I Love Being Here with You
“I Love Being Here with You,” co-written with Peggy’s longtime Capitol Records producer Dave Cavanaugh (using the pseudonym Bill Schluger), became a staple in live performance for Peggy shortly after she recorded it for Capitol on September 1, 1960. It was featured the next year on her live album Basin Street East Proudly Presents Miss Peggy Lee, she sang a duet version with Judy Garland on her 1963 television series, and it remained in her repertoire for the rest of her long concert career. This is one of six Lee lyrics selected by Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball for inclusion in their anthology Reading Lyrics (Pantheon Books, 2000). The song’s audience-friendly message has been appreciated by many singers who have gone on to record it, including Ernestine Anderson, Erin Boheme, Betty Bryant, Jeanie Bryson, Chris Connor, Ethel Ennis, Connie Evingson, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Greco, Diana Krall, Queen Latifah, Deana Martin, Barbara Morrison, Tish Oney, Janet Seidel, Mary Stallings, Stacy Sullivan, Carol Welsman, Libby York and a duet version with Bette Midler and Barry Manilow.