Record of the Day: Peggy Lee, “Things Are Swingin'”

Peggy Lee, “Things Are Swingin'” (Capitol Jazz CD 724359707228)

Even those who don’t frequent vocal jazz know “Fever”, the song that made Peggy Lee a star on the charts around the world. Accompanied only by Joe Mondragon’s double bass, Shelley Manne’s drums and a few finger snaps, Peggy told in a sensual voice a story of burning erotic desire, which in 1958 must have made the hairs of many moralists stand on end but was received with enthusiasm from the general public.

Lee was already well known thanks to her albums made for Decca (the most famous remains “Black Coffee”), where she tackled the great repertoire of American standards with exceptional swing, proving to be, together with Anita O’Day, one of the few singers of white skin to be able to stand comparison with names of the caliber of Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. That success, however, was limited to fans of the genre, while “Fever” reached all the jukeboxes and was also covered in an absolutely ridiculous way by Elvis Presley (compared to Peggy, his version has the sex appeal of a land registry employee).

In the same year this excellent “Things Are Swingin'” was released, created under the musical direction of Jack Marshall, who gave Peggy excellently crafted big band arrangements, full of good taste where her very creamy voice has easy play in making the most of classics like “Ridin’ High”, “Alone Together”, “Lullaby in Rhythm” (a cover that can rival Gerry Mulligan’s in swing) and above all the Ellingtonian “I’m Beginning to See the Light”.

As always in this repertoire there is no shortage of pieces of less interest: “You’re Mine, You” and “It’s a Wonderful World” (which became famous in our country for an advertisement on ham, no less) are not that great, while “Alright , Okay, You Win” is frankly horrendous, but Peggy’s skill and class manage to shine even in these unhappy pages, however created with unassailable professionalism. In any case, the album is worth listening to, three poor songs out of fourteen are a good average (if you think about many albums today.); Furthermore, Capitol was intelligent in including the original single of “Fever” (in mono version) in this CD version.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.