The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography:
The Capitol Years, Part I (1944-1945)

The Capitol Jazzmen (ldr), Dave Dexter, Jr. (pdr), Barney Bigard (cl), Les Robinson (as), Eddie Miller (ts), Clarence "Shorty" Sherock (t), Nappy Lamare (g), Hank Wayland (b), Pete Johnson (p), Stanley Wrightsman (cel), Nick Fatool (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Photos

Seen above and below are shots from the rehearsal for "Ain't Goin' No Place." Peggy Lee is in full view. (As will be reiterated below, Lee had given birth less than two months before the present date.) All but one of the session musicians are also shown. From left to right: Les Robinson and Eddie Miller (saxes), Nick Fatool (drums), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Nappy Lamare (guitar), Peggy Lee (vocal), Pete Johnson (piano), Shorty Sherock (trumpet), and Hank Wayland (bass). Pianist Stanley Wrightsman played celeste behind Lee's other vocal ("That Old Feeling") but is absent from these particular photos because he did not participate in "Ain't Goin' No Place."


The Recording Session(s)

1. Dave Dexter, Jr. Productions

This was the second of four jazz-oriented dates that producer Dave Dexter, Jr. conceived for the Capitol Record Company between 1943 and 1947. For each of these sessions, the producer hired cream-of-the-crop ensembles that Capitol variously named The Capitol Jazzmen (1943, 1944), Jack Teagarden's Chicagoans (1943), The International Jazzmen (1945), and The Hollywood Hucksters (1947). The recordings from the dates by the so-called Capitol Jazzmen were originally released in an album titled New American Jazz, which Dexter produced with the avowed purpose of "represent[ing] jazz as of 1944."

Dexter wrote extensively about his hiring process for all of these sessions. Interspersed below are quotes taken from his autobiography Playback and from his liner notes for the LP The Capitol Jazzmen 1943-47, on the Swaggie label.

2. The First Dexter Session Session (November 16, 1943)

The debut date of The Capitol Jazzmen took place on November 16, 1943. As Dexter tells it, "[t]he 16-month American Federation of Musicians strike against every US record company ended in November 1943 ... Most of the most celebrated jazzmen were in town, several of them awaiting induction orders from their draft boards as World War II continued. I managed to book time at the spacious MacGregor Studios ... and to telephone some of my favorite musicians, urging them to participate in my proposed New American Jazz album." Peggy Lee's husband Dave Barbour played in that initial session. (A photo of that non-Lee session can be found amidst the end notes of this page.)

3. The Second Session: Enter Peggy Lee

The second date took place almost two months later. "I completed the album in early 1944, following the frenetic Christmas period," explains Dexter, "with an entirely different combo sparked by Peggy Lee's singing and the wild trumpet of Clarence (Shorty) Sherock ... Peggy was hard to get. She had married Benny Goodman's gifted guitarist, Dave Barbour, and had delivered a baby ... by Caesarean surgery on Armistice Day. Barbour, unemployed for the first time in a decade, scurried about Los Angeles seeking work. Peggy was still recuperating when I telephoned her in January. I'm retired, Dave, she purred over the telephone. I don't care to sing anymore. My new life revolves around being a good wife and mother. I couldn't budge her. I then tried to contact Ivie Anderson out of Duke Ellington's band and, failing, was unable to hire former Count Basie trush Helen Humes. So I called Peggy a second time."

The producer remembered the rest of the phone conversation with the singer as follows: "What does the job pay?, she sweetly inquired. I suggested $100 for two songs, which we would put together on the date, without music. Well, she responded, Dave and I do need the money. If you can get me in and out of the studio in a couple of hours, I'll be there. Thanks for thinking of me ..."

Among the various reasons why Dave Dexter wanted to hire Lee was a personal wish to make up for a negative review that he had given her back in 1941, when she was going through her initial, nerve-wracking weeks with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. After listening to her subsequent work, the music critic and record producer had completely changed his opinion of her. By 1944, he was apparently feeling a bit contrite.





4. At The Session

"She showed up on time," continued Dexter. "Her husband had driven her to the MacGregor studios in a rickety, sputtering, pre-war Ford two-seater. Peggy was chubby, but she was smartly dressed and enthusiastically received by the musicians I had assembled. I invited Peggy to the booth and asked that the old standard Sugar lead the session. It gave Peg 30 or 40 minutes to get the feel of the studio and the musicians. She enjoyed every solo, particularly Eddie Miller's tenor saxing and Pete Johnson's raunchy, two-fisted piano contributions." Indeed, Lee writes in her own autobiography that "Eddie Miller played a classic solo" behind the first of her vocals.

"And then Peggy officially emerged from retirement," Dexter, Jr. proclaimed, "taking over the mike to shout Ain't Goin' No Place, a raucous, up-tempo blues that reminded me of her bawdy vocal on the Goodman Why Don't You Do Right? Columbia smash hit a year or so previously. All of us stood around enjoying the playback and one of the men said aloud what we were all thinking: This chick sounds like a drunken old whore with the hots. Because I wanted to record her singing both hot and sweet, I hired two pianists to back Peggy." Wrightsman, the second pianist, played celeste instead of piano.

"Her moody version of That Old Feeling was a stunning reading. Her sound had become pure angel food. Many radio jocks ... gave it heavy air-play. [It] attracted so much airplay in the US that she was forced to acquire a manager, Carlos Gastel, and go out as a single act ... Peggy Lee could sing like a little girl in a church choir or a husky-voiced, tired old whore."


Location

The notes of Mosaic's Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions state that "[u]nless otherwise noted ... sessions between 1942 and 1949 were made at Radio Recorders." That statement contradicts a comment made by producer Dave Dexter, Jr. in his liner notes for the Swaggie LP. Although he does indeed mention that the third date by The Capitol/International Jazzmen was held at Radio Recorders, he cites a different location for the two earlier dates. In reference to the first one (November 16, 1943), Dexter tells us that he "managed to book time at the spacious C. P. MacGregor Studios (between Mercer, Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting, Andy Russell and Pied Pipers sessions)."

In his autobiography, the record producer added that the second session took place at MacGregor Studios, too. Still further, an article that Dexter, Jr. wrote for Billboard magazine contains a photo of this session, and its caption identifies the location as C. P. MacGregor Studios. Hence I have confidently entered the location given by the producer, on the rationale that, unlike the makers of the excellent Mosaic box, he was one of the session's actual participants.


Musicians And Instruments

1. The Capitol Jazzmen
The Capitol Jazzmen was the name that Dave Dexter, Jr. gave to the West Coast musicians that he hired for record dates held on November 16, 1943 and January 7, 1944. Both this ensemble and later ones (The International Jazzmen, The Hollywood Hucksters) were apparently put together exclusively for these Capitol sessions; I have found no evidence of activity outside of the recording studio.

The first date (November 16) actually consisted of two sessions. In addition to the session with The Capitol Jazzmen, there was another credited to Jack Teagarden's Chicagoans, which was essentially the same ensemble (with the exception of just one different member) under another name.

2. Jack Teagarden And Peggy Lee
As for the two vocalists that participated in these early New American Jazz dates, neither one was present at the other one's session. They would sing together, however, many years later. For details about their duets, check section XXIV (aka The Paul Whiteman Tribute) of this page.

3. Instruments
Piano, clarinet, trumpet, and alto sax on "Ain't Goin' No Place" only. Stanley Wrightsman's celeste on "That Old Feeling" only.


Arrangements

According to a producer's note included in New American Jazz, "[n]o arrangements were used on the two sessions, in Hollywood, which produced the eight exciting performances contained between these two boards. There was no manuscript; no music stands. Each musician played as he elected to play. Jack Teagarden and Peggy Lee sang as they wanted to sing. No one gave instructions; there were no admonitions."





Issues

1. Contents Of New American Jazz [78-rpm album]

This album consists of four 78-rpm discs:
10009: "Clambake In B-Flat" (instrumental) / "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" (vocal by Jack Teagarden)
10010: "Casanova's Lament" (vocal by Jack Teagarden) / "In My Solitude" (instrumental)
10111: "Sugar" (instrumental) / "Ain't Goin' No Place" ("blues vocal" by Peggy Lee)
10112 "Someday, Sweetheart" (instrumental) / "That Old Feeling" (vocal by Peggy Lee)
All eight sides are credited to The Capitol Jazzmen. The songs in the first two discs come from the November 16, 1943 date, whereas the songs in the other two shellac discs are from this January 7, 1944 session.

2. Capitol's Early Catalogue And New American Jazz [78-rpm album]

New American Jazz (Set A-3) was only the third album on Capitol's catalogue. The preceding volumes --also issued in 1944-- were Songs By Johnny Mercer (A-1, featuring Mercer with The Pied Pipers and Jo Stafford) and Christmas Carols, (A-2, by the St. Luke's Choristers). To those three 1944 offerings Capitol added in 1945 two albums by Harry Owens & His Royal Hawaiians (A-4, A-6), plus Dennis Day Sings (A-5), Songs By The Dinning Sisters (A-7), The King Cole Trio (A-8), and about a dozen more.

3. Catalogue Number[s] Of New American Jazz [78-rpm album]

In the special case of the above-listed eight Capitol releases, the designated letter prefix ("A") probably stood for the word "album." Not so for ensuing titles in the label's catalogue. Realizing that album prefixes could be put to better use, the company adopted a new prefix code sometime in mid or late 1945. Due to the new adoption, all aforementioned eight albums were reprinted with a slightly changed catalogue code: they did keep their initial number, but not their letter prefix. Thus New American Jazz, formerly A-3, became CD-3 in its reprint.

The new code dictated for a minimum of two letters. The second letter signified the total number of discs on the given album. For instance, the "D" on the prefix of New American Jazz points to the fact that the album consists of four shellac discs. It would have been a "B" if the album had consisted of only two discs, an "E" if it had had five discs, etc.

Meanwhile, the first letter acted in combination with the second to determine the price tag. Thus the "C" on the prefix of New American Jazz pointed to a price tag potentially higher than that of albums whose catalogue codes started with "D" or "E", but lower than those to which "B" or "A" prefixes were assigned. (These might have been suggested prices. In practice, record stores could have chosen to keep the price tags about the same for most Capitol albums, irrespective of the first letter on each code.)

There is one additional piece of minutia in need of an explanation. On the New American Jazz reissue (CD-3), the catalogue number is found not just on the album's cardboard and shellac discs, but also on its booklet. Surprisingly, however, the catalogue number printed on the booklet is A-3, not CD-3. Why? Presumably, Capitol saw no need to incur into the expense of printing a new run of booklets just to change the code letter from "A" to "CD." My thanks to Adrian Daff for clarifying and discussing this matter with me.


Songwriters

1. "Ain't Goin' No Place"
2. Dave Dexter, Dick Larkin, Dave Cavanaugh
A Dick Larkin is officially credited with composing the song "Ain't Goin No Place." That name was a pseudonym used by this session's producer, Dave Dexter. Mr. Dexter is correctly credited as the song's composer on the above-listed Swaggie LP (The Capitol Jazzmen 1943-47), and also on several Public Domain CD issues, which probably relied on the information originally given by Swaggie. For a while, the present discography followed information found in another source, stating that the Larkin pseudonym belonged instead to another Capitol producer (Dave Cavanaugh). This discographer and his source were in error; I am happy to have now rectified the matter.


Masters And Takes

1. Non-Lee Masters (Instrumentals)
In addition to Peggy Lee's vocals, this session also produced two instrumentals whose master numbers are 171 ("Sugar") and 173 ("Someday, Sweetheart").

2. Take Numbers
Some sources suggest that this session's masters were completed in one take. The booklet of Mosaic's Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions indicates otherwise. For both vocals and instrumentals, take numbers range from 2 to 4.

3. Credits In Capitol's Files
Various sources indicate that, in Capitols files, masters #172 and #174 are credited to "Peggy Lee with Eddie Miller & The All-Star Jazz."

Bob Crosby (ldr), Bob Crosby (con, v), Bob Crosby And His Orchestra (acc), Sid Bender, Don Brassfield, Robert "Bob" Lawson, Frank Meyers, Clint Neagley (sax), Claude Bowen, Jack Holmes, Jack Mootz, Quig Quigley (t), Walter Benson, Bill Hearn, Warren Smith (tb), Robert "Bob" Bain (g), Edward Gilbert (b), Ernie Hughes (p), Jimmy Felton (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Sources

For this session, my primary source of information has been Charles Garrod and Bill Korst's discography of Bob Crosby, published in 1987 by Joyce Record Club, an outfit whose catalogue of LPs and music pamphlets catered to fans of the big band era. (The same Bob Crosby data can also be found in certain all-encompassing jazz discographies which obviously copied it from Garrod and Korst's pamphlet.) No other significant sources of information have come to my attention.


Cross-references (Radio, Record Label)

According to a few sources, including Ron Lackmann's The Encyclopedia Of American Radio, Peggy Lee spent various seasons working as the female vocalist of The Bob Crosby Show. Could it be that this session's performances were taken from broadcasts of that radio show? I suspect such to be the case, but I lack any solid evidence to back up my suspicion.

Specifics about Bob Crosby's radio venture are scant and hard to come by. I have managed to locate relevant data for only seven of the show's 40 episodes. Lee actually guested in one of those seven episodes, but the songs that she performed in that episode are not the ones listed above. In the absence of details about the other 33 installments, I am unable to ascertain whether Lee appeared in the series at any other time, let alone how frequently.

The 40 episodes in question constitute the 1943-1944 season of the show. This is the only season in which Lee could have appeared with any degree of frequency. (Before the second half of 1943, Lee was tied to The Benny Goodman Orchestra, and would have thus been unable to accept any long-term offers to perform separately from the band. After the first half of 1944, Crosby's show remained off the air until 1946. By that last year, Lee was certainly making guest appearances in various radio programs but, to my knowledge, Bob Crosby's show was not one of them.) In conclusion, Lachman's claim that Peggy Lee was a cast member of The Bob Crosby Show for several reasons is an overstatement. At best, she might have have appeared in multiple episodes of the 1943-1944 season.

For a more extensive discussion of my radio-as-source hypothesis, and for longer commentary on Bob Crosby's radio show, consult this miscellaneous page. For a few additional details about the short-lived label Ara Records, see the same page.


Dating And Location

Following my only authoritative source (Garrod and Korst), I have assigned the date June 30, 1944 to both masters. According to the authors, that date was imprinted in test pressings of these performances. The test pressings were kept by the owner of Ara Records, and they were inspected by either Korst or Garrod. Both session masters bear the prefix RR, which probably stands for Radio Recorders.

Despite the factual details offered in the preceding paragraph, the exact date and location on which this session's masters were recorded remains tentative. The tentativeness stems from my already shared suspicion that these masters could have been originally culled from radio broadcasts of The Bob Crosby Show (1943-1944 season).

NBC Studios is likely to have been the location from which that radio show was broadcast. In my hypothetical scenario, this session's tracks would have been recorded to disc while they were being broadcast, and the discs would have been taken to Radio Recorders for mastering. A lengthier discussion, centered around this speculative line of thinking, can be found in the aforementioned miscellaneous page.


Personnel

1. Duet Vocal
Bob Crosby shares vocal duties with Peggy Lee only on the number "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe."

2. Musicians
With the exceptions of Bob Crosby and Peggy Lee, the personnel entered for this session should be deemed tentative. It is actually a collective personnel. Although the musicians listed were indeed members of Bob Crosby's band during the mid-40s, it is not known if all of them were present when Lee's numbers were performed, nor is it known whether additional, unlisted musicians participated.


Masters

1. Non-Lee Masters
Also listed as recorded during this session are masters Rr 9754 (the instrumental "Java Junction") and Rr 9755 ("Come With Me, My Honey," which features a vocal by The Town Criers). Incidentally, those two numbers were released on another Ara 78-rpm disc (catalogue number Rm 103).

2. "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe" And Ara's Master #1137
Oddly, "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe" is listed twice in Garrod and Korst's discography of Bob Crosby, as follows:

- master Rr 9756; June 30, 1944
released on Ara 78-rpm single Rm 114

- master Ara #1137; March 4, 1946
released on Ara 78-rpm single Rm 114

Looking at the information at hand, it would be reasonable to conclude that these are different Bob Crosby performances of "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe." There would be two main details leading to that conclusion: the recording dates are different, and so are the master numbers.

Nevertheless, the opposite conclusion can be drawn as well: despite the different datings, those two listings might refer to one and the same performance of "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe." One of the listed 78-rpm discs would be an original release, the other a reissue. In the process of reissuing the disc, Ara would have re-assigned a master number to "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe." The re-assignation would have taken on March 4, 1946. (The rationale for the -re-assignment could only be speculated: the label's change of ownership, insufficient care in the allocation of master numbers, etc.)

Thus the two preceding paragraphs offer opposite hypotheses. I do not know which of them is correct (if either one). Readers are invited to form their own opinions, especially after they have peruse all the details presented in this session's notes. (Do not lose sight, though, of our point of departure. We are taking on this "journey" under the assumption that there are no mistakes in Garrod and Korst's information.)

It's worth adding that, in addition to #1137, Ara masters #1136 and #1138 were also assigned to performances by Bob Crosby, and they were not previously recorded numbers. Hence it is certainly possible that, as proposed in the first of the two conclusions above, master #1137 was a new Crosby master (i.e., a different vocal version of "On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe," which he would have undertaken solo or, at any rate, without Lee).

There is more curious data to add to this confusing picture. Ara 78 rpm disc #114 was actually released twice. (That fact will be covered in more detail below, under Issues). We could theorize that different masters from different dates (1944, 1946) were issued in each version of Ara #114, and that the existence of two masters accounts for the confusing information presented above. Unfortunately, I have been able to listen to one one of the Ara #114 discs. Hence I can neither confirm nor deny this possibility. (Verification from any collector who owns copies of both 78s would be appreciated.)

In the end, the chances that we are dealing with two different masters strike me as slim at best. An error in the information is the most logical of the conclusions.


Issues And Collectors' Corner

1. Two Different Issues Of Ara #114 [78-rpm ]
Ara #114 was released twice, in partially different versions.

The earliest version contains both of this session's masters, featuring Peggy Lee on vocals: her solo "It's Anybody's Spring" and her duet with Bob Crosby, "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe."

The second version of Ara #114 is also said to include the duet, but its flip side substitutes "It's Anybody's Spring" with an instrumental by The "Porky" Freeman Trio ("On The Night Train To Memphis").

Online photos of the two versions have been provided above. On the respective labels of the 78-rpm discs, both Peggy Lee and Bob Crosby are credited by name.

I have listened to only one of these two releases, however. Hence confirmation is still needed on the assumption that the exact same take of "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe" is heard in both 78 rpm versions.

The reason for the partial re-release of Ara #114 remains unknown to me. Hypothetical explanations can be advanced, of course. There could have been a mixup at either Ara or its pressing company, resulting in the issuing of two singles under the same catalogue number. Or maybe Ara's practices were unorthodox: the label might have had a tendency to recycle its masters. As an instance pointing toward that second possibility, it's worth noting that "On The Night Train To Memphis" is found not only on Ara #114 but also on Ara #119. Given Ara's short span of existence, any penchant for recycling masters could be an indication of financial difficulties. (A recycling policy could also point to an executive intention to milk a relatively small cache of masters for all their worth.)

In my opinion, the likeliest reason for pulling the original issue of ARA #114 from the market would be a legal one: the label might have faced objections to the release of "It's Anybody's Spring." Such objections would have been raised by the parties connected to the movie Road To Utopia, in which this song was featured. Since the film did not premiere until 1946, the issuing of this vocal in 1945 could have elicited a "cease and desist" order from concerned parties from the film industry, or even from Decca, the recording company which had Bob Crosby's brother Bing (that movie's star) under exclusive contract. (For more commentary and speculation on this matter, see my supplementary page about these Ara sides.)

Further complicating matters is the fact that the second version of Ara #114 (i.e., the version with the "Porky" Freeman Trio instrumental) exists in two variants. The differences between the variants are very minor, however. Font size accounts for a difference. One variant uses the same font as the first version of Ara #114. The other variant uses a smaller font. A second difference can be found by looking at the shellac's physical label -- more specifically, the typography of the Warren-Mercer title. The large font version gives the song's title as "Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe" (coinciding, once again, with the first version of Ara #114), whereas the small font version calls it "On The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe." Curious readers wanting to see the variant not pictured above should check the chronological 78 index. (Scroll down to the 1945 entries.)

2. Ara 1137: A Third Version Of Ara 114?
Various collectors have also pointed out the rumored existence of a 78-rpm Ara single numbered 1137, containing a Bob Crosby version of "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe." Since nobody has ever produced a copy of such a disc, the claim should be deemed a rumor for the time being, with the potential to be an error. The catalogue number itself raises a flag, because it is much higher than those from the regular Ara 100 series, which make up over 90% of Ara's catalogue.

It seems likely that this rumor originated in someone's misreading of the (certainly confusing) information about Ara 114 that was provided by Garrod and Korst. The authors refer to a master numbered 1137. (See Masters sub-section above, point #2.) At some point, a reader must have wrongly thought that 1137 was a catalogue number instead of a master number.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Henry J. "Heinie" Beau, Harold Lawson, Maury Stein (cl), Billy May (t), Dave Barbour (g), Artie Shapiro (b), Milt Raskin (p), Nick Fatool (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Photos

The above-shown images are believed to have been taken at this recording session. Most of them are dated December 27, 1944 at Getty Images. Further confirmation comes from company executive and magazine editor Dave Dexter Jr., who includes one of these photos in his Capitol News, and identifies it as being from the session that produced "You Was Right, Baby."


The Recording Session (And Johnny Mercer)

1. In Peggy Lee's Own Words
Peggy Lee's aforementioned vocals with The Capitol Jazzmen (recorded on January 7, 1944) had been very well received, earning radio airplay and positive reviews. As Lee told radio broadcaster Fred Hall, "that was a success, so they asked us to record more ...[...]... I was just beginning to write songs then as a hobby when I was taking care of my house." At the instigation of Barbour's friend Carlos Gastel (an artists' manager at Capitol Records), Barbour and Lee played for Johnny Mercer a few of the songs that the couple had been writing as a pastime. "And Johnny heard some of those things and liked them," Lee continued, "and he gave me some good, helpful criticism, like Try this or Try that, and I just never will forget him for the many things he did for me. And he was instrumental in my being a songwriter." Also at the direct instigation of Gastel, the Barbours reasoned that it would be okay to just record two or three additional songs for the Capitol label. As Lee explained, "Then when they talked us into recording, we didn't have any material, so Johnny said, Do those things I heard -- those are great. So we did them, and they were hits ... [...] ... What More Can A Woman Do? and You Was Right, Baby..."

2. Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer has been sometimes identified as the man who brought Lee into the Capitol fold. (Alan Livingston is among those who have bestowed this credit on Mercer. Livingston was the company's main A&R man during the second half of the 1940s, and would go on to preside over the company.) In reality, credit should be shared by Mercer with both Dave Dexter, Jr. (see notes under January 7, 1944 session) and Carlos Gastel (see notes at the bottom of this page). Be as it may, the above-quoted remarks make abundantly clear that Mercer's guidance proved invaluable to Lee during her first years at Capitol. As a budding lyricist, she treasured the songwriting advice that he gave her, and considered him the model to which a songwriter like herself should aspire.


Musicians And Instruments

1. Brass And Reeds
My two main sources for this session show disagreement on the matter of the instruments with which Harold Lawson and Maurice Stein are credited. In Peggy Lee's Capitol session files, both Lawson and Stein are listed as playing clarinet (along with Heinie Beau). In Jack Mirtle's The Music Of Billy May: A Discography, only Beau is credited with clarinet playing. Lawson is listed on trumpet (along with May) whereas Stein is credited with tenor sax playing.

In my listening of all four performances from the session, I consistently hear various clarinets in unison. (The combination of guitar with a clarinet section is actually characteristic of the Lee-Barbour sessions from the 1940s.) Only very, very briefly, during the intro of "You Was Right, Baby," do I hear any brass -- a trumpet. I am thus putting more trust in the claims made on Capitol's session files. (In the photos that have been belatedly found and added to this session, I believe that I am seeing four woodwind instruments, three of them definitely looking like clarinets. The identify of the fourth instrument is a bit harder for me to ascertain; it looks like a bass clarinet to me.)

I consider Mirtle's discography an excellent source. He consulted the American Federation of Musicians contracts, which are justly deemed the most reliable source for session personnel. He also spoke extensively with Billy May. In this case, however, perhaps the contracts did not specify instruments, which would have led to an educated assumption on May's and/or Mirtle's part. Or the contracts might simply list Lawson and Stein under the instruments for which they were best known.

2. Vocal Chorus
The session's musicians are presumed to have supplied the all-male chorus heard toward the closing of "You Was Right, Baby."

3. Maury Stein Or Maurie Styne?
The album Collector's Items - Top Drawer Jazz Classics lists the session personnel in the label of each 78-rpm platters. Whereas Maury Stein is the name given most everywhere else, "Maurie Styne" is the variant found in that 78 rpm platter. (Stein was the brother of songwriter Jules Styne. Besides being a woodwind instrumentalist, he was also the proprietor of Stein On Vine, a musical instrument shop and repair store.)


Arrangers And Arrangements

1. Sources
2. Heinie Beau
3. Dave Barbour
I have three sources for this date's arranging credits, and they are not in agreement.

According to Jack Mirtle in his discography of Billy May, this session used head arrangements. In making this assertion, Mirtle might have followed both his ear and the opinion of Billy May, with whom Mirtle consulted extensively.

However, these performances are not identified as head arrangements in Capitol's Peggy Lee session files. Instead, the files credit both Dave Barbour and Heinie Beau for the arrangements, without specifying which man is responsible for which arrangement.

In Capitol's library of music scores, the man who receives credit for both "What More Can A Woman Do?" and "You Was Right, Baby" is Beau, not Barbour. I am thus giving credit to Heinie Beau for those two arrangements.

Capitol's library does not have copies of the arrangements for the other performances from this session. Were we to fully trust the details supplied by the Peggy Lee session file, credit would have to be given to Dave Barbour. If, on the other hand, we were to rely on the details given in the Billy May discography, then one or both of these performances could have head arrangements.

For the time being, and until more information comes forward, I am abstaining from crediting Barbour.

4. "You Was Right, Baby"
5. Cecil L. Stover
An arrangement for the song "You Was Right, Baby" is extant in Peggy Lee's sheet music library. Its arranger is Cecil L. Stover, its date unknown. I have not consulted the material in Lee's library, but I do not have reason to believe that Stover's arrangement is the same one heard in this session.





Issues

1. Collectors' Items [78-rpm album]
The title of this 1948 Capitol album points to the fact that most of its songs had been recorded years earlier, yet left unissued until then. In addition to Peggy Lee (represented by her "Baby" from the present session), the other seven acts featured in the set are Benny Carter ("I Can't Get Started"), Sonny Greer ("Bug In A Rug"), The Hollywood Hucksters ("I Apologize"), Eddie Miller ("Just One More Chance"), Red Nichols ("Your Everything"), Rex Stewart's Big Eight ("T'Ain't Like That") and Stan Kenton. Besides Peggy Lee, the only other female heard in the record is Anita O'Day. Working here in her capacity as Stan Kenton's canary, O'Day sings "Travelin' Man," a number that the band recorded on January 5, 1945 -- that is to say, merely a few days after Lee's "Baby (Is What He Calls Me)." In this album of s-pcalled Collectors' Items, Peggy Lee's "Baby" can be found in disc #48014, whose flip side features the aforementioned Rex Stewart performance.


Songs

1. You Was Right In The Music Charts: Cash Box
"You Was Right" was the first Peggy Lee recording to appear in Disc-Hits Box Score, a best sellers chart that Cash Box magazine had introduced on its November 7, 1944 issue. According to Jack Tunnis, the chart's compiler, his tabulations were "compiled on the average individual purchased on the basis of 1000 records."

For each single, Tunnis offered not only song titles but also record label and catalogue number. The really popular title was printed in bold font, while the flip side was italicized. In the case under discussion (Capitol No. 197), "You Was Right, Baby" is the bolded title, "What More Can A Woman Do" the number in italics.

Capitol No. 197 reached its #11 peak position on the week of June 18, 1945 (tabulated by Cash Box on its July 3, 1945 issue). It had also occupied chart slots in the previous two weeks (June 4 and 11). Its 27.6 peak score was substantially higher than its previous two scores (15.3 on June 11, 14.0 on June 4).

"You Was Right" ended up staying on this chart's top 40 for a grand total of ten weeks. (This total number of weeks includes one which Cash Box skipped, due to its decision to update its tabulation system. Until its August 14 issue, the chart had been showing the results from two weeks before publication date. Starting with the August 20 issue, the chart's listings are those from the week preceding publication date.). The tenth and last chart issue featuring Capitol No. 197 is the one published on August 14, 1945.

2. You Was Right In The Music Charts: Billboard
I have found no chart entries for "You Was Right" in Billboard magazine. I have found no entries for "What More Can A Woman Do," neither.

3. A Tabulation Note: Qualifying Cashbox and Billboard Entries
On the basis of its charting at Cashbox, I am counting "You Was Right Baby" as Peggy Lee's first solo hit, and its ten hit number at this point in time.

A side note. This discography makes periodic mention of the total amount of hits scored by Peggy Lee up to a given year, or a given point in time. Those scores originally relied on Billboard chart data, and on Joel Whitburn's book Pop Memories 1890-1954, whose tabulations are Billboard-based.

At a more recent date, I added qualifying Cashbox entries to the count -- qualifying entries such as the present one. There are actually almost no Cashbox entries that qualify: that periodical's tabulations tended to lump together all the competing recordings of one song into one slot, thereby making it impossible to determine an individual ranking for each recording. For instance, if a song such as this session's "Baby" had been recorded in 1944 by not only Peggy Lee but also artists such as Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Benny Goodman, and if the song had become a #1 hit, Cashbox's chart would show the listing as : #1 Baby - Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee.

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour And His Orchestra (acc), Unknown (sax, cl, b, p), Dave Barbour (g), Peggy Lee (v)

Photos

First row: Two ads and two photos of Peggy Lee. Probably from either late 1944 or early 1945, the photo next to Capitol president Johnny Mercer is actually a cropped version of a shot published on the March 1945 issue of The Capitol News. The full shot also features two other Capitol acts, bandleader Stan Kenton and fellow singer Martha Tilton At GettyImages, there is a different photo from the same occasion, to which the company has assigned a December 31, 1944 date.

The other three images appear to have been originally published in 1945. The first ad was part of the advertisement for Lee's Capitol debut single (#197), whose masters were recorded in the preceding session. The solo shot was published on the same month in which the present session was recorded. The remaining Capitol ad is one of various on behalf of Capitol 218, the single on which this date's masters were initially issued.

Second and third rows: following the commercial success of this mid-1945 date, Peggy Lee's seems to have become a more public and active presence in the Hollywood world of promotion and entertainment. First we find her in the company of popular disc jockey Petter Potter, probably on the occasion of a guest appearance at one of the LA radio shows that he hosted during this period. We also find Lee in the company of a lady who I believe to be an entertainment columnist (possibly bearing "Shayne" as either a first or a last name). All four photos carry October 1945 dates.


The Recording Session, The Recording Contract, And Johnny Mercer

In the informative and well-written liner notes of the Capitol CD The Early Years, Robin Callot mentions that Peggy Lee was tense during this session. Fortunately, Capitol co-owner Johnny Mercer was present at the date and had a calming influence on Lee. Callot states that Mercer "urg[ed] her to relax her voice and just bend the notes." Judging from the resulting masters, the advice was taken to heart.

Of course, tension or nervousness could have been elicited by any number of other reasons, and those which besieged Lee at this particular session might never be known to us. I should like to make clear, however, that the fundamentals of studio recording are not likely to have been at issue, because Lee was well-experienced in them by this point. In addition to her many recording dates with The Benny Goodman Orchestra and the sessions previously listed in this chronological page, Lee had waxed over 15 numbers with Barbour and his group early in 1945 for the radio transcription company MacGregor.

Although I can only speculate on the matter, I would like to propose that Peggy Lee was tense at the session because she was taking on a new role: that of an artist freshly added to the company's rotating roster. Granted that her signing of a contract with Capitol dated back to late 1944, the songs that she had recorded in previous Capitol and MacGregor sessions had been either tried-and-true standards or compositions that she had co-written with her husband. (The one arguable except was "Baby Is What H Calls Me," which Capitol did not pick for commercial release at the time.) This session was, on the other hand, the earliest in which the repertoire consisted exclusively of commercial songs of the day. "Plug numbers" were being assigned to her (or had been suggested to her), just as they would have been assigned/suggested to any artist under the company's directive. In my speculative scenario, Lee's tension or anxiety would have arisen from realizing that the burden of responsibility was now fully on her shoulders. Starting then and there, the solo artist would naturally be expected to turn songs into commercial hits, not only for her or but also for her label's shared benefit.

I should also make mention of an inaccurate statement, found in the liner notes of the aforementioned CD. In these otherwise accurate notes, Robin Callot refers to this July 30, 1945 as Peggy Lee's first session for Capitol. Since Lee had already done two dates for the label (January 7 and December 27, 1944), the reference to a debut date would seem to be an error on the part of the liner annotator. I wonder, however, if the erroneous assertion stems from the documentation consulted by Callot. Although the Capitol paperwork consulted by me (an artist file) does identify Lee as the artist on those earlier dates, a different set of papers could have been accessed by Callot. Some Capitol documents could conceivably list dates such as this one under Dave Barbour, and the earlier date (January 7, 1944 ) under The Capitol Jazzmen.


Personnel (At A Split Session)

Three masters were recorded during this session. One of them, master #738, is not mentioned above because the artist who recorded it was not Peggy Lee, but Margaret Whiting. Accompanied by the Paul Weston Orchestra, she did "It Might As Well Be Spring." It would be logical to assume that some or even all of the musicians who accompanied Whiting also accompanied Lee, but I do not have proof that such was the case. At the present time, the identity of the session's musicians is unknown to me.


Location

This session's location is not disclosed in Peggy Lee's session file, which is my primary source of information. An educated guess could actually be made, and a tentative location thus entered above, but I am avoiding such a path of action. As a general policy, I have abstained from entering location details when no official or reliable identification has been forthcoming.

My abstention should not deter us, however, from discussing the possibilities at hand. From 1942 to early 1945, C. P. MacGregor's studio is the likeliest location for all Capitol sessions conducted in Los Angeles. From late 1945 to October 1947, Radio Recorders is the primary candidate. This state of affairs is reflected on the discography of singer Ella Mae Morse, as reliably presented in Bear Family Records' boxed set of her complete Capitol masters. In 1945, Morse recorded two Capitol sessions, one on February 14 and the other on September 25. The former is listed as having taken placed at C. P. MacGregor, the latter at Radio Recorders.

The period of mid-1945, to which the present date belongs, is a transitional one. Hence, the two previously mentioned recording venues are both up for contention, along with any others that Capitol might have chosen to book during its transition. (An educated guess should give the advantage to Radio Recorders.)


Songs

1. "Waiting For The Train To Come In" And The Music Charts
According to Joel Whitburn's tabulations in his book Pop Memories, 1890-1954, "Waiting For The Train To Come In" was Peggy Lee's debut hit as a solo artist. (Note my emphasis on the qualifier solo. Lee was not really a debutante. As a canary with The Benny Goodman Orchestra, nine of Lee's performances had previously made the Billboard charts, including one vocal that reached the #1 position. Reissued in 1948, that #1 hit would go on to chart for a second time, thereby upping to 10 the total number of canary hit entries by Lee. In addition, Lee and Goodman also had another hit together while she was no longer his canary, and joined forces as separate solo artists.)

Although Whitburn's estimates may not be off the mark, other assorted sources suggest that "Waiting For The Train To Come In" was not Lee's first solo single to have a legitimate shot at making the charts. Various articles from this period state that substantial radio airplay was given to Lee's earlier vocals with The Capitol Jazzmen (see session dated January 7, 1944). Similar comments can be found about "What More Can A Woman Do" and "You Was Right, Baby" (see session dated December 27, 1944), too.

None of those numbers are listed in Whitburn's text -- nor, for that matter, in any other music chart texts at my reach, with one exception. The exception, already mentioned in a previous session: Cash Box, which claims top 20 hit status for one of these earlier Lee masters, "You Right Baby.") Perhaps the popularity of Lee's 1944 Capitol recordings was circumscribed to the Los Angeles area. In accordance to that Cashbox entry for "You Was Right Baby," this discography treats "Waiting For The Train To Come In" as Peggy Lee second solo hit, rather than her first -- and her 11th overall hit, up to this pint.

Whitburn's text indicates that "Waiting For The Train To Come In" entered the Billboard charts during the week of November 10, 1945 and stayed for 14 weeks. It peaked at #4. There were two competing versions, both of which peaked a little lower than Lee's. One of them, by Columbia's Harry James with a vocal by Kitty Kallen, spent six weeks in the charts and reached #6. The third charting version, credited to Decca's Johnny Long & His Orchestra, stayed for ten weeks and climbed to #7; it featured a vocal by Dick Robertson.

My own inspection of the relevant Billboard's issues corroborates Whitburn's citing of "Waiting For The Train To Come In" as a top ten hit across the board. It indeed has a #4 peak on two of that periodical's charts (Disc Jockey, Honor Roll Of Hits), a #5 peak in another (Juke Box), and a #6 peak in still a fourth chart (Weekly Single).

Another Whitburn text, Top Pop Records, 1940-1955, lists the Peggy Lee recording of "Waiting For The Train To Come In" as peaking at #6 and spending five weeks on what the author identifies as the "Best Selling Singles" pop charts of Billboard magazine. The first of such charts appeared, according to him, on the July 20, 1940 issue. Given this #6 peak, I am assuming that the chart in question is the one which was named Weekly Single in the magazine issue that I consulted. (Incidentally, there is a similarly titled 1973 Whitburn text, Top Pop Records, 1940-1955, which I have not been able to consult.)

Meanwhile, in Your Hit Parade Singles Chart, Peggy Lee's version spent three weeks as part of the countdown's top ten, which it entered on the week of October 6, 1945. It peaked at #6.

For its part, Cash Box magazine tallied together all three popular versions of "Waiting For The Train To Come In." In that magazine's Disc-Hits Box Score chart, the song peaked at #6 during the week leading to the publication of the January 7, 1946 issue, and stayed in the top 40 for 19 weeks (in the top 50 for 24 weeks).

2. "I'm Glad I Waited For You" In The Charts
The flip side of Capitol #218 also charted. "I'm Glad I Waited For You" appeared on the Billboard charts during the week of March 30, 1946, and peaked at #24. No competing versions are listed in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954, but Helen Forrest's recording for Decca makes an appearance in Edward Foote Gardner's Popular Songs Of The Twentieth Century: A Charted History. Incidentally, "I'm Glad I Waited For You" was also sung by Alfred Drake in the soundtrack of the 1946 movie Tars And Spars.

My own inspection of the pertinent Billboard issues retrieved a #14 peak for "I'm Glad I Waited For You" in the magazine's Honor Roll Of Hits chart. It spent three weeks there, two of them in its peak position. That particular chart measured the song's popularity (rather than any particular version of the song) across the board. Still, it can be gleaned that Peggy Lee's double-sided hit was accountable for the lion's share of the honors.

Cash Box tallied together all popular versions of "I'm Glad I Waited For You." The most popular ones were those credited to Peggy Lee on Capitol and Freddy Martin & His Orchestra, on Victor Records. In that magazine's chart, the song peaked at #19 during the week leading to the publication of the magazine's April 1, 1946 issue, and stayed in the top 40 for 18 weeks (in the top 50 for 19 weeks).

In any case, the combined data under discussion ratifies the position of "I'm Glad I Waited For You" as Peggy Lee's 12th hit. For her next one, see notes under next session.


Arrangements

1. Source
The arrangements for this session's two songs are extant in Capitol's library of music scores. Both are credited to Heinie Beau.


Masters And Alternate Takes

1. "Waiting For The Train To Come In"
As shown above, Capitol has released two takes of "Waiting For The Train To Come In." Various details, some pertaining to the vocal and some to the instrumental parts, clearly differentiate the master from the alternate take. For instance, two of the session's musicians (the guitarist and the clarinetist) treat the alternate's instrumental break differently from the master's. The same verdict applies to the vocalist's treatment of the song's final lines. In the alternate take, Lee delivers them as follows:

I'm waiting for the train to come in
Waiting
Waiting
I'm waiting for the train to come in

In the master take, she adds the word "just":

I'm waiting for the train to come in
Waiting
Just waiting
I'm waiting for the train to come in

I have not listened to every single Peggy Lee issue that contains her Capitol rendition of "Waiting For The Train To Come In." Aural verification (either from my ears or from those of other fans) has taken place for the small group of issues that are listed under master 739-3. As for the CDs and LPs currently listed under the alternate take, here is a list of those which have been verified:

Time Life Music CS/LP: 4 Lgd/Slgd 07 — Peggy Lee ("Legendary Singers" Series) (1985)
CAPITOL CS/CD: C4 5/Cdp 7 93195 — The Early Years (Capitol Collectors Series, Volume 1) (1990)
Asv/Living Era CD: (United Kingdom) Aja 5237 — Why Don't You Do Right?; 25 Early Hits (1997)
CAPITOL CD: 0777 7 97826 2 8 (97827-97830) — Miss Peggy Lee (1998)
CAPITOL CD: 7243 4 97308 2 3 — The Best Of Miss Peggy Lee (1998)
Reader's Digest CS/CD: Rf7/Krf 140 [Emi 72434 99216] — The Legendary Peggy Lee: Her Greatest Hits & Finest Performances (1999)
Castle/Pie CD: (United Kingdom) Piesd 045 — Mañana [also part of Ladies Of Jazz: Ella, Billie, Peggy #904, a 3CD set] (1999)
CAPITOL©EMI Special Markets CD: Gsc 15453/7243 4 96336 2 9 — Peggy Lee ("36 All-Time Greatest Hits" Series) (1999)
Gallerie/Music Collection CD: (United Kingdom) Gale 442 — A Portrait Of Peggy Lee (1999)
Going-For-A-Song CD: (United Kingdom) Gfs 241 — The Fever Of Peggy Lee (1999)
Movieplay/Intermusic's Goldies CD: (Portugal) Gld 25438 — Golden Earrings (2001)
Disky CD: (Netherlands) 905191 — Peggy Lee ("Golden Greats" Series) (2002)
Asv/Living Era CD: (United Kingdom) Aja 266 — It's A Good Day; 50 Original Mono Recordings, 1941-1951 (2002)
CAPITOL©EMI CD: 7243 5 39756 2 3 — The Singles Collection (2002)
Proper CD: (United Kingdom) Intro Cd 2003 — I Get Ideas ("A Proper Introduction" Series) (2004)
Disky CD: (Netherlands) Si 903647 /Cb 904361 — Here's Peggy Lee ("The Here's Series," Volume 1) (2006)
History CD: (Germany) 20.3046 Hi — Everything I Love ("The Great Vocalists Of Jazz & Entertainment" Series) (1999)
Tim International CD: (Germany) 205422 304 — That Old Feeling ... You Go To My Head (2001)
Proper CD: (United Kingdom) 45 P 1277 1280 — The Peggy Lee Story (2002)
Tim International CD: (Germany) 220838 [220839-220843] — A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues ("Document" Series) (2004)
Weton-Wesgram CD: (Netherlands) Mom 641 — Peggy Lee ("Masters Of Music" Series) (2005)
Proper CD: (EUnited Kingdom) Box 108 — Miss Wonderful (2006)
Music Club CD: (United Kingdom) Mccd 619 — Black Coffee; The Best Of Peggy Lee (2007)
Big3 CD: Bt 3039 — Peggy Lee ("The Absolutely Essential CD Collection" Series) (2011)

Not really knowing which of the two takes is found on them, all other Peggy Lee CDs and LPs containing her Capitol recording of "Waiting For The Train To Come In" have been somewhat arbitrarily placed under the alternate. Finding myself in need of making an educated guess, I relied on the fact that the alternate is (paradoxically) the most widely disseminated of the two takes. Hence it stands to reason that the alternate is the take heard in most of the CDs and LPs in question. (As for the several AFRS discs listed, I have not listened to them, and I have no clues at all as to which take they contains. All three or some of them could very well contain the master instead of the alternate. If I listed them under the alternate, it is only because that has been my de facto choice for all the other issues about which I similarly lack information.)

I'd appreciate receiving confirmation and corrections from owners of copies of these issues.


Acknowledgment

My thanks to jacksonivy, a fellow board member at the Peggy Lee Bulletin Board (www.peggylee.com) for alerting me and all other members to the existence of the alternate take of "Waiting For The Train To Come In."

Peggy Lee (ldr), Lee Gillette (pdr), Dave Barbour All-Stars (acc), Unknown (sax, cl, b, p), Dave Barbour (g), Peggy Lee (v)

Photos

At Getty Images, the four above-seen pictures have been given the date December 27, 1945. A fifth session shot of Lee and Barbour was used as the front cover of the Jasmine CD A Musical Marriage. The date on which these photos were actually taken could indeed be December 27, but December 26 is a strong possibility as well. (A good number of the commercial pictures that I have checked online happen to have incorrect or approximate dates. If December 27 is the correct date, then I am left to wonder if the songs recorded on that day were the two Disney numbers that will be discussed in the session below this one.)

Belatedly used in a 1947 publication and also in a 1949 magazine issue, the undated photo down below seems to be have taken on the same date as the others included here. Also on display below is one among various published sheet music for "I Don't Know Enough About You," the Peggy Lee-Dave Barbour composition whose discussion will take up about half of this note's contents.


Location

1. Radio Recorders
2. MacGregor Studios
My source for this session's location is the Capitol Label Discography, by Michel Ruppli, Bill Daniels, and Ed Novitsky, with Michael Cuscuna.

No location is listed in Peggy Lee's session file, which is my primary source of information. ( Radio Recorders is indeed the likeliest site for Lee's other Capitol studio sessions from 1945 to October 1947, but I have abstained from entering location details when no official or reliable identification has been forthcoming. I am mindful of the possibility that, due to circumstances no longer known to us, any particular session could have been held elsewhere.)

During Capitol's earlier years, MacGregor Studios had been the recording studio of choice. Margaret Whiting tells an interesting story about one of the reasons why Capitol stopped using it. She says that the owner, "feeling flush with Capitol's success and the money it had given him" had the walls repainted. "When the engineers came back, the sound wasn't the same." For more details about the association between Capitol and MacGregor, see this discography's MacGregor Transcriptions page.


Arrangements And Arrangers

1. Heinie Beau
2. Billy May
My two sources for this session's arrangements are in conflict. Capitol's library of music scores identifies Heinie Beau as the arranger of both numbers. Jack Mirtle's The Music Of Billy May: A Discography credits Billy May as the session's arranger, without specifying whether he's responsible for both arrangements, or just one. Faced with this problematic discrepancy, I am giving tentative credit to both arrangers, and hoping that clearer information will eventually come forward.


Musicians

1. Dave Barbour's All-Stars
Except for Dave Barbour, the identities of this session's musicians are unknown. Capitol's decision to name the ensemble "Dave Barbour's All-Stars" could be an indication that some of them were well-known musicians. (Then again, the name could be merely an attention-grabbing moniker.) It's also worth pointing out that this session is close in time to Lee's MacGregor transcription sessions (listed in a separate page of this discography), whose personnel is as follows: Heinie Beau (cl), Herbert Haymer (ts), Billy May (t), Dave Barbour (g), Phil Stephens (b), Buddy Cole (p), Tommy Romersa (d). During this period, Barbour and Lee steadily worked with most of those excellent musicians.

2. Billy May
In Jack Mirtle's discography of Billy May, the latter is also listed as possibly playing trumpet during the session. I am not certain that a trumpet is heard in any of this date's masters. On the other hand, and as previously mentioned, May was a member of the so-called Dave Barbour's All Stars to which the playing at the date is credited.

3. Buddy Cole
The credit to Buddy Cole is tentative. Combined with his inclusion in the already given list of Dave Barbour's All Stars, the basis for this tentative credit is Cole's presence in the photo shown directly above.





Songs

1. "I Don't Know Enough About You" In The Music Charts
Over the decades, this self-penned hit tune acquired the status of a perennial for Peggy Lee, as she and other fellow artists kept on singing and re-recording it. When the number was brand new, she enjoyed healthy chart competition from versions waxed by male acts. At Columbia, old boss Benny Goodman had recently re-enlisted Lee's erstwhile duet partner Art Lund as crooner with the bandleader's orchestra, and they had proceeded to record a version which reached -- according to Joel Whitburn -- a #12 chart position. At Decca, a #7 hit was delivered by the very popular Mills Brothers. (Incidentally, the songstress would go on to duet with the Brother at a later time. To be more specific, two other Lee-penned tunes were recorded by her and the Brothers in 1954.)

If we are to follow Joel Whitburn's tabulations for his text Pop Memories 1890-1954, "I Don't Know Enough About You" is Peggy Lee's third chart hit as a solo artist. (In the preceding sentence, the conditional if is necessary because there were several national music charts operating in the 1940s, and Pop Memories 1890-1954 does not tally all of them. I have already mentioned the case of Lee's 1944 version of "You Was Right Baby," which did chart in Cash Box, but not in Billboard, and which is the reason why this discography deems "I Don't Know Enough About You" Peggy Lee's fourth chart hit as a solo artist.)

Pop Memories 1890-1954 indicates that, after making its debut during the week of May 25, 1946, Lee's version of "I Don't Know Enough About You" went on to peak at #7, staying around for six weeks. My own look at Billboard's individual charts validates Whitburn's report. The magazine's disc jockey chart (aka Records Most Played On The Air) shows that this Peggy Lee vocal reached its #7 peak during the week ending July 12, 1946. As for the aforementioned versions by other artists, neither entered that particular chart. The opposite is true of the same magazine's jukebox chart (aka Best Selling Popular Records): Lee's version is nowhere to be found, and The Mills Brothers version is the one peaking at #7 (for the week ending August 1, 1946). Furthermore, on the same week, Benny Goodman & Art Lund's take on the song managed an one-week stay at #14 on the same jukebox-based countdown, which at the time fluctuated in the amount of slots reported per week (anywhere between 10 and 20).

"[T]he song was so popular with radio listeners that it stayed on the Hit Parade radio show for a record 17 weeks," adds Robin Callot in the liner notes of the CD Peggy Lee: The Early Years (Capitol Collectors Series). My inspection of the Your Hit Parade Singles chart corroborates a total of 16 weeks in that top ten countdown, starting in the week of June 15, 1946 and concluding on the week of October 5, 1946. The song peaked at #3. The version invariably listed in Your Hit Parade is, however, the one by The Mills Brothers. Even so, it should be remembered that Peggy Lee still partook in the honor, on account of being the song's lyricist.

Cash Box tallied together several versions, including those by songstress and the brothers. In that magazine's Disc-Hits Box Score, the song also peaked at #7 on its 10th week (August 5, 1946 issue). It is shown as staying in the chart's top 32 for 21 weeks. The peak was even better in the same magazine's Poll Of The Nation's Top 10 Juke Box Tunes: #5 for the week leading to the publication of the September 23, 1946 issue. (This particular Cash Box chart was a new addition to the magazine. The earliest issue to publish it seems to have been the one dated June 10, 1946. As for the other main chart mentioned, Disc-Hits Box Score, I have already commented on its characteristics; see the notes under the December 27, 1944 session.)

David Kent's Australian Chart Book 1940 - 1969 claims airplay for "I Don't Know About You" Down Yonder. He lists together the versions by The Mills Brother and Peggy Lee, with a #16 position for the month of April 1947 (both the song's debut and peak within his tabulated top 10 countdowns).


Masters And Alternate Takes

1. "I Don't Know Enough About You"
Upon first listening, the master and the alternate take of "I Don't Know Enough About You" might sound identical. However, repeated listening can reveal quite a few small divergences in both the music and the vocal. Among the most readily noticeable differences is Lee's pronunciation of the last syllable of the word 'baby,' from the fifth line ("And baby, what can I do?"). Lee's approach to that syllable is huskier in the alternate, more girlish in the master. Another audible difference occurs toward the end of the song, in the spoken lines "I guess I'd better get out the encyclopedia / And brush up on from shmer to shmoo." In the master, Lee lightly elongates the vowel of the word 'shmer,' and then does a very quick pause before uttering the next word. In the alternate, 'shmer to shmoo' is uttered without much of a pause. Furthermore, each take's instrumental intro has a few unique details; for instance, guitarist Dave Barbour begins with a resonant chord stroke in the alternate, but not in the master.

The alternate take can be found in only a few issues -- about a dozen. In addition to those listed above, another issue in which the alternate can be heard is Toshiba EMI CD #6079, which is a Japanese CD edition of the 12" LP Rendezvous With Peggy Lee. It stands to reason that the alternate was also used in all other Japanese editions of that LP, and possibly on LP editions from other countries. However, I count with verification for this Japanese CD only. (In passing, I should also clarify why the Japanese CD is not listed under the present session. As a policy, this sessionography does not list foreign editions of Peggy Lee's American albums. Such editions are listed instead in two separate, miscellaneous pages. One miscellaneous page focuses just on British editions. The other page attempts to cover the entire gamut of countries other than the US and the UK.)

Yet another clarification: I have listened to all the above-listed issues that contain the alternate take, but only to a portion of the many issues that feature the master. The reason why I have listen to only a portion is simple: I do not have copies of many of those issues, nor do I have specifics about the version of "I Don't Know Enough About You" that such issues contain. (Many of them are, incidentally, Public Domain items.) Hence I have had to make an educated guess as to whether certain issues contain the master or the alternate. Bearing in mind the relative rarity of the alternate take, I have tentatively placed all unheard Public Domain issues under the master take. I'd appreciate receiving corrections and assistance from any fellow fans who have copies of those PD items.

Of the issues to which I have not listened, I am particularly interested in finding out whether the following ones truly contain the master, not the alternate:

CAPITOL double EP: Ebf 151 — Rendezvous With Peggy Lee (1949)
CAPITOL 78-rpm single & 45-rpm single: 1667 / F 1667 — {I Don't Know Enough About You / I Can't Give You Anything But Love} [reissue series] (1951)


From the listing under the master take, here are the issues to which I have listened:

CAPITOL 78-rpm single: 236 — {I Don't Know Enough About You / I Can See It Your Way, Baby} (1946)
CAPITOL (10") LP: H 151 — Rendezvous With Peggy Lee (1952)
CAPITOL LP: (D)T 1743 — Bewitching-Lee! ("The Star Line" Series) (1962)
CAPITOL LP: (Japan) Ecs 65039/65040 - Peggy Lee ("Golden Double 32" Series) (ca. 1976)
CAPITOL CS/CD: C4 5/Cdp 7 93195 — The Early Years (Capitol Collectors Series, Volume 1) (1990)
CAPITOL CD: 0777 7 97826 2 8 (97827-97830) — Miss Peggy Lee (1998)
CAPITOL CD: 7243 4 97308 2 3 — The Best Of Miss Peggy Lee (1998)
EMI Special Markets CD: Gsc 15453/7243 4 96336 2 9 — Peggy Lee ("36 All-Time Greatest Hits" Series) (1999)
EMI CD: 7243 5 39756 2 3 — The Singles Collection (2002)
Dcc CD: Dzs 179 / 7243 5 23863 2 1 — Bewitching-Lee! (1999)
Reader's Digest CS/CD: Rf7/Krf 140 [Emi 72434 99216] — The Legendary Peggy Lee: Her Greatest Hits & Finest Performances (1999)
Movieplay / Goldies CD: (Portugal) Gld 25438 — Golden Earrings (2001)
North Star CD: Ns163/73435 40699 2 5 — The Marvelous Miss Lee (2002)
S&P audiophile LP/CD: Sp 502/Spr 709 [Emi 7243 5 84239 2 1] — Bewitching-Lee! (2003)
[Public Domain issues]
Asv / Living Era CD: (United Kingdom) Aja 5237 — Why Don't You Do Right?; 25 Early Hits (1997)
History CD: (Germany) 20.3046 Hi — Everything I Love ("The Great Vocalists Of Jazz & Entertainment" Series) (1999)
Gallerie / Music Collection CD: (United Kingdom) Gale 442 — A Portrait Of Peggy Lee (1999)
Castle / Pie CD: (United Kingdom) Piesd 045 — Mañana [also part of Ladies Of Jazz: Ella, Billie, Peggy #904, a 3CD set] (1999)
Going-For-A-Song CD: (United Kingdom) Gfs 241 — The Fever Of Peggy Lee (1999)
Columbia River/Allegro CD: Crg 218010 — Peggy Lee ("Cocktail Hour" Series) (2000)
Planet Media and Entertainment CD: (United Kingdom) Plm 1027 — Let There Be Love (2000)
Naxos CD: (United Kingdom) 8.120642 — It's A Good Day; Original Recordings, 1941-1950 (2002)
Proper CD: (United Kingdom) 45 P 1277 1280 — The Peggy Lee Story (2002)
Tim International CD: (Germany) 220838 [220839-220843] — A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues ("Document" Series) (2004)
Weton-Wesgram CD: (Netherlands) Mom 641 — Peggy Lee ("Masters Of Music" Series) (2005)
Proper CD: (United Kingdom) Box 108 — Miss Wonderful (2006)
Red & Blue CD: (Netherlands) Red 2007 — The Red Collection (2007)
Big 3 CD: Bt 3039 - Peggy Lee ("Absolutely Essential 3 CD Collection" Series) (2011)


Acknowledgments

My thanks to Ken Hawkins, a fellow resident of the Peggy Lee Bulletin Board, for pointing out the existence of the alternate take of "I Don't Know Enough About You" while posting at that forum. I would also like to thank Max O. Preeo for his kind assistance in determining whether certain issues featured the master or the alternate of "I Don't Know Enough About You."

Don Otis (pdr), The Charles Wolcott Orchestra (acc), Peggy Lee (v), Other Individuals Unknown (unk)

Photos

Images #1 and #3: two physical labels, as displayed on the 78-rpm discs which were the original issues of this session's two masters. Images #2 and #4: poster and screenshots from the movie for which the session's songs were originally written. Images #4 and #6: from the same movie, more screen shots, these ones specifically from the film segments on which the two songs in question were featured.


Cross-references (Film)

This session's songs were written for the 1946 animated Disney film Make Mine Music. However, these Peggy Lee vocals are not soundtrack versions. Nor are they re-interpretations made for release on commercial 78 rpm singles, either. Instead, Lee's versions are strictly promotional records, meant for radio airplay only. (As for the movie soundtrack versions, they had been recorded long before the present session took place, and Peggy Lee had no involvement in them. Ditto for the commercial re-interpretations, which were recorded mostly by the same artists who worked on the soundtrack -- probably an expectation on the part of the record labels to which they were contracted. But, to reiterate the more relevant point for the purpose of a Peggy Lee discography, she was not one of the soundtrack artists. To find out more about this and other matters pertaining to Make Mine Music, consult this miscellaneous discographical page.)


Issues And Master Numbers

1. Make Mine Music [78s]
Three 78-rpm discs bearing the legend From Walt Disney's Make Mine Music are known to exist. Peggy Lee sings in two of them. Extensive details about the discs are given in section II of this page.


Personnel And Record Companies

1. Charles Wolcott And Disney Films
The aforementioned 78-rpm discs feature accompaniment by Charles Wolcott And His Orchestra. One of Disney's musical directors from 1944 to 1948, Wolcott is credited with composing the overall score of the movie Make Mike Music.

2. Musicians
Aside from Wolcott, the identity of the musicians is unknown. According to an article found in the February 16, 1946 issue of Billboard magazine, an "11-man ork fronted by Charles Woolcott [sic; Wolcott]" participated in these promotional sides.

3. Benny Goodman
Record collectors and dedicated fans of Benny Goodman have debated whether he is or isn't the clarinetist heard in Peggy Lee's version of "Two Silhouettes." The debate has as its basis the fact that Goodman was involved in the recording of the movie soundtrack. The movie features not one but two performances from him ("All The Cats Join In," "After You've Gone"), and he was actually one of the very first music acts hired for the recording of the soundtrack. (His first session for the soundtrack took place on June 12, 1944.) However, on the matter of his possible playing in "Two Silhouettes," no solid evidence in favor of Goodman's presence has been advanced so far, and I for one find the possibility unlikely. Had the clarinetist been asked to participate, he would have probably requested top billing, and Disney would have been keen on publicizing the matter of his involvement in these promotional records.

4. Don Otis And Capitol Records
All three promotional 78-rpm discs carry the statement "recording supervised by Don Otis." In the February 16, 1946 issue of Billboard magazine, it was announced that "Don Otis, KMPC disc jockey and former program director, will take over duties as program director for Capitol Records' newly formed e.t. division effective March 1. He will work under Lee Gillette, Capitol exec. in building music library transcriptions. He had been with KMPC for years, and KFAC, 14 years."

5. Capitol And Decca As Possible Manufacturing Companies
There is no manufacturer's identification in the 78-rpm discs under discussion. Visual inspection has led one collector to speculate that Capitol pressed them. Decca is alternatively proposed by another collector, who relies on his inspection of one of the three discs.


The Recording Session (Date, Location, Cross-references)

1. Sources
The exact date(s) and location on which Peggy Lee recorded these promotional versions of "Two Silhouettes" and "Johnny Fedora And Alice Blue Bonnet" remain unknown. None of my main or official print sources contain such specifics. See below, however, for determinations made on the basis of other sources.

2. Location
My entering of Radio Recorders as the recording venue relies on an inspection of one of the 78-rpm discs. The inspection was conducted by fellow collector Eric Graf. (I do not have copies of these items. Graf had access to a copy of the disc that features "Two Silhouettes" and "All The Cats Join In.") The identification of Radio Recorders is based on his examination trailoff grooves of the disc, where he saw the studio distinctive typeface, used for the matrix number stamps.

3. Dating
A recording period spanning between late 1945 and February 1946 can be confidently ascertained on the basis of a contemporary article published by Billboard magazine. (For details, consult the aforementioned miscellaneous page, beginning with the page's third section.) The date can be more tentatively pinpointed as late 1945 or just December of 1945 thanks to an article published in the January 1946 issue of Capitol News. "Capitol’s Peggy Lee and Harry James’ vocalist, Anita Boyer, recently cut some wax here with top jazzmen as part of a promotion campaign for Walt Disney’s forthcoming Make Mine Music," states the article.

4. Dating, continued: ABM Records ("Two Silhouettes")
5. Dating, continued: Sheet Music ("Two Silhouettes")
In the CD It's Lovin' Time, Peggy Lee's version of "Two Silhouettes" is dated 1945. The source for this dating is not clarified. In the absence of a clarification, there seems to be little likelihood that the date is based on solid evidence. The compact disc was released by Audio Book & Music company, a British label founded by former BMG chief John Cooper in 1996. The year 1945 could just be a (fine) estimate on ABM's part. It could also be an educated guess based, for instance, on the fact that the sheet music of "Two Silhouettes" bears a 1945 copyright date.

6. Masters
The placement of these two Peggy Lee masters under one date (as opposed to two sessions) should be deemed tentative, though likely to be correct. The placement is predicated on a number of reasonable but not infallible assumptions, beginning with the conjecture that Lee would have been hired to record both songs on the same day, under one session. Notice that Charles Wolcott and his orchestra play on all the four numbers that were pressed in the two 78-rpm discs (i.e., the two Lee sides + the two non-Lee sides). Furthermore, the four master numbers are sequential or consecutive. That fact strengthens the hypothesis that all four numbers come from the same recording session.


Songwriters

1. ASCAP additions for "Johnny Fedora And Alice Blue Bonnet"
The songwriters credited in this discography are those listed on the label of the promotional 78-rpm discs. In the particular case of "Johnny Fedora And Alice Blue Bonnet," ASCAP credits three additional songwriters: Victor Schoen, Albert E. Sack and Wolcott himself). Presumably, the ASCAP credits correspond to the soundtrack versions and/or to the commercially released versions, but not to Peggy Lee's promotional interpretations. As a matter of fact, Vic Schoen is known to have scored the "Johnny Fedora And Alice Blue Bonnet" segment of the Disney movie; hence the ASCAP credit could be for the score, rather than for the writing of the song's music and lyrics. (Schoen was the regular arranger and conductor of the act who sings the number in the movie soundtrack, The Andrews Sisters. The ASCAP credit could also be for the Sisters' commercially issued version.)

2. Allie Wrubel
Allie Wrubel's last name is misspelled as "Wruble" in the label of the disc that features Peggy Lee's recording of "Johnny Fedora And Alice Blue Bonnet" disc.

3. Ray Gilbert
Disney-associated lyricist Ray Gilbert penned all but one of the six songs included in the three promotional 78-rpm discs; the exception is the movie's titular number, credited to Ken Darby and Eliot Daniel. (Some sources credit Charles Wolcott as well.)


Issues

1. Recommended Issues
This session's performances have yet to appear in an issue that can be fully recommended. (The sound quality of the few CDs that contain these songs is, at best, adequate.)