PEGGY LEE - Why Don't You Do Right

In 1942 Peggy Lee had her first big hit with her cover of the popular blues and jazz fused song Why Don't You Do Right. Lee recorded the song with "King Of Swing" Benny Goodman and his orchestra in New York, who she would later record even bigger hits with (she would later marry the band's guitarist). Why Don't You Do Right is a cover of blues singer Lil Green, whom Lee was a big fan of, who had record the song the previous year in 1941. The song was written by Joseph "Kansas Joe" McCoy, and it was originally recorded with completely different lyrics in 1936 as Weed Smokers Dream. The original recording was by McCoys band The Harlem Hamfats - a successful swing jazz band from Chicago, not Harlem. In 1941 McCoy re-wrote the lyrics and made the song about a mistress and her broke lover in the depression. Why Don't You Do Right has been covered many times by a variety of artists, including a memorable performance by animated Jessica Rabbit in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.