Peggy Lee’s ‘The Capitol Transcriptions 1946-1949’ Is Out Now

The centennial celebration of Peggy Lee’s birth—May 26, 1920—continues to be commemorated with the release of The Capitol Transcriptions 1946-1949 and the airing of an updated documentary.

Honoring one of the 20th century’s most important musical influences in the world of jazz and popular music, and in conjunction with UMe/Capitol, the Peggy Lee Estate have announced the digital-only release of The Capitol Transcriptions 1946-1949, and the airing of an updated edition of Fever: The Music of Peggy Lee in partnership with American Public Television.

During the 1940s, Capitol’s Transcription Library Service produced records exclusively for radio airplay and not commercial sale. From 1946-1949, Peggy Lee, backed mostly by a small jazz group, recorded masters for the Capitol Transcription Library Service. The Capitol Transcriptions 1946-1949, a 72-track collection, features 55 songs making their worldwide digital debut and includes two Peggy Lee compositions, “Don’t Be So Mean To Baby” and “I Don’t Know Enough About You.”

Fever: The Music of Peggy Lee, which originally aired in 2004, has been newly updated for the centennial commemoration. The 60-minute PBS program, which will air in select markets in mid-July and premieres in most areas the week of August 29, explores her life and songs as told in her own words, though vintage interviews and performances.

Featuring her biggest hits and most famous signature songs, spanning the 1940s through the 1980s, the recently issued Fever: The Music of Peggy Lee offers a wealth of extremely rare footage and images, including photographs and home movies. The program also includes commentary by family, friends, and colleagues, including k.d. lang, Quincy Jones, Andy Williams, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Margaret Whiting, and interviews with Michael Feinstein and Lee’s daughter, Nicki Lee Foster, and her granddaughter, Holly Foster Wells.

Best known for such songs as “Is That All There Is?,” “Fever,” “Why Don’t You Do Right,” and “I’m A Woman,” which made her a jazz and pop legend, Peggy Lee recorded over 50 albums and amassed over 100 chart entries. She won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance for her 1969 hit “Is That All There Is?” In 1995, she received the Grammy Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

Coined “the female Frank Sinatra” by Tony Bennett, Lee did something few of her male counterparts ever attempted: she wrote songs. As one of the foremothers of the singer-songwriter school, Lee ranks among the most successful female singer-songwriters in the annals of American popular music. Over her remarkable seven-decade career, singer, songwriter and composer Peggy Lee wrote over 250 songs and recorded over 1,100 masters.

The Capitol Transcriptions 1946-1949 is out now. Scroll down to read the full tracklist and buy it here.

The Capitol Transcriptions 1946-1949 [digital-only]:
“Wherever There’s Me There’s You”
“All The Cats Join In”
“A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues”
“Come Rain or Come Shine”
“The Best Man”
“If You Were The Only Boy”
“Love Doesn’t Grow On Trees”
“I Guess I’ll Get The Papers And Go Home”
“My Sugar Is So Refined”
“I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love With Me”
“Lonesome Road”
“Them There Eyes”
“You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me”
“The Glory Of Love”
“Melancholy Lullaby”
“Taking A Chance On Love”
“A Cottage For Sale”
“Fools Rush In”
“Sometimes I’m Happy”
“The Way You Look Tonight”
“Love Is Just Around The Corner”
“Porgy”
“Blue Skies”
“I’ve Had My Moments”
“Blue Moon”
“Don’t Be So Mean To Baby (‘Cause Baby’s Good To You)”
“Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man”
“Mean To Me”
“I’m Confessin’”
“Summertime”
“I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”
“Georgia On My Mind”
“Rockin’ Chair”
“Swing Low Sweet Chariot”
“Just Like A Gypsy”
“Somebody Loves Me”
“The Lullaby Of Broadway”
“In My Solitude”
“I Get A Kick Out Of You”
“Lover Come Back To Me”
“I Don’t Know Enough About You”
“Oh, Look At Me Now”
“I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)”
“Someday, Sweetheart”
“If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight”
“Dancing With Tears In My Eyes”
“Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone”
“Birth Of The Blues”
“Careless”
“Then I’ll Be Happy”
“I Only Have Eyes For You”
“Back In Your Own Back Yard”
“How Long Has This Been Going On”
“I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart”
“As Long As I’m Dreaming”
“Swinging On A Star”
“Aren’t You Glad You’re You”
“Trav’lin’ Light”
“Save Your Sorrow For Tomorrow”
“Oh! You Crazy Moon”
“‘S Wonderful”
“Imagination”
“This Can’t Be Love”
“You’re Driving Me Crazy”
“Goody Goody”
“I Ain’t Got Nobody”
“Molly Malone”
“This Little Piggie”
“But Beautiful”
“Fine and Dandy”
“‘T Ain’t So, Honey, ‘T Ain’t So”
“When A Woman Loves A Man”