Thirteen tracks make digital debut in third volume from new series
LOS ANGELES, CA – September 13, 2024 – Capitol Records and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), in conjunction with Peggy Lee Associates, today release Peggy Lee: From the Vaults (Vol. 3), the third installment in the new digital series that features rare tracks currently unavailable on streaming platforms.
Recorded for Capitol between 1951 and 1972, the 13 selections on From the Vaults (Vol. 3) include songs from emerging songwriting giants Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb, a popular song by television pioneer Steve Allen, one co-written by Peggy Lee herself, Tin Pan Alley and jazz standards, alternate versions of four songs, and another three songs that remained unreleased in Lee’s lifetime (1920-2002).
“Stop Living in the Past” is the title of one song included on From the Vaults (Vol. 3), and as a recording artist, Lee was as forward-looking as she was nostalgic. Mentored by the great lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer when she began songwriting in the 1940s, Lee paid it forward by recording songs by young, emerging talents throughout her career. In 1957, Lee introduced “Uninvited Dream” by Burt Bacharach, then in his late 20s and soon to enjoy his first chart successes with “The Story of My Life” and “Magic Moments.”
Jimmy Webb also enjoyed major success as a songwriter in his 20s, and Lee was one of many artists to record his song “Didn’t We.” She recorded it during a 1969 session for her album Is That All There Is? but the song was not included. Television audiences saw her sing it that same year on her documentary special The World of Peggy Lee, which chronicled her rehearsal and performance process.
Of Lee’s recording Jimmy Webb offers: “The Peggy Lee cover of my song ‘Didn’t We’ is an exquisite reading and a typically well-crafted vocal performance that Ms. Lee was known for. Each word is given special significance, which is a vocal skill rarely heard today. To hear her voice on this lost recording of one of my songs is a warmly welcomed surprise.”
From Lee’s songwriting catalog comes “I Love You but I Don’t Like You,” co-written with Heinie Beau, saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, and conductor, who regularly worked in the 1940s with Lee and her first husband, guitarist and hit songwriting partner Dave Barbour (“It’s a Good Day,” “Mañana”). “I Love You but I Don’t Like You” was recorded in 1951, when Lee and Barbour divorced. Later that decade, Lee would partner with several musical greats on successful songs, including Victor Young (“Where Can I Go Without You”), Duke Ellington (“I’m Gonna Go Fishin’”), and Sonny Burke (the songs from Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp).
Four songs featured in From the Vaults (Vol. 3) are alternate takes with notable differences from their released versions: “Uninvited Dream,” significantly rearranged for release on a 1957 single; “A Taste of Honey” from Lee’s Grammy-nominated 1963 album I’m a Woman; “Me and My Shadow,” the B-side of Lee’s Grammy-winning 1969 single “Is That All There Is?” and also included on the album of the same name; and “I’ll Be Seeing You,” the final track on Lee’s final album for Capitol, 1972’s Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota.
Other songs included in From the Vaults (Vol. 3) are “No More,” a jazz standard by Toots Camarata and Bob Russell that was introduced by Billie Holiday, and “This Could Be the Start of Something Big,” the most successful song penned by television pioneer Steve Allen, on whose shows Lee guested numerous times. Both songs were unreleased in Lee’s lifetime, along with the aforementioned “Didn’t We.” The collection is rounded out by the non-album singles “Ev’rytime,” “Maybe This Summer,” “Stop Living in the Past,” “Tonight You Belong to Me,” and “Would You Dance with a Stranger.”
With the release of the four-volume From the Vaults digital series, Lee’s entire catalog of issued master recordings from the Universal family of labels — Capitol, Decca, A&M, and Polydor — will be accessible via digital streaming. The fourth volume will compile duets and other musical collaborations recorded between 1947 and 1972, Lee’s last year under contract with Capitol Records.
To read a full track history, visit here.
To read about previous volumes of From the Vaults: Vol. 1 | Vol. 2.
From the Vaults (Vol. 3) Track Listing
Dates in parentheses denote recording date
- I Love You, But I Don’t Like You (Heinie Beau, Peggy Lee) (5/16/51)
- Tonight You Belong to Me (Lee David, Billy Rose) (5/16/51)
- Would You Dance with a Stranger (Giovanni D’Anzi, Ray Miller) (12/17/51)
- Ev’rytime (Tony Iavello, Mel Leven) (2/18/52)
- Uninvited Dream (Burt Bacharach, Sammy Gallop) (4/22/57)*
- A Taste of Honey (Ric Marlow, Bobby Scott) (1/3/63)*
- This Could Be the Start of Something Big (Steve Allen) (5/31/63)
- Maybe This Summer (Arthur Altman, Bruno Brighetti, Bruno Martino, Al Stillman) (6/18/65)
- Stop Living in the Past (Howlett Smith) (6/18/65)
- Me and My Shadow (Dave Dreyer, Al Jolson, Billy Rose) (1/29/69)*^
- No More (Toots Camarata, Bob Russell) (2/12/69)
- Didn’t We (Jimmy Webb) (10/14/69)
- I’ll Be Seeing You (Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal) (4/28/72)*
*alternate version
^previously unreleased