Peggy Lee
In 1958, Peggy Lee recorded the first cover version of the song, which featured significantly rewritten lyrics composed by Lee herself without credit. These uncopyrighted lyrics (including the verses beginning "Romeo loved Juliet," and "Captain Smith and Pocahontas") are now generally thought of as a standard part of the song, and have been included in most subsequent covers of "Fever". Only the first and the fourth verse of the Little Willie John version were used, because Lee thought that the Second and the Third original verses were too risque for her musical tastes.
Lee's version peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. It became a signature song for Lee and was nominated for "Record of the Year" at the 1959 Grammy Awards. Elvis Presley released a near identical version to Lee's two years later for his 1960 album, Elvis is Back.
Read more about this topic: Fever (Little Willie John Song)
Famous quotes containing the word lee:
“I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.... Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
—Harper Lee (b. 1926)