June 2008

Peggy Lee - All Aglow Again!
Collector’s Choice CCM-921/EMI 509992-08531-2-9
Format: CD
Originally Released: 1960
Reissue Released: 2008

Musical Performance ****
Recording Quality ***1/2
Overall Enjoyment ***1/2
 

Peggy Lee - Then Was Then, Now Is Now; Bridge Over Troubled Water
Collector’s Choice CCM-920/EMI 509992-08533-2-7
Format: CD
Originally Released: 1965 and 1970
Reissue Released: 2008

Musical Performance ***1/2
Recording Quality ***1/2
Overall Enjoyment ***1/2
 

Peggy Lee - Make It With You; Where Did They Go
Collector’s Choice CCM-919/EMI 509992-08532-2-8
Format: CD
Originally Released: 1970 and 1971
Reissue Released: 2008

Musical Performance ***
Recording Quality ***1/2
Overall Enjoyment ***
 

Peggy Lee - The Lost ‘40s & ‘50s Capitol Masters
Collector’s Choice CCM-917/EMI 509992-08530-2-0
Format: CD
Released: 2008

Musical Performance ****
Recording Quality ***
Overall Enjoyment ***1/2

by Joseph Taylor
josepht@soundstage.com

Peggy Lee, born Norma Deloris Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, began singing for local radio stations when she was still in her teens and joined Benny Goodman’s band in 1941, when she was 21. She stayed with Goodman for two years and married the band’s guitarist, Dave Barbour, with whom she would write a number of songs, including "Maņana," a number-one hit for her in 1948. Ms. Lee spent much of recording career with Capitol Records, which has joined with Collector’s Choice to release several of her titles from their catalog.

The gem of the series is The Lost ‘40s & ‘50s Capitol Masters, two CDs of recordings Lee made for Capitol from 1944 through 1952. "Ain’t Goin’ No Place" opens disc one with the singer showing a slight Billie Holiday influence. On most of the tracks on both discs, Barbour and his orchestra accompany Lee in a variety of settings, and they never falter. Neither does she, whether singing sweet ballads or swinging jazz tunes. Disc two features arrangements by Pete Rugolo, Billy May, and Sid Feller, and Lee shows a sure command of the jazz and pop idioms. The later recordings have livelier sound quality, but The Lost ‘40s & ‘50s Capitol Masters is cleanly mastered throughout.

In 1960, Capitol gathered together 12 tracks, most of them singles Lee had released in the previous two years, for All Aglow Again! The album opens with Little Willie John’s classic "Fever," which is Lee's classic as well. The remaining tracks (to which the reissue producers add six from the same time period), show the full range of Lee’s talents. Some occasional distortion betrays the age of the master tapes, but the remastering is generally vibrant.

Two more reissues in this series include two titles each. One couples Then was Then, Now is Now from 1965 with Bridge Over Troubled Water from 1970. The first is classic Lee, the second an uneven attempt to update her. Two other recordings from the early '70s, Make It With You and Where Did They Go, are attempts to pitch the singer to a light-rock audience. Stick with the classics.


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