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Is that all there is? : the strange life of Peggy Lee / James Gavin.

by Gavin, James, 1964-

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Atria Books, 2014.

781.63092 L479g

Lee, Peggy, 1920-2002

Women jazz singers -- United States -- Biography.

Singers -- United States -- Biography.

Lyricists -- United States -- Biography.

Jazz musicians -- Biography.

9781451641684 (hc.)

1451641680 (hc.)

Alternate title:

Strange life of Peggy Lee

First Atria Books hardcover edition.

601 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 567-568) and index.

"A portrait of American recording artist, jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, actress and musical legend Peggy Lee and her career spanning six decades. "She made you think that she knew who you were, that she was singing only to you." Miss Peggy Lee cast a spell when she sang. She purred so intimately in nightclubs that couples clasped hands and huddled closer. She hypnotized, even on television. Lee epitomized cool, but her trademark song, "Fever" -- covered by Beyoncé and Madonna -- is the essence of sizzling sexual heat. Her jazz sense dazzled Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. She was the voice of swing, the voice of blues, and she provided four of the voices for Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp, whose score she co-wrote. But who was the woman behind the Mona Lisa smile? Music journalist James Gavin offers a revealing look at an artist of infinite contradictions and layers. Lee was a North Dakota prairie girl who became a temptress of enduring mystique. She was a singer-songwriter before the term existed. Lee "had incredible confidence onstage," observed the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop; yet inner turmoil wracked her. She spun a romantic nirvana in her songs, but couldn't sustain one in reality. As she passed middle age, Lee dwelled increasingly in a bizarre dreamland. She died in 2002 at the age of eighty-one, but Lee's fascination has only grown since. An account of Peggy Lee's strange and enchanting life -- a long overdue portrait of an artist who redefined popular singing."--Provided by publisher.

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