Critical gush was never far away when Peggy Lee picked up her microphone to seduce an audience.
Frank Sinatra himself enthused: "Her wonderful talent should be studied by all vocalists; her regal presence is pure elegance and charm," while a 1961 review in Billboard purred: "If ever a performer 'owned' a club and its audience, it's Peggy Lee at Basin Street East. Since such atmosphere brings out the best in a performer, Capitol could well consider cutting an album on location here, where the electrically-charged air should readily be transmitted through wax to the home listener."
Kate Dimbleby has come to the King's Head to reawaken the spirit of the woman who has inspired musicians ranging from Duke Ellington to Madonna. In the Sunday afternoon lull between the hangover-of-Christmas-past and the hangover-of-New-Year-yet-to-come, she knows it will be quite a task to make sure Peggy Lee's electricity is not reduced to sadly spluttering sparks. It is to her credit that the atmosphere warms up within a few minutes of her carefully calculated steps onto the stage. Dimbleby interlaces her songs with autobiographical details but there is no sense of a life revealed, more of life as cabaret, where even the emotional wounds have been turned into glittering ornamental battle-scars. The songs are performed with a shimmering vocal versatility, and though she is not a mirror for the legend she portrays, she has the musical talent and jewel-eyed confidence needed to guarantee an audience a good time.
"Always caress your consonants, darlings," she intones huskily, while Julian Hinton's superb band stirs up her rhythms, proving that music is the food not only of love, but of sex, sassiness and seduction. She swings her hips with precision, while her eyes scan the audience to ascertain her control. This, you realise, is the true meaning of girlpower.
Fever - The Making Of Peggy Lee
