A pair of rare albums by the legendary Miss Peggy Lee are getting the deluxe, expanded treatment this fall from Universal Music.  Peggy Lee: Live in London is the title of the new 4-CD box set due on December 4 containing the soulful songstress' 1977 studio album Peggy; the concert album Live in London recorded at the famous Palladium on March 13, 1977; an entire disc of previously unreleased material including studio outtakes, rehearsal takes and the March 20 Palladium show; and a DVD of the 1981 BBC program Peggy Lee Entertains.  This set marks the first full, official CD release of both Peggy and the original Live in London.

For Peggy, her only studio album recorded outside of the United States, Lee and producer Ken Barnes selected an eclectic array of material.  The album, arranged and conducted by Pete Moore, features a beguiling blend of both contemporary and vintage tunes.  Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's oft-recorded ballad "The Hungry Years," Peter Allen's rousing "I Go to Rio," 10cc's hit "I'm Not in Love," and Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Kleban's A Chorus Line ballad "What I Did for Love" all took their place on the LP alongside classics by Rodgers and Hart ("Lover") and Johnny Burke and Erroll Garner ("Misty").  Johnny Mercer's "Star Sounds" was included as well as Lee and Moore's "Courage, Madame" and Moore and Barnes' "Switchin' Channels."

Just days after the March 7-9 recording sessions at London's CBS Studios, Lee took the stage of the Palladium for the March 13 set preserved on Live in London.  Her onstage repertoire integrated modern material associated with Paul Simon ("Have a Good Time"), Diana Ross ("Touch Me in the Morning") and Quincy Jones ("Everything Must Change") with the known classics her audience expected such as "Why Don't You Do Right," "The Folks Who Live on the Hill," "Is That All There Is" and of course, "Fever."  The third disc of the upcoming box set, entitled Afterglow, has some distinct variations in the set.  On March 20, the chanteuse added "Misty" and "I'm Not in Love" from the Peggy sessions as well as a Rodgers and Hart medley while dropping songs like "Touch Me in the Morning" and her own "Dreams of Summer."  In addition to the concert, Afterglow has an extended version of "Misty," a rehearsal medley of "Easy Living" and "They Can't Take That Away from Me," and the song "Here, Now" featuring Lee on background vocals supporting Duncan Lamont's tenor saxophone.

The complete 1981 BBC television special Peggy Lee Entertains features Peggy's renditions of even more classic songs including her perennial "I Love Being Here with You," her friend Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's spellbinding pair of "Witchcraft" and "The Best is Yet to Come," Judy Collins' "My Father," Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager's "Don't Cry Out Loud," and even Stephen Sondheim and Mary Rodgers' delicious spoof of "The Girl from Ipanema" entitled "The Boy From..." which Lee had performed in a 1980 regional production of the revue Side by Side by Sondheim.

Peggy Lee's deluxe Live in London box looks to make a wonderful companion to the indispensable At Last: The Lost Radio Recordings, released earlier this year by Real Gone Music.  The upcoming box features newly-penned liner notes by producer Ken Barnes, who sadly passed away in August 2015.  It's currently available for pre-order (for under $25 USD) directly from Universal Music.  Watch this space for Amazon links as soon as they become available!

Peggy Lee, Live in London (Universal Music Catalogue, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Links TBD)

CD 1: Peggy (Polydor 2383 458, 1977)

1. The Hungry Years (Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield)
2. Here, Now (Mark Trujillo, Dan Kimpel)
3. I Go To Rio (Peter Allen)
4. I'm Not In Love (Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart)
5. Star Sounds (Johnny Mercer)
6. What I Did For Love (Edward Kleban, Marvin Hamlisch)
7. Misty (Johnny Burke, Erroll Garner)
8. Every Little Movement (Otto Harbach, Karl Haschna)
9. Courage, Madame (Peggy Lee, Pete Moore)
10. Switchin' Channels (Ken Barnes, Pete Moore)
11. Just For Tonight (Jen and Ray Jessel)
12. Lover (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

CD 2: Live in London (Polydor 2482 415, 1977)

1. Love For Sale (Cole Porter)
2. Everything Must Change (Bernard Ighner)
3. You Gotta Know How (Beulah "Sippie" Wallace)
4. The Folks Who Live On The Hill (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)
5. I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard (Henry Petrie, Philip Wingate)
6. Have A Good Time (Paul Simon)
7. Touch Me In The Morning (Ron Miller, Michael Masser)
8. Make Believe (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)
9. Fever (John Davenport, Eddie Cooley)
10. Why Don't You Do Right (Joe McCoy)
11. Is That All There Is ? (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
12. Sing A Rainbow (Arthur Hamilton)
13. Mr. Wonderful (Jerry Bock, Lawrence Holofcener, George David Weiss)
14. Mack The Knife (Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, Marc Blitzstein)
15. Dreams Of Summer (Peggy Lee, Yutaka Yokokura)
16. Here's To You (Peggy Lee, Richard Hazard)

CD 3: Afterglow (previously unreleased rarities, rehearsals and the second Palladium concert)

1. Here, Now (Mark Trujillo, Dan Kimpel) (featuring Duncan Lamont (tenor sax) and backing vocals by Peggy Lee)
2. Misty (Johnny Burke, Erroll Garner) - Extended Version
3. Fun In Rehearsal (Peggy Remembers Billie Holiday): Easy Living (Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger) / They Can't Take That Away From Me (George and Ira Gershwin) - with Pete Moore (piano) and Judd Proctor (guitar)
4. Love For Sale (Cole Porter)
5. Misty (Johnny Burke, Erroll Garner)
6. Why Don't You Do Right (Joe McCoy)
7. I'm Not In Love (Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart)
8. Have A Good Time (Paul Simon)
9. Mr. Wonderful (Jerry Bock, Lawrence Holofcener, George David Weiss)
10. Sing A Rainbow (Arthur Hamilton)
11. You Gotta Know How (Beulah "Sippie" Wallace)
12. Everything Must Change (Bernard Ighner)
13. Make Believe (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)
14. Fever (John Davenport, Eddie Cooley)
15. I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard (Henry Petrie, Philip Wingate)
16. Is That All There Is? (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
17. Rodgers And Hart Medley (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) (Who Are You?/Where Or When/Glad To Be Unhappy/Falling In Love With Love/Bewitched)
18. Speech
19. Mack The Knife (Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, Marc Blitzstein)
20. The Folks Who Live On The Hill (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)
21. Lover (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
22. Here's To You (Peggy Lee, Richard Hazard)

Tracks 4-22 recorded at the London Palladium, March 20, 1977

DVD: Peggy Lee Entertains - full live TV special (1981)

1. I Love Being Here With You (Peggy Lee, Bill Schluger)
2. Everything Must Change (Bernard Ighner)
3. Love Me Or Leave Me (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)
4. Wonderful (Jerry Bock, Lawrence Holofcener, George David Weiss)
5. Witchcraft (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh)
6. My Father (Judy Collins)
7. Why Don't You Do Right (Joe McCoy)
8. Fever (John Davenport, Eddie Cooley)
9. I'm A Woman (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
10. But Beautiful (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen)
11. The Best Is Yet To Come (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh)
12. Don't Cry Out Loud (Peter Allen, Carole Bayer Sager)
13. The Boy From... (Mary Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim)
14. The Folks Who Live On The Hill (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)
15. Here's To You (Peggy Lee, Richard Hazard)