Long before the marketing men discovered the word "crossover" there was Peggy Lee, jazz singer who was able to sing pop, folk and blues, or pop singer who could sing blues, folk and jazz, all so sublimely and effortlessly. Like her male contemporary Sinatra, she was able to "bend" or make subtle changes to songs, just a word or note here or there, to make them unmistakeably hers.This collection is taken from the 4-disc boxed set "The Singles Collection" (q.v) which is four times the price. Most of the songs were not chart hits as such, but many of them are very well known. This CD compliments the "Very Best Of..." issue (only five tracks are repeated) and so is ideal for anyone who has already got that. The songs were recorded between 1942 and 1969; inevitably some of the early ones show their age, but the engineers have done a great job in remastering the originals without losing much of the atmosphere and dynamics. They show off Lee's liquid vocals and versatility perfectly, from the out-and-out pop of "It's A Good Day" and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah", to the blues of "Birmingham Jail" and "I'm Looking Out The Window" (later covered by Cliff Richard), to the folksy "Birmingham Jail" and "Is That All There Is". There's a very individual version of George Harrison's "Something", complete with jazz-organ and violin solo arrangement (something that requires listening to more than a few) and a totally unnecessary DJ remix of "Fever" to close - I cannot imagine anyone, not clubbers, not jazz radio listeners and certainly not age-old Peggy Lee admirers, liking it. The one blip aside, this is a superb collection either on its own or to go with the earlier "hits" album. |
