For those not in the know, over her seven-decade career, Peggy Lee, as both a singer and a songwriter, helped redefine what it meant to be a female singer, and her quietly captivating voice continues to resonate with audiences of all ages.

Born in an era in which women struggled for equality - a conversation that continues today - and carrying the burden of a traumatic childhood, she was a true pioneer and survivor to her core.

What she accomplished as a woman, and as an artist, is nothing short of extraordinary.

Her vast and varied catalog of songs flourished from remarkable longevity in the music business: she recorded more than 1,100 masters and over 50 original albums.

Her total number of radio broadcast performances exceeds 800, and her television appearances surpass the 200-mark.

Best known for such songs as Fever, Its A Good Day, Why Dont You Do Right, Im a Woman and Is That All There Is?, she amassed over 100 chart entries beginning with I Got It Bad (1941) and culminating with the posthumous hit Similau (2017).

Among the myriad music honors bestowed upon Lee are 13 Grammy Award nominations, a 1969 Grammy win, and a 1995 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Well, to the joy of all her fans and admirers, Omnivore Recordings and Peggy Lee Associates have just released (via Omnivore Recordings) Something Wonderful: Peggy Lee Sings The Great American Songbook.

Compiled to accompany the 2020 PBS documentary Fever: The Music of Peggy Lee, this two-CD, 40-song set features dozens of previously unissued performances from Lees 1951-1952 radio program.

Besides her renditions of American standard classics, songwriters Hoagy Carmichael, Matt Dennis, Frank Loesser and Johnny Mercer make rare duet appearances with Lee.

Disc 1:
1. Peggy Lee Introduction
2. Johnny Mercer Introduction
3. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive [Peggy Lee with Johnny Mercer]
4. Goody Goody
5. Come Rain Or Come Shine
6. That Old Black Magic
7. (Ah, The Apple Trees) When The World Was Young
8. Johnny Mercer Introduction
9. Medley: Jeepers Creepers/Too Marvelous For Words/Mandy Is Two/Blues In The Night [Peggy Lee with Johnny Mercer]
10. My Funny Valentine
11. The Lady Is A Tramp
12. I Could Write A Book
13. This Cant Be Love
14. Lover
15. Something Wonderful
16. Mountain Greenery
17. From This Moment On
18. Ive Got You Under My Skin
19. What Is This Thing Called Love?
20. Just One Of Those Things
21. Everything Happens To Me
22. Medley: We Belong Together/Angel Eyes/Lets Get Away From It All [Peggy Lee with Matt Dennis]

Opening on a :17 second Announcer introduction and then Peggy talking to Johnny Mercer (in which we get a snippet of one very honest and funny chat), their wondrous, oh-so joyful duet Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive is first up and that is backed by the finger-snapping Goody Goody, the smooth and sultry Come Rain Or Come Shine, the funky That Old Black Magic, and then we get the storytelling of (Ah, The Apple Trees) When The World Was Young.

After another Johnny Mercer introduction from Peggy, we get their dulcet duet medley of Jeepers Creepers/Too Marvelous For Words/Mandy Is Two/Blues In The Night, which is followed by the lush My Funny Valentine, the romantically quirky The Lady Is A Tramp, the short, but oh-so sweet I Could Write A Book, and then the jazzy swing of This Cant Be Love.

Next up is the train track roll of Lover and the low brow notes of Something Wonderful which are in turn backed by the upbeat duo of both Mountain Greenery and From This Moment On, a foot-tapping rendition of Ive Got You Under My Skin, an abundantly joyous What Is This Thing Called Love?, the fast hipsway of Just One Of Those Things, with the first disc rounding out on the quiet ballad Everything Happens To Me, closing on another medley, this time with Matt Dennis, We Belong Together/Angel Eyes/Lets Get Away From It All.

Disc 2:
1. Its A Good Day
2. I Dont Know Enough About You
3. Manana
4. Whee Baby
5. Skylark
6. Medley: Georgia On My Mind/I Get Along Without You Very Well/Old Rockin Chair (plus three) [Peggy Lee with Hoagy Carmichael]
7. Hoop Dee Doo
8. Frank Loesser Introduction
9. Medley: Jingle, Jangle, Jingle/If I Were A Bell/On A Slow Boat To China (plus two) [Peggy Lee with Frank Loesser]
10. Introduction
11. Somebody Loves Me
12. Oh, Look At Me Now
13. Unforgettable
14. Lullaby Of Broadway
15. Alone Together
16. When Youre Smiling
17. Try A Little Tenderness
18. All Of Me

The second disc opens on the brilliantly fun Its A Good Day and the yearning of I Dont Know Enough About You before moving seamlessly into the Latin hipsway of Manana, the mid-tempo Whee Baby, the gossamer balladry of Skylark, before we get another medley, this time with Hoagy Carmichael Georgia On My Mind/I Get Along Without You Very Well/Old Rockin Chair (plus three) which is itself backed by the gently frenetic dancer Hoop Dee Doo.

After a quick Frank Loesser (Mr. Guys & Dolls himself) introduction, we then get the last medley of the two CD set, Jingle, Jangle, Jingle/If I Were A Bell/On A Slow Boat To China (plus two), which is followed by a Poem-read introduction by Peggy that itself leads into mystically ethereal Somebody Loves Me, before we get the perky Oh, Look At Me Now.

Her beautiful rendition of Unforgettable is up next with the second disc rounding out with the soft shoe shuffle of Lullaby Of Broadway, the achingly stunning Alone Together, closing on the upbeat When Youre Smiling, the dulcet piano work of Try A Little Tenderness, and then we get the mid-tempo floozy All Of Me.

Official Purchase Link

Peggy Lee - Something Wonderful Trailer (Omnivore)

www.PeggyLee.com