The Best of the Decca Years

• Artist: Peggy Lee
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1997
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Vocal Music

Review

16-track survey of Lee's recordings for Decca in the early and mid-'50s, much of it from film and stage musicals like The Jazz Singer, Lady and the Tramp, and Johnny Guitar. Includes the hits "Lover," "Just One of Those Things," and "Be Anything (But Be Mine)," as well as duets with Bing Crosby and the Mills Brothers. One of the songs, "The Possibility's There," was previously unreleased in the U.S. "Lover," with its stormy, jittery arrangement, is a highlight, as is the dramatic theme to "Johnny Guitar"; "The Siamese Cat Song," on the other hand, is a ridiculous novelty. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Lover	Jimmie Davis, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Roger "Ram" Ramirez, Jimmy Sherman	Peggy Lee	(3:20)
This Is a Very Special Day	Peggy Lee	Peggy Lee	(2:34)
Just One of Those Things	Cole Porter	Peggy Lee	(2:59)
Be Anything (But Be Mine)	Irving Gordon	Peggy Lee	(3:17)
Black Coffee	Sonny Burke, Paul Francis Webster	Peggy Lee	(3:09)
He's a Tramp (Lyrics)	Peggy Lee, Sonny Burke	Peggy Lee	(2:41)
It Must Be So	Peggy Lee	Peggy Lee	(2:54)
Where Can I Go Without You? (Lyrics)	Peggy Lee, Victor Young	Peggy Lee	(3:18)
Somebody Loves Me (Lyrics)	George Gershwin, Buddy DeSylva, Ballard MacDonald	Peggy Lee	(3:29)
Sans Souci	Peggy Lee, Sonny Burke	Peggy Lee	(3:22)
The Possibility's There [#]	Johnny Burke, James Van Heusen	Peggy Lee	(2:53)
I Hear the Music Now	Sammy Fain, Jerry Seelen	Peggy Lee	(2:49)
Johnny Guitar (Lyrics)	Peggy Lee, Victor Young	Peggy Lee	(3:00)
The Siamese Cat Song	Peggy Lee, Sonny Burke	Peggy Lee	(2:26)
He Needs Me (Lyrics)	Arthur Hamilton, Mark VII	Peggy Lee	(2:36)
Mr. Wonderful (Lyrics)	Jerry Bock, George David Weiss, Larry Holofcener	Peggy Lee	(3:19)

Credits

Mills Brothers (Vocals), Jim Pierson (?), Michael Diehl (Design), Joseph F. Laredo (Liner Notes), Jim Pierson (Credits Director), Michael Diehl (Typography), Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra (?), Bing Crosby (Vocals), Harold Mooney (Director), Sonny Burke (Conductor), Peggy Lee (Vocals), Sy Oliver (Director), Geary Chansley (Photo Research), Buddy Cole (Director), Jim Pierson (Compilation), Victor Young (?), Andy McKaie (Compilation Producer), Paul Elmore (Digital Remastering)