Lee and Barbour explored the process of writing songs together in various ways. Sometimes she would write lyrics and he would set the completed lyrics to music, as in “What More Can a Woman Do?” At other times she would compose words to complement Barbour’s simple musical ideas, and occasionally they would sit down together to work on composing words and music at the same time, contributing their thoughts and creating a song simultaneously, building upon one another’s ideas. John Chiodini expressed that his collaborations with Lee followed this same three-way songwriting paradigm, and Lee “said she loved this because this was the way she used to work with her first husband, Dave Barbour.”[8] Generally, Barbour would then arrange and orchestrate the music for performance or recording purposes. Later in her career, other members of the band (usually the pianist or big band conductor) would assume that responsibility.
In late 1945 Peggy Lee was called to a recording session in Hollywood in order to sing the vocal tracks for two Disney songs that were yet to be released in the film Make Mine Music, originally planned to be a sequel to the legendary 1940 Disney film Fantasia. While classical music claimed the equivalence of a leading role in Fantasia, popular music occupied an equally important role in the 1946 counterpart. Although Lee played no part in making this film, nor its soundtrack (Dinah Shore and The Andrews Sisters performed these songs on the soundtrack), this session independently created two promotional recordings for radio release ahead of the film. The songs “Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet” and “Two Silhouettes” were accompanied by the Charles Wolcott Orchestra. The film represented a wartime compilation of short animated skits (much like Fantasia) put together to create a feature film, while Disney’s primary film staff finished serving in the army draft. Released in theaters in 1946, Make Mine Music was never reissued; instead it was sliced into ten shorts used in Disney’s televised shows.
In April 1946 Peggy’s solo career as a Capitol Records artist rose to new heights with “Linger in My Arms a Little Longer,” which became her fourth hit for the label. Dave Barbour and His Orchestra provided an easy swinging accompaniment to her gently crooning voice. According to Your Hit Parade Singles Chart, the song hit the charts in September and spent three weeks there, peaking at number eight. “Baby, You Can Count on Me,” the song on the other side of the 78-rpm record, was also recorded at the same session. This swing tune included a line in Spanish (a translation of the song title), which represented Lee’s first foray into music with strong Hispanic or Latin qualities. She would later explore this Spanish theme many times in original songs like “Mañana” and “Caramba! It’s the Samba.” Her keen ear for languages and interest in singing with heavy linguistic accents led Lee to record music highlighting various cultures more frequently than most other pop singers of her generation.
In July 1946 the Barbours recorded two of their original collaborations: “Don’t Be so Mean to Baby” and “It’s a Good Day.” The first was a slowly swinging song in which a woman begged her man to treat her with more kindness. It possessed a sense of earnest yet dignified pleading, as if Lee were asking for mercy on behalf of all ill-treated women. This version was held in the Capitol vaults for decades, finally seeing the light in 2008 when several unreleased masters were unveiled on the long-awaited album Peggy Lee: The Lost ’40s and ’50s Capitol Masters.
“It’s a Good Day” became an anthem for optimism long associated with Lee and would be used as a theme song for her radio show in forthcoming years. This wonderful up-tempo swing tune championed all that was fun and joyous about an ordinary day. In it, Lee encouraged the listener to embrace both the day and a positive outlook, to get going, and to be thankful for all the beauty and opportunities that this new day brought. The recording included a trumpet solo, a guitar solo by Dave Barbour, and a clarinet solo during the interlude before Lee returned for the final vocal reprise. “It’s a Good Day” first appeared on the Billboard charts in January 1947 and peaked at number sixteen. Capitol released this recording as a single in 1947, 1948, and 1951. Other labels, RCA Victor and Columbia, released their own competing versions of this Barbour-Lee composition. The song resonated so much with so many listeners that it remained relevant and cherished for multiple decades following its initial release. Other singers recorded it, including Dean Martin, Vic Damone, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, and the author of this book. Lee herself performed it on television four times as a duet with Bing Crosby, and Judy Garland performed it on her televised variety show in 1963. “It’s a Good Day” has appeared in several film soundtracks, including Scent of a Woman (1992), U Turn (1997), Blast from the Past (1999), World’s Greatest Dad (2009), and Pete’s Dragon (2016), and on television in episodes of Malcolm in the Middle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Wilfred. Its universal appeal, catchy tune, and direct, positive message cemented its ongoing relevance for subsequent generations.
One song recorded at the same session, “I’ve Had My Moments,” ended up being rejected for commercial release but was eventually included as part of the 2008 posthumous album mentioned above. Lee’s overall performance was clean, expressive, and beautifully complemented by celesta, piano, and bass, but she anticipated her final note, singing it slightly early. This altered the timing of the pianist’s penultimate chord, which created an awkward musical moment and possibly accounted for the rejection of the track. Lee recorded “I’ve Had My Moments” five times in the 1940s, more than any other song. She recorded the song twice for radio broadcasts and two other times at Capitol for commercial release (July 1946 and November 1947), although only one of the three recordings made at Capitol was released prior to 2008.
On July 15, 1946, Peggy’s voice appeared on a recording of “A Nightingale Can Sing the Blues,” for which the Frank DeVol Orchestra was credited. Some uncertainty remains as to whether Lee actually attended the DeVol session or whether her vocal master from a June session, featuring Dave Barbour and His Orchestra, was inserted instead. Either way, the final product yielded a delightful symphonic rendering of a romantic, bluesy ballad with a flute soloist providing birdlike fluttering and calls in response to Lee singing the title lyric. Lee’s natural, gentle stroll through this storytelling song coaxed the listener into a virtual forest glade to observe the birds and trees so clearly painted in this orchestral landscape.
In July 1946 Lee recorded her fifth hit song, “It’s All Over Now.” Backed by Dave Barbour and His Orchestra, Lee imbued this medium-slow swing tune with a heartfelt story about falling prey to a lying beau. She navigated swinging semitones and employed fall-offs at the ends of notes to ornament her melody with jazz inflections teeming with authentic swing style. Halfway through, the band moved into a double-time feel, causing a ramp-up of energy and a sense that the music moved twice as fast, during which Lee naturally transitioned into a matching rhythmic sensibility. (This double-time feel was and still is a technique used by bands to add energy to the middle of ballads—the music’s harmony and melody move at the same rate as before but feel more energetic, with a busier undercurrent of rhythm and musical activity.) The music then tapered into the original slow swing feel for the end of this well-executed song. It entered the Billboard charts in November and attained number ten status.
Lee’s version of the scandalous song “Aren’t You Kind of Glad We Did?” by George and Ira Gershwin never made it to the Billboard charts, being banned from radio airplay by networks due to its lyrics being strongly suggestive of a sexual encounter. Moreover, two other duet versions of the same song were allowed radio play. Judy Garland and Dick Haymes performed it for the Decca label, and Vaughn Monroe and Betty Hutton recorded it for Victor. The duets allowed the male characters to assume much of the responsibility for the described indiscretions, leaving Lee’s solo version to show her simmering alone in the song’s shocking implications. Lee certainly did simmer in this recording, bringing a sensuous, unapologetic, and surprisingly open conversation about sex to the masses in a musical package. Lee forged new ground here in respect to recording subject matter universally deemed unsuitable for public discourse, and it would not be the last time.