I Like Men

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In the late '50s, Peggy Lee forged a fruitful partnership with in-house Capitol producer and conductor Jack Marshall, who arranged Lee’s smash hit “Fever” and reunited with her for the 1959 album <i>I Like Men!</i>. Though this is mainly a collection of standards old and new, Lee and Marshall cowrote the title song, a whimsical, winning piece of jazzy pop that—much more than “Fever”—defines the tenor of the '50s. Several songs on <i>I Like Men!</i> show Lee's ingenuity and originality when it came to atypical moods and arrangements. Watch her chase the swift big-band maneuvers of “Charley, My Boy” with an agility to match Anita O’Day. Lee could formulate classically swinging pop tunes like “I Love to Love,” but she shines brightest in darker atmospheres. “My Man” is a sequel of sorts to “Fever”: a percussive rendition of a lusty striptease rhythm. Lee loved nothing more than playing with her image as a cast-in-ivory Midwestern girl. Her best performances are a trilogy of dedication to anonymous men—“Bill,” “Jim," and “Good-for-Nothin’ Joe”—each of which attains a glum grace, tinged with late-night tipsiness.

via Apple Music

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