Pass Me By/Big Spender

 

 

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Peggy Lee was a true talent who had enjoyed long and very successful associations with two major labels (Decca and Capitol). But by the time these two albums were issued in the mid-sixties, Peggy, like so many of her mainstream contempararies, found herself caught in the backwash of Beatle-Mania. It was a time of transition for the major labels, whose focus and direction had been irrevocably altered by the British Invasion and emergence of baby boomers as the primary marketing segment. As was the case with her contemporaries, Peggy's artistic heritage and style was not perceived to mesh well (at least in the eyes of record company executives) with this new marketing environment. That perception often resulted in attempts by producers to "update" their artists' images by insisting on the inclusion of material which, although contemporary, was not necessarily appropriate. Artistry was irrelevant. The main idea was to create an album that would "sell". Stan Kenton's woeful interpretation of the music from the Broadway show "Hair" (long and deservedly out-of-print) is a prime example. Anyone who has ever heard that album will know what I am talking about. The two albums included in this CD are emblematic of the changes taking place in the record biz, and their effect on mainstream artists such as Peggy Lee. The obligatory "contemporary pop" tunes are sprinkled here and there. Peggy does a valiant job with pop ditties such as "Hard Days Night". But it is in the traditional and quasi-tradtional material, especially the show tunes, where she truly shines. These are what make this CD more than worth the price of admission. For those too young or too cluless to remember, the sixties where not only about The Beatles and the emergence of Hard Rock. A lot of great, if faintly remembered, material was written in the sixties as well. "Watch What Happens", "Come Back To Me", "You've Got Possibilities", "I Must Know" (written by Neal "Batman" Hefti) to name four. Peggy's "Big Spender" has always been, to my mind, THE definitive rendition of Sy Coleman's great compositon for the Broadway Show "Sweet Charity". And it is (to my mind, at least) the centerpiece of this CD. Peggy is at her seductive vampish best, and the soaring big band arrangement by Dave Grusin provides a perfect backdrop. Forget the Beatles -- THIS was sixties music at its BEST. Had the entire CD contained material like this, it would rate TEN stars. One humorous footnote: The song "Bewitched" is attributed to Rogers and Hart in the updated liner notes. It is, in fact, the theme song from the sixties television series that starred Elizabeth Montgomery. I believe the editor has this song confused with "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", which was in fact written by Rogers and Hart. Guess the editor was too young (or too clueless??) to remember.

These two albums from the sixties, both produced by David Cavanaugh, show Peggy at the very peak of her career. Here, you will find Peggy singing songs from the Great American Songbook, together with more contemporary material, such as the Beatles' A hard day's night. Peggy clearly put a lot of thought into this track, to put her own distinctive identity on the song without changing it's character.

Another track that I particularly like is Big spender. To my ears, Peggy's version is far superior to the nore famous version by Shirley Bassey. Peggy shows her determination to get her man without sounding threatening in the way that Shirley does.

There is a great mix of songs here - it's generally more uptempo than some of Peggy's albums. If you are used to hearing Peggy singing lots of soft, romantic songs, you might be pleasantly surprised by this twofer. I love Peggy singing those songs, but there are plenty of other albums full of them.

This twofer demonstrates that Peggy was more versatile than some would have you believe. And it's every bit as good as the romantic stuff - just different.

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