Peggy Lee – Taking A Chance on Love

This thoughtfully assembled collection captures Peggy Lee at a moment when her voice was settling into the poised, velvety maturity that would define her finest work. Spanning 24 tracks, Taking A Chance on Love focuses on some of her lesser‑known recordings — performances that reveal the quiet confidence, emotional restraint and conversational intimacy that made her such a singular stylist.

The programme moves gracefully through a mixture of standards and sophisticated ballads. Early highlights include The Best of Things in Life Are Free, Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good and the atmospheric Autumn in New York, each delivered with Lee’s trademark coolness and subtle rhythmic lift. Songs like I May Be Wrong, Love Me or Leave Me and Let’s Call It a Day show her ability to inhabit a lyric without ever oversinging.

Her lighter swing touch comes through in Them There Eyes, Too Marvellous for Words, Come Rain or Come Shine and Try a Little Tenderness, while more reflective moments such as My Romance, My Future Just Passed and Mean to Me highlight her gift for quiet emotional shading. The title track, Taking A Chance on Love, sits at the heart of the set — a perfect example of Lee’s ability to make a familiar standard feel intimate and freshly observed.

The collection continues with breezy charmers like Somebody Loves Me and Mountain Greenery, followed by tender readings of Speak Love, Button Up Your Overcoat, After I Say I’m Sorry and What’s New. The closing selections — I Never Knew, Fools Rush In and We Kiss in a Shadow — bring the programme to a warm, graceful finish, reaffirming Lee’s mastery of understatement.

Altogether, Taking A Chance on Love is a quietly captivating portrait of Peggy Lee in her prime — a set that rewards close listening and reveals the depth, nuance and elegance that made her one of the great interpreters of American song.

Track Listing

1. The Best Of Things In Life Are Free
2. Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good
3. Autumn In New York
4. I May Be Wrong
5. Love Me Or Leave Me
6. Let’s Call It A Day
7. Them There Eyes
8. My Romance
9. Too Marvellous For Words
10. Come Rain Or Come Shine
11. Try A Little Tenderness
12. Me
13. Taking A Chance On Love
14. My Future Just Passed
15. Mean To Me
16. Somebody Loves Me
17. Mountain Greenery
18. Speak Love
19. Button Up Your Overcoat
20. (What Can I Say) After I Say I’m Sorry
21. What’s New
22. I Never Knew
23. Fools Rush In
24. We Kiss In A Shadow