The compilation All Aglow Again! was originally released on Capitol Records' discount-priced Starline label in May of 1960. At the time, the goal was probably to get Lee's 1958 mega-hit "Fever" on LP for the first time. Previously, the song had only been released as a single, so Capitol Records executives likely saw a way to cash in on Peggy Lee's popularity.
On May 27, 2008, Collector's Choice Music will release a newly remastered version of All Aglow Again! which will also include six bonus tracks, three of which have never been on CD. The album starts out with the brilliantly smoldering "Fever." The opening snaps of that song has to be one of the best known openings in music history. The single's equally sultry but bluesy B-side, "You Don't Know" is also on the album. The song was recorded at the same recording session as "Fever" and was one of Peggy's favorite songs. She recorded "You Don't Know" on two more occasions; once in the 1960s and again in the 1980s.
All Aglow Again! features five tracks that Peggy Lee released in 1959. Lee's version of the old Fanny Brice signature song, "My Man" has all the sass and sexiness you might expect. There is also a tectonic drum beat that makes it hard not to drum along with it. Lee's cover of the Ray Charles hit, "Hallelujah, I Love Him So" is a surprisingly mellow reading of the soul classic. Hallelujah's B-side, "I'm Lookin' Out the Window" is an Appalachian folk ballad that shows an intimate side of Peggy that is rarely revealed in her recordings. With "You Deserve," Lee returns to the sultry vocal style that gave "Fever" such a unique sound. According to the liner notes for All Aglow Again, after the success of "Fever" Capitol was "anxious to follow it with similarly-themed singles of a seductive, torch song flavor."
"You Deserve(s)" B-side, "Where Do I Go from Here," is a real departure for Lee. Surprisingly sweet and tender, the song was taken from the Broadway musical Fiorello! The 1959 musical was about New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, and the song written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, is a glowing example of Lee's versatility.
While this newly remastered version of All Aglow Again! includes a nice version of Lee's 1947 million-seller, "Manana," most Lee fans will want to purchase this CD for the rare and bonus tracks this set has to offer. The rarest track is the Charles Singleton/Larry Coleman composition, "It Keeps You Young." Arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, the big band arrangement behind Lee, sounds wonderful and it's obvious she was enjoying herself. Oddly, "It Keeps You Young" has never been reissued until now.
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