FEVER: THE MUSIC OF PEGGY LEE (TV)
Summary
This documentary is about the six-decade-spanning career of "hot" and "cool" singer Peggy Lee. The program opens with Lee performing "Is That All There Is?" Lee's granddaughter Holly Foster-Wells details the importance of the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller song to her grandmother. In her own words, Lee details her rough and abusive life as a youth -- when she was known as Norma Deloris Egstrom -- in North Dakota and her dreams of fleeing from a cruel stepmother. When she finally escaped to Fargo and began singing at the local radio station, she garnered her stage name before moving on to Minneapolis and Los Angeles. At a gig at The Ambassador West Hotel's Buttery Room in Chicago, she was seen by Benny Goodman, who catapulted her career toward stardom as she sang for his band. Then, composer Billy May discusses the "great musical ideas" of Lee, seguing to her performance in 1946 of "It's A Good Day." Next, singer Margaret Whiting discusses first meeting Lee as a fellow contract singer for Capitol Records, followed by a clip of Lee singing her controversial 1948 No. One hit, the Mexican-inflected "Manana." Singer k.d. lang details her discovery and eventual love of Lee, followed by a clip of Lee singing "I Don't Know Enough About You." The program then details Lee's personal and professional work with "the love of her life," husband Dave Barbour, the guitarist in Goodman's band. Foster-Wells briefly tells of the marriage's dissolution due to Barbour's alcoholism, and Lee's subsequent three marriages. May furthers details how Lee always had her ears open for new and exciting kinds of music, depicted as Lee is seen singing "Lover" in the 1953 version of "The Jazz Singer." Then, "Is That All There Is?" is further examined, seguing into a clip of Lee's televised performance with Mel Torme of "A Fine Romance" from 1951. Next, Lee's daughter Nicki Lee Foster talks about the "busy, hectic time" of Lee's career in the early-1950s when she began acting as well, eventually earning an Oscar nomination for her work in "Pete Kelly's Blues." Composer Johnny Mandel details how Lee's singing informed her acting work and vice-versa. Then, the program looks at her voice and music work for Walt Disney's "Lady and the Tramp." Quincy Jones talks about first meeting with Lee when he helped write "The Siamese Cat Song" for the film. Next, Lee's move to New York to headline at the Basin Street East nightclub is examined, followed by clips of performances of "See See Rider" from 1962 and a duet with Judy Garland of "I Love Being Here With You" from "The Judy Garland Show" in 1963. Next, Mandel details Lee's ability to make a song her own, illustrated by clips from a 1959 performance of "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'." Then, Nancy Sinatra details how Lee "had everything" and was like a female version of Elvis Presley. Then, the program talks about how "Fever" was brought to Lee's attention before it became her most iconic song. Next, friends and family members fondly recall Lee as a "Rubenesque beauty" and how she did everything with "gusto," leading into a 1962 performance of "I'm A Woman" from "The Ed Sullivan Show." Then, "Big Spender," which Cy Coleman wrote for the musical "Sweet Charity," was made into yet another hit by Lee, as demonstrated in a clip, followed by a clip of Lee singing "The Shining Sea," which she wrote for the film "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming." Next, Andy Williams details how Lee was one of the few singers of the time that actually wrote her own material before clips of some of her variety show appearances are shown, featuring appearances by Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, Carol Burnett, and Neil Diamond. Next, clips of Lee working hard on arranging a performance of "Is That All There Is?" lead to the resulting performance. Finally, lang discusses how much Lee influenced her, as well as others, as Lee's 1984 performance of "Wind Beneath My Wings" is viewed. The program ends with Lee's "Here's To You," played in conjunction with a montage of clips in salute to her 2002 death.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: 2004
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:91135
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Music and musicians; Biography
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 2004
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- JoAnn Young … Executive Producer
- Jim Pierson … Producer
- Jim Scalem … Consulting Producer
- Grady Tate … Narrator
- Dave Barbour
- Tony Bennett
- Carol Burnett
- Cy Coleman
- Bing Crosby
- Neil Diamond
- Walt Disney
- Nicki Lee Foster
- Holly Foster-Wells
- Judy Garland
- Benny Goodman
- Quincy Jones
- k.d. lang
- Peggy Lee
- Jerry Lieber
- Johnny Mandel
- Billy May
- Elvis Presley
- Nancy Sinatra
- Mike Stoller
- Ed Sullivan
- Mel Torme
- Margaret Whiting
- Andy Williams