js “Let’s Love” was supposed to be a sort of comeback album for Peggy Lee with an attempt to hook up with a more contemporary sound. To record this one, she switched to the Atlantic label which was well-known for its success with female singers and soul-pop crossover albums. Pop jazz arranger supreme Dave Gruisin was brought on board and even the great Paul McCartney wrote and produced the title song. This album has a diverse mix of pop, soul, gospel and ballads that sounds like a cross between Carly Simon, Aretha Franklin and The Pointer Sisters, but unfortunately, a lot of this material doesn’t really suit Lee’s usually remarkable voice. Peggy Lee was one of the finest cool jazz singers ever, her relaxed delivery and perfect timing and pitch made her a perfect fit for jazz’s ‘cool’ phase, but this sort of 70s pop is just too heavy and bland for her to do what she does best. There is nothing wrong with her singing on here, she’s on pitch and on time and she has a nice strong voice when she needs it, but just listen to a classic like “Black Coffee", where Lee effortlessly glides through songs with a relaxed cool like no one else and you will understand why this album just isn’t Peggy Lee at her best.

A couple songs on here work OK. As you would expect, the laid back ones and the ballads work best. Her rendition of the soft soul classic “Don’t Let Me be Lonely Tonight” is very nice, but even better, the beautifully orchestrated Mancini number, “Sometimes”, almost sounds like the Peggy Lee we miss when we hear the other songs. The worst songs are the attempts at gospel and corny funk mishaps that sound like outtakes from Sanford and Sons. Peggy just doesn’t have the right voice for all that and the funk doesn’t sound very convincing. Add to this, the McCartney song is Sir Paul at his most dreadful and corny.

I would not recommend this album for someone wanting to check out what Peggy Lee is all about, get “Black Coffee” instead, no one else in the world can sing like that.