Peggy Lee - Why Don't You Do Right?

"Why Don't You Do Right?" (originally recorded as "Weed Smoker's Dream" in 1936) is an American blues and jazz-influenced pop song usually credited to Kansas Joe McCoy. A minor key twelve-bar blues with a few chord substitutions, it is considered a classic "woman's blues" song and has become a standard. Singer Lil Green recorded a popular rendition in 1941, which Peggy Lee recorded the next year – accompanied by Benny Goodman – and made one of her signature songs.

Peggy Lee's first recording of the song was made July 27, 1942 with Benny Goodman and his orchestra for Columbia Records. She was an unknown singing with the band, but the record sold over 1 million copies, bringing her to stardom.

Her second recording was made after she left the band. She had married guitarist Dave Barbour and together they quit Benny Goodman's group in March 1943. Peggy Lee recorded "Why Don't You Do Right" with a brassier arrangement with Dave Barbour's Orchestra for Capitol Records in 1948. It was released as a single and as part of the album Rendezvous With Peggy Lee.