[Dixielandjazz] Lee & Shearing

[Don Ingle]

I think my post about this LP was the first one to mention  it  -- loing one
of my favorites of all Peggy's recorded work.. The one I mentioned as
Favorite of Favorites was Salt Lake City Blues -- a fine Johnny Mercer tune
all too long neglected. Hopefully some of us with bands will resurrect it -- 
I have already begun a chart on it for the Michigan Nigthhawks, my MI crew.
I also have the Johnny Mercer's record ot it on old black label Capitol ( he
singing it with that laid back Savannah vibrato so uniquely his sound) but
alas -- I can no longer play it -- no 78 turntable. Anyway, glad to see that
so many out there share my own admiration for Ms Lee and Mr. Shearing's
unmatchable pairing.
Sometimes God smiles on us, and this is proof.
Don Ingle
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ed Danielson" <mcvouty78 at hotmail.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 3:34 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Lee & Shearing


> John Bush, writin in the All-music Guide (www.allmusic.com), has these
> comments:
>
> "Upon its first release Beauty and the Beat! was billed as a live
recording
> from a Miami convention of disc jockeys. Though Peggy Lee and George
> Shearing did in fact perform there (and attempts were made to record them
> for later release), the songs heard on the subsequent LP were recorded in
> the studio and overdubbed with rather obvious canned applause,
> announcements, and even post-production echo. Lee and Shearing, who had
> never recorded before, conceived a set of completely new arrangements that
> played to their strengths: stately blues and effervescent swing. The best
of
> the former comes on a pair of locale-referencing quasi-blues, "I Lost My
> Sugar in Salt Lake City" and "You Came a Long Way From St. Louis," both of
> which Lee and Shearing are able to transform into languorous, respectable
> torch songs. The usually downcast "Blue Prelude" is actually taken at a
> laissez faire tempo that Lee treats well, and the original set ends with
> "Get Out of Town" and "Satin Doll," a pair of bemused, affectionate
> performances that perfectly suit the pair. Lee and Shearing's only
> collaboration on record - though both would occasionally perform together
> thereafter - is a supremely chilled session of late-night blues from two
> masters of the form."
>
> The album was released in 1959, and it really is excellent.  Shearing also
> recorded with two other top female vocalists of the era, Nancy Wilson (in
> 1960 -- I think it's her best album) and Dakota Staton (in 1958).
>
>
> Ed Danielson
>
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