Peggy Lee

The point of this patchy compilation, released on Capitol Records' discount-priced Starline series in 1960, seems to be to put Peggy Lee's 1958 Top Ten single "Fever" on an LP for the first time. The single's B-side, "You Don't Know," also appears, along with five tracks from singles Lee released in 1959: the old Fanny Brice signature song "My Man," which reached the singles chart as the B-side of "Alright, OK, You Win"; the charting cover of Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love Him So" and its B-side, "I'm Lookin' Out the Window," and the non-charting single "You Deserve" with its B-side "Where Do I Go from Here." Lee's biggest hit, "Manana (Is Soon Enough for Me)," from back in 1948, is thrown in for good measure, and the collection is padded out to 12 tracks by digging four previously unreleased songs from the vaults: "Whee Baby," "Louisville Lou (That Vampin' Lady)," "It Keeps You Young," and "Let's Call It a Day." Despite this grab-bag of sources, there are some excellent, if stylistically disparate, performances, starting with the brilliantly smoldering "Fever." "You Don't Know" is even bluesier and an excellent companion piece. The faux-Latin "Manana (Is Good Enough for Me)" is always welcome, and Lee's effervescent reading provides a light contrast to Charles' on "Hallelujah, I Love Him So." Among the better known material, only "My Man" is a failure, because it doesn't suit the singer, whose cool persona is at odds with its hot, emotional fervor. Lee has fun with the lesser known songs, but it's easy to see why they are lesser known. [For the 2008 reissue, Collectors' Choice Music expanded the track list by 50-percent, adding six songs that had appeared on three singles, two of them just preceding "Fever" and the third just after it: "Every Night"/"Baby, Baby, Wait for Me," "Listen to the Rockin' Bird"/"Uninvited Guest," and "Light of Love"/"Sweetheart." The first pair demonstrated the influence of Elvis Presley on the singles market of 1957; "Every Night" and "Baby, Baby, Wait for Me," with their rockin' rhythms and backing vocals reminiscent of the Jordanaires, sounded like songs that had been waylaid on the way to a Presley recording session, and Lee didn't seem to mind a bit. "Listen to the Rockin' Bird," as its title indicated, was another nod to the rock & roll fad, but "Uninvited Guest" was a ballad. Both sides of the "Fever" follow-up charted, although, surprisingly, the faux-gospel of "Light of Love" fared better than "Sweetheart," which boasted a percussion arrangement similar to "Fever." These rare tracks were appropriate additions to the original All Aglow Again!] ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide