeles June 3 to begin a series of meetings. While in Los Angeles, McCartney expects to pay a visit to the studios where Peggy Lee is currently recording her new album."

For further details about the date not chosen, see notes under session dated April 1974. Note that such a date (July 17, 1974) is much too close to the publication date of the aforementioned magazine and testimonial (July 18, 1974).





At The Recording Session

According to a Lee assistant who attended this session, McCartney and Lee's cordial relationship became momentarily tense. As retold by the Lee biographer who interviewed the assistant: "[o]n April 23, 1974 [sic], McCartney arrived at a Hollywood recording studio. He had brought along Linda and a finished back up track for Let's Love on which he played piano. Lee still didn't like singing to a pre-recorded band ..."

The biographer then adds that the assistant "saw the singer's stifled annoyance when McCartney directed her, within full earshot of everyone, 'Peggy, do that again. You didn't do it right. I think it would be better this way. She didn't like that.' But she sang [the] song with a broad smile in her voice, and at the end of the date Lee was in her glory as she and McCartney stood by the piano and led a teeming press conference."

The biographer's retelling might contain a slight conflation of two related events -- the recording session and the gathering that possibly took place either shortly afterwards. Allowing for that assumption is the aforementioned Zoo World testimonial from journalist Len Epand. To quote: "after a day's work ... Paul ... and Peggy ... held a mini press conference/photo session around Studio C’s grand piano. In high spirits, they casually sang a couple of songs together, elaborated on their surprising collaboration and then took the small mob into the control room to hear the finished track." The phrase after a day's work can certainly be taken as an implication that Lee and McCartney had spent the earlier hours of that day either recording or remixing the song (or so Epand had understood).

On the matter of Lee's momentary, alleged exasperation at McCartney's instructions, her perceived reaction rings true to character. There are several other accounts of the female singer's mortified reaction whenever somebody, usually male, tried to tell her how to sing at one of her own sessions. But the moment of exasperation must have been fleeting. Asked about McCartney in 1975, during an interview with the magazine Record World, she responded, "[h]e couldn’t be nicer. And Linda’s a doll too. They’re really very nice, nice people

Those of us who are fans of both McCartney and Lee are fortunate that she acquiesced in this instance, thereby giving us the version of the song that he wanted ... but not before having already waxed for us the version of the song that she preferred. For her more individualized, bluesier take, consult session dated April 23, 1974. Thus we count with both artists' perspectives on the same notable number.


Photos

All the pictures above were taken at the aforementioned press conference and playback session, during which Peggy Lee and Paul McCartney entertained music journalists with their performance of two songs (according to Len Epand), along with cordial answers to many of their questions. In addition to the two singing artists (seen in all four shots), the two photos right above feature producer Dave Grusin (sporting an eyeglasses-plus-mustache look) and two other men whose identity has not been revealed to me. (The man by the door looks like Alan Parsons. If his identity were to be confirmed, there would be room to speculate that the sitting man is the session's other engineer, Pat Stapley.) Below: amply disseminated photos of Peggy Lee in performance in 1974. Month, site, and occasion are unknown to me. Part of her attire seems to be the same one that she wore at the press conference with McCartney. It is thus possible that these pictures come from either that press conference or any event which might have taken place during these early days of June. Some of these photos were included in the press kits for Lee's next albums, as well as in her touring books.


Masters

1. "Let's Love"
As already mentioned, Lee's vocal was sung to a track pre-recorded by Paul McCartney on May 18, 1974 in London's Abbey Studios.





Songs

1. "Let's Love" In The Music Charts
The song "Let's Love" was Peggy Lee's 70th and last entry in Billboard's song charts. She had made her debut with "I Got It Bad" in 1941, when she was part of The Benny Goodman Orchestra. Her first entry as a solo artist was, according to Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954, "Waitin' For The Train To Come In" in 1945.

"Let's Love" peaked at #22 in Billboard's Easy Listening chart during the week of November 2, 1974. (At number one was John Denver, with "Back Home Again.") "Let's Love" also charted in the Contemporary Adult chart of Canada's RPM Weekly, where it peaked at #41 in the December 21, 1974 issue.

2. "Let's Love (Reprise)"
This so-called reprise, actually an edit, consists of a couple of choruses plus the closing line from master #29425.

3. "Let's Love" (Cross-references)
For an earlier performance of the song "Let's Love," see session dated April 23, 1974, including notes.


Songwriters

1. Paul & Linda McCartney
All issues containing the song "Let's Love" list Paul McCartney as its sole author. However, ASCAP lists both Paul and his first wife, Linda McCartney.

The aforementioned article by Epand indicates that the song was originally brought to Lee by the couple as a dinner present while she was in London. In another article ("Peggy Lee: A Consummate Artist," published by Record World Magazine on December 27, 1975), Lee retells the story, but links the writing specifically to Paul: "When he got to the hotel he said that rather than bring champagne or roses, he was writing a song for me. And it was almost complete, maybe two bars left to write. Then they [i.e., Linda and Paul] came to California and they were at my house for dinner, so he played it for me."

I have chosen to trust ASCAP's online database in this instance, even though detection of several errors in a few other instances have made me wary. Hence Linda McCartney's name has been added to the list of songwriters above. (I'd rather err not on the side of omission, but on the side of addition. Corrections from anyone better informed on this matter would be appreciated.)

Date: June 7, 1974
Location: The Record Plant, The Record Plant, 8456 West 3rd St, Los Angeles, Los Angeles
Label: ATLANTIC

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Grusin (pdr, p), Peggy Lee (pdr, v, spk), Other Individuals Unknown (acc)

Photos

More takes from the same photo shoot that generated the picture on the back cover of the album Let's Love. The second of these graced the front cover of the gay-oriented magazine After Dark (June 1974 issue).


Songs

1. "The Nickel Ride"
This song comes from the 1974 Twentieth Century-Fox movie The Nickel Ride, which was scored by Dave Grusin. However, Lee's lyrics are not heard in the movie soundtrack. Perhaps she wrote them after the movie had been already produced, or perhaps she did write them for inclusion in the movie, but they were not used.


Dating

As is the case with previously entered Atlantic sessions, two possible recording dates are in contention for this session: June 7, 1974 (the date found in Michel Ruppli's Atlantic Records: A Discography) and April 1974 (the month on which, according to Rhino Handmade CD #7853, Lee recorded all her Atlantic numbers, except for the McCartney-produced song "Let's Love").

Until further information becomes available, I am choosing the more specific date (June 7, 1974) over the collective one (April 1974). My choice relies chiefly on a presumed correlation between dates and master sequence: since the master number for "The Nickel Ride" is higher than the numbers assigned to Lee's other Atlantic masters, there is a good chance than this performance was recorded much later than the others. In any case, this session's dating should be deemed tentative.


Arrangements

1. Dave Grusin
Dave Grusin's arrangement of "The Nickel Ride" is extant, under his name, in Peggy Lee's sheet music library.