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…t, which usually draws young crowds for rock events. Miss Lee, who had a number of invited guests, was greeted warmly by the entire house. And she looked great, too." - Variety, 8/16/72
November 1972: Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas "She is not merely good, she is perfect. So perfect you almost wish she would trip over a stair to prove her human fallibility. One of those rare singers who have moved through many changes in popular music and adjusted to them all without compromising taste or integrity, she introduces tunes of every vintage... The finale, 'Here's to You,' is a touching climax to a show at which you can do little but applaud and marvel." - Leonard Feather, Los Angeles Times, 11/17/72 "King intros Miss Lee for her solid opening session, but not before he has launched into a few of his typical tirades... The next 45 minutes is of more dulcet expression with the Lee foray into five new ditties from her latest LP, four faves from the past, a bit of Carl Sandburg poetry leading into a musing period of nostalgic melodies, ending in a very low-key mood. She is one of the very few chanteuses who can take a dare with such a fadeout." - Variety, 11/29/72 "As an incomparable singer, as a nightclub artist, as a weaver of moods, Peggy Lee is about as close to perfection as any singer who ever lovingly fashioned a performance for an audience... It was a long show, but not a moment too long. It never is when Peggy Lee is onstage." - Leonard Feather, Melody Maker, 12/9/72 February 1973: Diplomat Hotel, Hollywood Beach, Florida "She is one of those performers who can lean 100% on her past hits for effect, as so many do when playing the Miami area, but she eschews the easy way to combine what the crowd knows her for with more than a touch of the contemporary... Emerging in a long white gown, Miss Lee makes contact with her audience from the top and holds them for almost an hour before she gently releases them." - Variety, 2/7/73 March 1973: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York "Miss Lee is a lady with a past who lives in the present. She refuses to let go of songs which have done well by her, but she also has a love of today's music...Miss Lee remains a singer of top quality, mixing humor, sensitivity and rhythmic feeling with a keen sense of musicianship and meaningful lyricism." - Variety, 3/28/73 June 1973: Playboy Hotel, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin "Lee's stint is a study in preparation. Nothing - not a note, gesture or comment - seems left to chance, and this dedication to detail resulted in a superb 55-minute layout that nabbed a standing ovation at final bows. The top-liner has a knack for imbuing each song with equal parts soulfulness and sophistication, a technique that gives every item a very personal feeling." - Variety, 7/4/73 "She was superb. In fact, by the time the applause from her standing ovation died away, everyone in the room realized they had heard one of the finest performers in show business today... At the risk of all superlatives for her performance, there was absolutely nothing at all that could detract from any number she did." - Alex Thien, Milwaukee Sentinel, 6/30/73 October 1973: Palmer House, Chicago "During her 60-minute program, Lee goes in several musical directions for material. Broadway musicomedy items are contemporary and fare standard, with all tailored to her distinctive style. Per usual she treats her carefully constructed show in a casual manner, dishing up the kind of great thrushing, charm and grace that had the premier night auditors making with cheers." - Variety, 10/17/73 November 1973: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York "Physically, she is on the way to being her old svelte self, thus giving added credence to the sexy intonations that come with every tune at no extra cost... Lee is as much a musician as a singer. She knows her notes and she digs lyrics, and gets the maximum from each." - Variety, 12/5/73 September 1974: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York "It seems that with every appearance she takes on new colorations and permits another facet of herself to go on view... Lee seems to be pursuing a quest for youth assiduously... With a driving and frequently rocky background...she has the feel and trappings for the younger set. For the first time, Lee carries a trio of pretty black girl singers behind her... Fortunately, the adverse moments were brief and as the show progressed, the layout blended into the musical perfection generally associated with Lee." - Variety, 9/25/74 "Simplicity has always been a key factor is Miss Lee's best work. She has, in the past, managed to cut through even overblown surroundings to achieve that essential simplicity. But this time the trick is eluding her." - John S. Wilson, New York Times, 9/22/74 "Some of the material and arrangements seemed to be contrived, but overall it was Ms. Lee's strong vocal delivery and striking stage presence that command attention... Peggy Lee is still very much alive musically." - Jim Fishel, Billboard, 10/5/74 January 1975: Palmer House, Chicago "A good portion of the effect of Peggy Lee's show in the Empire Room of the Palmer House is Frankie Master's orchestra, here beefed up with an extra ten strings, a keyboardist, two guitarists and three female backup singers. Lee could and should get by more on her lustrous pipes, and scale down the production for smaller situations... Lee's catalog consisted of pops and oldies and the act is basically well-paced, interweaving upbeat tunes with well-shaded love songs. At 70 minutes, the show is a trifle too long." - Variety, 1/15/75 February 1975: Diplomat Hotel, Hollywood Beach, Florida "After a sound and lighting breakdown Peggy Lee gamely rallied, controlled her rarely-seen temper, and finished strong. Cafe Cristal audiences oohed and aahed on seeing a strikingly streamlined blonde who looks enchanting after a ruthless weight reduction. The message is gracefully upbeat, almost all the way. There are outstanding new compositions by young composers the caliber of Stevie Wonder, Leon Russell, Melissa Manchester and James Taylor." - Variety, 2/26/75 August 1975: Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas "Peggy Lee is back with top-drawer sound and appearance blending with classy charm... Memorable is her familiar sound underlined by a gracious, almost regal attitude." - Variety, 8/27/75 October 1975: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York "Lee's present turn has a theme threaded through it. Act is labeled 'Mirrors' and is based on her current A&M album of that name. Much of it is a series of reflective songs which are contemplative and retrospective to give her dimension... Lee delivers meaningfully. Ballads frequently have a haunting and penetrating quality and there are times when her rhythmic tunes have the bounce to lift the audience several notches." - Variety, 10/22/75 "The songs, with their modal harmonies and introspective lyrics, are a vast departure from past Lee offerings, but they still fit in the Peggy Lee style... Peggy Lee could have invented the word subtle. Her phrasing is still clear, her voice romantic and unmistakable. The title of one new song says she's 'Ready to Begin Again.' Nonsense. She never stopped." - Chip Orton, Cue, 10/25/75 "Lee shows why she is still among the top echelon of posh club attractions... A little Lee philosophy interspersed with the 20 tunes helped the 70-minute set fly by, including her comments on 'Mirrors' - 'It reflects people, their experience, memories, happiness, sadness, and takes you on a cruise - a voyage of the mind'." - Stephen Traiman, Billboard, 11/1/75 "She is the centerpiece of a carefully polished and crafted production... There are subtle accents, touches of color and atmospheric settings that, although they may occasionally be ponderous, contribute brilliantly to the torchy mood of Miss Lee's singing on 'Johnny Guitar'." - John S. Wilson, New York Times, 10/27/75 February 1976: Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco "Peggy Lee has often been called a cold singer, but after her opening in the Venetian Room of the Fairmont last night, even the snow atop Twin Peaks must have melted... You didn't just watch Peggy Lee - she watched you. She sang with utmost control and confidence, playing to the audience's intelligence, never doubting that the entire room wasn't just as attuned to the lyrics of her ironically funny, esoteric ballads as she was... She's in fine, fine form, and except for more rain, what else could we want?" - John Stark, San Francisco Examiner, 2/6/76 May 1976: Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas "Peggy held the audience spellbound with 14 songs in a 45-minute program which showcased her style from swing, jazz and love ballads to soft rock... It is easy to understand why Peggy may be billed in the future on Broadway and in Los Angeles in a one-woman show after her upcoming Japan tour." - Hanford Searl, Billboard, 5/29/76 September 1976: Walter Tower Drury Lane Theater, Chicago "Lee's impeccable taste and professionalism go along well with the class of this 1,700-seat-plus room... Though occasionally drowned out by loud accompaniment and interfered with by a buzzing sound system on her quiet numbers, Lee conquered a near-SRO mid-week crowd." - Variety, 9/22/76 October 1976: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York "It seems that everything Lee is doing on this trip is fresh - whether or not it's been around previously. She goes into reflective moods frequently to relive old times and old songs. Yet she is fresh and inventive." - Variety, 10/20/76 "Peggy Lee's annual appearances...are always somewhat of an adventure. There have been times when her performances there have been brilliant and others, such as the last two, when, because of material, orchestrations, or battles with the sound system, she has been surprisingly ineffective. This year is one of her good years - one of her very best, in fact. Everything - sound, orchestrations, programming, her voice - are under control and in balance. Looking slimmer and more relaxed than she has in several years, she is singing songs that, for the most part, do not pretend to be anything but good songs, songs that ride easily and smoothly on the low, throaty, shimmering tones of her voice... Overall, this is a polished performance that avoids some of the heavy mannerisms she has tripped over in the past." - John S. Wilson, New York Times, 10/16/76 March 1977: The Palladium, London "The impersonal Palladium was transformed into a hall of nightclub intimacy as the singer caressed her songs of lost love and forlorn hopes, unique and brilliantly sung... Peggy Lee is an essentially elegant singer to whom words are all-important, and it was particularly interesting to observe that not once throughout the show did she let rip. In her handling of warm ballads, she was the epitome of cool and her physical mannerisms were finely economical, a lesson in the art of aware hipness... The lady was charm and taste and understatement and her important characteristic - the unhurried delivery. It was a peerless performance from a singer with a load of charisma." - Ray Coleman, Melody Maker, 3/19/77 Despite her 30 years-plus as a major recording artist, it was good to note that the singer is obviously well aware of what is happening in popular music today, and her versions of songs by contemporary pop writers offered interesting contrasts with the originals... Even if the majority of her fans wanted to hear the tried-and-trusted numbers, it is still to Miss Lee's credit that she ventures into areas where some of her own peers fail to tread... Miss Lee's style is to understate - and never once does she resort to vocal melodrama. Her stage style is also simple, most of the time the singer just leaning against the piano." - Chris White, Music Week, 3/77 "There is nothing very spectacular about Peggy Lee except that she happens to have about the finest voice of any female in popular music... It is not quite so easy to explain just why Peggy Lee gets by with only a great voice. It is natural, unforced and direct, but then the big advantage that popular singers enjoy over their concert counterparts is that they are all natural and direct. Where most of them let themselves down, though, is in pushing that naturalness to the utmost, whether in becoming melodramatic like Shirley Bassey or too perfect like Cleo Laine. Peggy Lee is a genius at just being herself, in the same way that a very good actress persuades you that she is always like that." - Miles Kington, London Times, 3/14/77 March 1978: Music Center Pavilion, Los Angeles "The old stars of the pop musical world seem to have no trouble filling stately auditoriums with over 3,000 enthusiastic customers, as Peggy Lee did in this Music Center gig... The audience's pleasure was constantly evident. There were people who obviously remembered every song identified through the years with Lee, and there were ripples of applause almost every time her 22-piece backup played the opening notes." - Variety, 3/8/78 March 1979: Opera House, Sydney, Australia "After several months of illness, Peggy Lee's comeback at the Sydney Opera House was a wow. The fact that Lee had waited so long in her career before touring Australia had made some skeptical as to whether she still had it in her... But the skeptics were surprised by a Peggy Lee who was every bit the showperson they knew her to be from recordings, films and video appearances. Despite the house and its notoriously bad acoustics, Lee succeeded in giving one of the best shows the concert hall has seen... She encored with 'Our Love Is Here to Stay' after roaring and stamping from the 2,000-strong SRO audience." - Variety, 3/28/79 June 1979: Radio City Music Hall, New York "Peggy Lee made her first appearance in New York in almost three years Thursday evening at Radio City Music Hall... The singer, who has been ill, said she had thought of retiring during the last year. But she told her audience on Thursday that she was feeling well again, and her appearance and voice seemed to confirm that... Miss Lee seemed like her old confident, assured self in her opening numbers. Her voice had its familiar dark, throaty quality as she swung through 'Love for Sale'... Her closing number, 'I'll Be Seeing You,' was a reminder that Miss Lee is essentially a mood-weaver, a spellbinder, who can use a catchy rhythm as well as a throaty whisper to gain her effects. But this requires a concentration and projection that Miss Lee was not always able to sustain in the vastness of Radio City Music Hall." - John S. Wilson, New York Times, 6/30/79
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