Peggy Lee ~ Black Coffee: Best Of The Decc
Peggy Lee is one of the all-time great female voices. Though her time at Decca was relatively brief, it was one the most creative periods of her entire career; this collection is an excellent synopsis of her recordings between 1952 and 1956. The first three songs on this album serve as a perfect introduction to her music: her flexibility is amply demonstrated from the smoky jazz of “Black Coffee” to the latin-tinged romantica of “Lover”. The syrupy strings on “Mr Wonderful” demonstrate her more conventional fare. Sadly, her self-penned hit “Why Don’t You Do Right?” is not included on this collection, having been recorded during her time with Capital Records. However, track 20, the co-written “Sans Souci”, is a superb neo-exotica track. –F.Bes
