The Foote Files: Peggy Lee

(CBS 11) - Peggy Lee (1920-2002) was one of the best jazz singers in her day and of all time.

Born Norma Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, Lee's career spanned 60 years.

She got her start on local radio as a vocalist and later performed with Benny Goodman and his orchestra.

She had a #1 hit in 1942, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" and "Why Don't You Do Right" in 1943. And she had two songs to chart on Billboard in the beginnings of rock and roll : two from the 1950's and then one from 1969.

Today, we are featuring the song that she is probably best known for.

"Fever" was written Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, produced by Cooley and John Davenport. It was released in June 1958 and a month later had risen to #8 with a 12-week run on the charts. It also did well in Europe and Australia.

The song was nominated for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Female Vocal Performance at the very first Grammys Awards. This really became her signature song.

It runs 3:21 and was on the Capitol Records label, which was founded in part by another singer from the 1940s: Johnny Mercer.

This song is just plain awesome even still today after its release some 62 years ago. Enjoy!