2020 is the centennial of Peggy Lee’s birth. Plans for an elaborate concert at the Hollywood Bowl were foiled by the pandemic. To paraphrase myself, no songs for the pandemic.

Dr. A and I recently watched a documentary about Peggy Lee’s life and music on PBS. It was a love letter from her granddaughter that was chock-full-o-clips. She was a staple on the variety shows that were plentiful when I was a kid. I remember watching with my mom: she’d get particularly excited when Miss Peggy Lee was slated to appear. It was Scandinavian farmer’s daughter pride at its finest.

Blues Cross Country is a 1962 concept album featuring songs about places in the US&A. The music was arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones and Peggy Lee co-wrote half the songs on the album.

As you can see, the cover is quilty but it has nothing to do with Clare Quilty theNabokov character.

Here’s the whole damn album via Spotify: