LITTLEMISS D
by Sue VanHecke
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| CourtesyShowtime Archives |
BRENDA Lee's voice is as big as all outdoors, and her genre�spanning catalog and roster of accomplishments is nearly as vast. From her early rockabilly sides like "Dynamite"--which earned the pre�teen songstress the apt handle "Little Miss Dynamite"--and the now�classic "Rockin'Around The Christmas Tree" to her sorrow�sodden ballads such as "I'm Sorry," "I Want To Be Wanted" and "All Alone Am I,"Lee's knowing way with almost any song has brought her countless awards, worldwide sales of close to 100 million and a devoted international following that keeps her as active today as she was at the dawn of her career in the early 1950s.
The incomparable Lee's throaty alto is arresting, her interpretive skillswithout peer; she's able to bring deep emotional resonance to the simplest ofsongs. As her longtime producer Owen Bradley put it, "She knows how tocommunicate, how to get to you, how to make you understand what she's talkingabout. It's something you're just born with."
Brenda Lee was born baby Brenda Mae Tarpley on December 11, 1944 in the charityward of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. The second child of semi�probaseball player and carpenter Ruben Tarpley and his wife Grayce, she was amusical tot who spent hours listening to the radio "when we had one,"Lee recalled. "We didn't have a radio or a television or a record player.I've always said I was on television before I had a television. Wedidn't have all of those things, so most of the music that I heard was throughthe church. My [two] sisters and brother and all sang in church and stuff likethat, but I'm the only singer. And my mother can sing, my mother used to sing tome when I was little and teach me Hank Williams songs and things like that."
By age three, the toddling tyke was chirping back entire songs she'd heardonly once or twice, her first full�length favorite being the tearful EddyArnold ballad "My Daddy Is Only A Picture." Gospel music, particularlyas sung by Mahalia Jackson, was a huge influence on little Brenda Mae, and atage five she gave her first gospel performance at church, testifying alongsidethe Master Worker's Quartet.
In 1950, older sister Linda entered Brenda in a local talent contest in theTarpley hometown of Conyers, Georgia, just outside Atlanta. The event was anannual spring festival open to kids from three counties. "I wasn't even inschool," the singer recalled in Paul Kingsbury's biographyBrenda Lee, included in last year's Bear Family Records boxed setLittle Miss Dynamite, "but my sister was in the first grade and theyused to have a talent show every year between schools, and whatever school won,won the trophy for that year. They got to keep the trophy for that year. Sheentered me as the talent for the school."
For her first secular singing performance, the freckle�faced five-year-olddonned a tiny homemade evening gown and sang "Take Me Out The Ball Game,"taking first prize for talent and runner�up honors in the beauty contest. "Theschool was given the trophy," she told Kingsbury, "and I got a box ofKing Edward peppermint sticks." Her voice, an astonishingly muscularwallop from a girl so very small, was so striking that she was invited toperform on a popular local Saturday morning radio show, Starmakers Revue,by the sponsors of the festival. Lee's parents allowed her to decide. Brendadidn't have to think twice; she was belting it out on the airwaves, knockingdown "Too Young," a few days later.
Little Brenda was a big hit and quickly became a regular on Starmakers,where she appeared for the next year. She was paid no money for her work on theshow, which was sponsored by Borden's Ice Cream, "but you could get all theice cream you could eat," Lee recalled in her official artist's bio.
In autumn of 1951, the going�on�seven-year-old Brenda announced thatshe intended to perform on the Atlanta television program TV Ranch.Brenda, her dramatic voice seasoned with the cracks and slides of a singerthrice her age, was soon a regular performer, appearing each Saturday with BootsWoodall and the TV Wranglers, again for no money, this time not even for icecream.
Her non�paying local radio and television appearances led to the first ofcountless professional concert engagements: performing at a Shriners' Clubluncheon for $20. Income from her appearances went toward family bills, as RubenTarpley didn't make much from his occasional carpentry jobs.
The family's financial woes worsened in spring of 1953 when Ruben Tarpley wasinjured in a bizarre accident at a construction site. While working on theground floor of a two�story house, he was hit on the head by a hammer thatdropped from the upper floor. He was knocked unconscious and died several dayslater. "He was an alcoholic," Lee recounted to Alanna Nash in her 1988book Behind Closed Doors: Talking To The Legends of Country Music. "Iwas goin' on nine when he died."
In 1955 Grayce Tarpley remarried, to Buell "Jay" Rainwater, who movedthe family to Cincinnati, where he worked at the Jimmy Skinner Music Center.While in Ohio, Brenda performed with Skinner at the record shop on two Saturdayprograms broadcast over Newport, Kentucky radio station WNOP. The family soonreturned to Georgia, however, this time taking up residence in Augusta, whereBrenda appeared on the Peach Blossom Special on WJAT�TV. Whilethere, the show's producer, Sammy Barton, rechristened the little singer BrendaLee, believing that Tarpley was just too difficult to remember.
Rainwater opened a record store in Augusta, the Brenda Lee Record Shop, wherestation WRDW originated a weekly program, hosted by disc jockey Charlie Raiford"Peanuts" Faircloth, who was once a fellow frequent TV Ranchguest.
On February 23, 1956, Lee got her first important career break. A radio stationin Swansboro, Georgia had asked her to be a guest on its Peach BlossomJamboree program. Although it had offered $30, she turned the job down tosee one of her favorite entertainers instead, country music star Red Foley.Foley put Brenda on the show. "I still get cold chills thinking about thefirst time I heard that voice," Foley remembers in Lee's bio. "There Istood, after 26 years of supposedly learning how to conduct myself in front ofan audience, with my mouth open two miles wide and a glassy stare in my eyes."
Lee appeared on the next Junior Jubilee, the monthly edition of theSpringfield, Missouri�based Ozark Jubilee that featured youngerentertainers. On March 31, 1956 Lee made her first nationwide televisionappearance, singing Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" on the JuniorJubilee. She left quite an impression. The show's producers received threetimes their usual fan mail, almost all requesting another Lee appearance.Shortly after her formidable national TV debut, Lee and her family took upresidence in Springfield. She appeared on the Ozark Jubilee from 1956 to1959 as a regular, then as a guest.
Getting signed to a record label proved difficult. "It was hard to 'sell' achild in those days," Lee said. "Nobody wanted a child on the label. Iwas turned down by RCA Victor and by just about every label." Finally,Paul Cohen, Decca's head of country A&R, took one listen to little Lee andsigned her to his label on May 21, 1956. She was just 11 years old.
By that time Elvis Presley, who'd moved from the tiny Sun label to RCA Records,was burning up the charts, selling 50,000 singles and 8,000 LPs and EPs a day ofhis hip�swiveling rockabilly, according to Billboard. Predictably,the era's official arbiters of taste, including the Nashville establishment,were thoroughly outraged by the provocative racial and sexual taboo�scoffingnew music. But the rebellious sound had captured the interest of open�mindedproducer Owen Bradley and he'd had some success dabbling with it. In January1956 the 40-year-old pianist and former music director for Nashville's WSMstation [home of the Grand Ole Opry] had recorded Buddy Holly at his Nashvillestudio. Gene Vincent, Capitol's answer to Elvis, had also cut tracks there inMay 1956, and in July, Bradley had recorded Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'N'Roll Trio's boisterous rocker "Train Kept A�Rollin'."
In August 1956, Paul Cohen, with Bradley at the piano, oversaw Lee's firstrecording sessions at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio. With her country�leaningroots and throaty gospelish growl, it wasn't easy to pigeonhole the youngsongstress into any single category. Consequently, her first session featured avariegated repertoire, from Hank Williams hits ("Jambalaya," "YourCheatin' Heart") to a novelty noodle ("Doodle Bug Rag"), a pairof crisp holiday tunes ("Christy Christmas," "I'm Gonna LassoSanta Claus") and a toe�tapping rockabilly romp ("Bigelow 6�200").
"We were all astounded at this little girl who had such a big voice,"Bradley remembered of the first time he heard Brenda Lee sing. "Everybodywas real impressed that somebody that small could make such a big note. Inretrospect, after awhile, I just didn't think about Brenda being a kid so much."
As their little star�in�the�making's first single, on September17, 1956 Decca released the twangy "Jambalaya," backed with Lee'shiccuping "Bigelow 6�200." Though she was 11 at the time, Deccabilled her on the label as "Little Brenda Lee (9 years old)," a not�too�unbelievablefib in the name of marketing as Lee was unusually small for her age (and todaystands only four feet, nine inches).
Despite an endorsement by Billboard, neither song broke into the charts.Decca followed up in October with a seasonal single, "I'm Gonna Lasso SantaClaus," paired with "Christy Christmas." Again, her age wasfudged, further emphasizing the amazing contrast between little Lee in hergingham pinafores and that great big voice.
Lee continued her Ozark Jubilee appearances and became a regular on thepackage tour circuit, traveling with heavyweight country stars like Mel Tillis."I'd stand up in the back seat, because I could, I was so little, and talkto him and Faron Young or George Jones or whoever was on the tour at the time.He said I was a very precocious little girl," said Lee.
Precocious, indeed. In December 1956 the tiny 11�turning�12-year-oldmade her Las Vegas debut, a three-week stand at the very adult Flamingo Club. "Isang 'Tutti Frutti','Jambalaya' and other songs all through the show," shetold Country And Western Jamboree in 1957. "For about 10 days I hadbad trouble with my throat but kept on singing. Don't think we'll go back thereany more, but I think they want me." Lee has since become a Vegas mainstay,regularly playing multi�night engagements.
New York City's Pythian Temple, a huge ballroom�turned�recordingstudio, was the site of Lee's next session in January 1957. Milt Gabler, who hadhelmed Bill Haley's history�making hit "Rock Around The Clock" in1954, produced. Decca's house band, the Jack Pleis Orchestra, accompanied Lee,along with the Ray Charles Singers. The tiny songstress polished up a pair oftunes, the kid�oriented dreamer "Fairyland" and the hip�shaking,hand�clapping, pop�gospel inspirational "One Step At A Time,"given a commanding rockabilly treatment by little Miss Lee. Not long after itsrelease, "One Step At A Time" strode to #15 on Billboard'scountry chart and also landed on the pop chart, peaking at #43, in the spring of1957.
| Lee,sitting atop a piano |
Lee's bold single fit in perfectly with the prevailing pop sound: rock 'n' roll.Not surprisingly, her next session, at the Bradley studio in April, focused on arock 'n' roll sound. As with "One Step At A Time," chorus vocals wereused again, provided by the Anita Kerr Singers. Material for this sessionincluded the teen�targeted "Love You Till I Die" and "OneTeenager To Another," a swinging retread of the Ray Charles R&B hit "Ain'tThat Love," and "Dynamite," an all�out rocker thatdelightfully showcased Lee's shouts, pouts and purrs. But paired as a singlewith "Love You Till I Die," the rambunctious rollicker, which earnedLee the appropriate tag "Little Miss Dynamite," hardly dented the popcharts, peaking at #72 that summer.
In late May 1957, Lee toured briefly with Patsy Cline, who was enjoying popsuccess with her six�month-old crossover hit "Walkin' After Midnight."Despite their considerable age difference, the two belters immediately hit itoff. "Patsy was great," Lee remembered fondly. "She was abig-hearted, wonderful broad, in the nicest sense of the word."
Encouraged by her two chart placements, Lee and her family moved to Nashville inJuly 1957. Dub Allbritten assumed exclusive managerial duties and CharlieMosley, a Nashville accountant and co�owner of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop,became Lee's legal guardian by order of judge Beverly Briley [later Nashville'smayor from 1963�1975].
Lee returned to the Bradley studio in November, waxing a pair of mid�temporockers, "Rockabye Baby Blues" and "Rock The Bop."
Lee was swept off her feet by Elvis Presley when they met in December at theGrand Ole Opry. Lee was making her first Opry appearance, singing "BillBailey, Won't You Please Come Home" at the historic Ryman Auditorium.Presley, in Nashville to consult with manager Colonel Tom Parker after receivinghis draft notice, had dropped by the Opry and sang "That's All Right,"according to a 1987 issue of Life. "I just thought, Boy, he's surea good�looking guy,'" Lee told the magazine, "and he sure singsgood and he sure is nice.'" Presley gladhanded backstage, posed forpictures and gave the 13-year-old a big hug. They remained friends until hisdeath.
"He was a really nice kind of a shy Southern boy," Lee remembered, "careda lot about his mother, his family, his roots. But very shy, and verygentlemanly."
The close�knit relationship between Lee and Owen Bradley, who had arrangedmost of Lee's material to this point, was cemented in April 1958 when Paul Cohenleft Decca's country A&R position to head pop A&R for Coral, a Deccasubsidiary. Bradley, with whom Cohen had worked closely for a decade and held inthe highest esteem, was appointed to the country post. He would produce almostevery Brenda Lee recording session until 1976.
Lee and Bradley visited the studio again in May 1958. Impressed by the lushsonics of the new stereo sound, Bradley had outfitted his place with the lateststereo recording equipment. Again, Lee was joined by the usual A�listsession players, including Hank Garland on lead guitar, Grady Martin on secondelectric, Floyd Cramer on piano, Bradley's younger brother Harold on electricbass, Bob Moore on standup bass and Buddy Harman on drums. Presley's vocalbackup, the Jordanaires, were also present.
Lee had had a modicum of success with her rockabilly stylings and continuedlargely in the same vein during the May sessions. She belted out "Ring�A�My�Phone"in feverish hepcat fashion and turned out a smoking performance on theirresistible slide�heavy boogie "Little Jonah (Rock On Your SteelGuitar)," featuring nimble young steel guitarist Buddy Emmons. The twocrackerjack songs were paired for Lee's seventh single, released in June, butamazingly, neither side pierced the charts. On October 19, the 13-year-oldjunior high school student returned to the studio with Bradley and the band fora marathon session that stretched well past midnight. Included in the materialthat evening was what would become one of her hugest hits.
Bradley had a new tune in hand by New York song crafterJohnny Marks, who'd also written the Gene Autry hit "Rudolph The Red NosedReindeer." Given the success a year earlier of another Decca artist, BobbyHelms, with another seasonal song, "Jingle Bell Rock," Bradleybelieved Marks's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" might just beright for Lee. "That song came in with about 20 other songs from Johnny,"Lee told Kingsbury, "and that was the only Christmas one, and it was theonly one I liked of all the songs. I thought the song would be successful. Inever dreamed that it would be the Christmas standard that it is."
The night session also included "Papa Noel," another Christmas dittyset on the bayou, Lee's jumping retread of the old standard "Bill Bailey,Won't You Please Come Home" and the rippin' rockabilly hummer "Let'sJump The Broomstick," a nod to the mountain marriage tradition of hoppingover a broomstick. Decca coupled "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree"and "Papa Noel" a month later, but, astonishingly, the single stiffed,eluding any chart action.
With no big movers since "One Step At A Time" and "Dynamite,"by the close of 1958 Lee's manager Dub Allbritten was scrambling to prop up herlimping career. Though she continued to be salable, making televisionappearances and touring with the country package shows, she was lacking hits.Now at the awkward, in�between age of 14, Lee could hardly be pitched as amoppet marvel, yet she was still too young to work the sexy diva angle. Withinterest in Lee's recordings waning stateside, it came as blessed news, then,that her sales were booming in France.
Decca quickly ordered Lee back into the studio in January 1959, where she waxedan album of pop standard remakes. Though still in school, the teenager againworked deep into the night, infusing new energy into classics like "JustBecause" [which Elvis had resurrected while at Sun] and Tin Pan Alleystalwarts like "Pennies From Heaven" and "Toot Toot TootsieGoodbye." Decca released the 12-song disc, amusingly titled Grandma,What Great Songs You Sang!, in August to lukewarm reception from Americanmusic buyers. But the label would make the most of its investment, laterrepackaging, resequencing and retitling the album as Brenda Lee Sings SongsEverybody Knows in 1961 and Here's Brenda Lee in 1967.
Taking full advantage of Lee's European popularity, Allbritten, his tiny chargeand a pair of school teachers jetted to Paris for a performance at the OlympiaTheater. Lee's French debut was shrouded in a bit of sensationalism, as rumorhad spread across the country that the singer was actually a 32-year-old midget."They had never seen me in France, they'd only heard me," Leeremembered for Nash. "And when we were gettin' ready to go over there, theywanted publicity pictures, and we sent 'em like I looked, you, know, 12. Butthey didn't believe it. They thought we were lying. So they printed the story.
"I'm lucky," she said. "I started courting that marketaround about 1958 because I wasn't doing anything in the States. To this day Ithink that that [European] audience has such a respect for the beginners ofrockabilly and rock 'n' roll. You can go over there and you can tour and you canhave packed houses even if you haven't had a hit record since the '60s, becausethey really revere that music and the pioneers that started it."
A month�long tour of Brazil followed. The diminutive dynamo, whom the SouthAmericans came to call "The Explosive Girl," made such an impressionthat the tour netted 51 front-page newspaper stories and feature spreads in ninemagazines. Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitshek de Oliveira dubbed Lee, "thebest goodwill ambassador the U.S. ever had."
Back home, Lee, Bradley and the A�Team reconvened inthe studio in August 1959. They were eager to record a song Lee, Bradley andAllbritten had chosen, "Sweet Nothin's," penned by a young rockabillysinger named Ronnie Self whom Lee had met on the Ozark Jubilee.
Lee's lustful read of the frisky song is also notable, in that, "I didn'teven know what a boy looked like" at the time, she confessed to Nash. "Idon't know where that came from. I really don't. Because you didn't even talkabout it when we were that age. I guess I fantasized in that song. I probablywished that I was in that situation, and sang it like that, but I hadn't had anyexperience, that's for sure."
Billboard didn't seem to notice, calling the sassy song in September1959 "a rocker ... sung with spirit by the thrush over a tricky ork (sic)backing."
"Sweet Nothin's" entered the pop charts by Christmas that year; inlate April 1960, it peaked at #4. Seizing on Lee's sales momentum, Decca swiftlyreleased a four�song EP in April, the first of 14 Decca EP compilations ofavailable singles, B�sides and album tracks. Across the Atlantic, "SweetNothin's" became Lee's first chart success in England, where the songclimbed to #4, and her first charter in Germany, as well, topping out at #34. Itwould be the first of many Top 10 hits.
In March 1960 Lee and Bradley reentered the studio,rejuvenated by the success of "Sweet Nothin's" and ready for some morecreative experimentation. For the first time in Nashville recording history,Bradley brought in a string section, a distinctive component of the NashvilleSound, which he intended to use on a couple of mature ballads, "I Want ToBe Wanted" [an English translation of the Italian "Per Tutta La Vita"]and "I'm Sorry," another Ronnie Self winner.
"We had three strings," Lee recalled [though other sources say four]. "['I'mSorry'] was a song that I had had a couple of years. I had met ... Ronnie Self,who was quite a rockabilly singer in his own right, and writer. I had met himand he had given me two songs, 'Sweet Nothin's' and 'I'm Sorry'. I had held onto those songs and believed in them. I wanted to cut 'I'm Sorry' and the recordcompany really was kind of skeptical of it because they said it was such agrown-up song for my age at that time. But we finally recorded it, we did it onthe tail end of a session in about five minutes in two takes. It was reallysomething, I'll tell you."
Lee's aching vocal truly made the tune. The teenager's voice had attained asmoldering huskiness that emanated sheer emotionality, and she had acquired animpeccable feel for phrasing. "Owen said that it was always uncanny the wayI could read lyrics at that age and sound believable," Lee told Nash. "Idon't know how I did it. Except that I love lyrics. And I was raised on EdithPiaf. Piaf and Judy Garland and Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. And I guessBessie Smith and Billie Holiday and Charles Aznavour. These are the people thatI cut my teeth on. Everybody says, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley... I had thoserecords, but my manager would always bring these other people to me and say,'Listen to this'. So these are the people that I learned my phrasing from. And,of course they were all innovators, so they helped me a lot. I particularlylearned a lot of my phrasing from Sinatra, who I think is the greatest phraserin the business."
Several uptempo numbers were also waxed during the March sessions, includingstereo remakes of "Jambalaya" and "Dynamite" and a revved�upread of "That's All You Got To Do," written by guitarist Jerry Reed,who would become a star himself a decade later. Obviously swayed by the successof the rocker "Sweet Nothin's," Decca buried the stellar "I'mSorry" as "That's All You Got To Do's" B�side. Billboarddidn't miss it, though, writing of the single, "The little lass with thebig voice comes thru (sic) with a sock reading of a rhythm tune on the top side,and then sells a ballad with wistful tenderness."
Decca's judgment proved canny, however, as That's All You Got To Do"vaulted up the pop charts, reaching the #6 spot in just five weeks. It wassurely to Decca's surprise, though, when "I'm Sorry" shimmied up thecharts right behind its A�side, then passed it, presiding at the #1position for three weeks in July. Lee's first #1 smash remained in the Top 100for more than six months, garnered her a Grammy nomination and became thesinger's first gold record, selling over one million records. It remains herbiggest-selling single, with worldwide sales of over 15 million. Promptlyfollowing up on Lee's impressive string of hits, Decca issued Brenda Lee,the singer's second LP, in August 1960, just one year after release of her full�lengthdebut. Brenda Lee crashed the album chart party within three weeks ofits release, climbing to #5.
Decca put Lee back in the studio six times during the last two weeks of August,where she cut 21 songs. True to Lee�Bradley form, the repertoire wasexpansive, including personal Lee favorites like Ray Charles's "Hallelujah,I Love (Him) So," Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" and the InkSpots' "If I Didn't Care," and another string�steeped stab at theItalian tune "I Want To Be Wanted."
The latter became Lee's next single, backed with "Just A Little," asDecca wasted no time, issuing the record in September. Little Miss Dynamite justcouldn't miss; "I Want To Be Wanted" became her second #1 hit in lateOctober, knocking the Drifters' "Save The Last Dance For Me" from thetop slot. Two weeks before her second chart�topping success and just twomonths after the release of her last album, Decca rolled out Lee's third long�player,This Is Brenda. That album also rocketed up the album charts, peaking at#4.
Wringing all things possible from Lee's winning streak, Decca dusted off thetwo-year-old "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" for the 1960 holidayseason. It, too, became a Top 20 hit. The record would go on to become a much�lovedChristmas standard and holds #4 honors in the Top 10 All Time Christmas Songs.It remains Lee's second-biggest-selling record, having moved more than eightmillion units by 1995. In 1991, Lee re�recorded the song for her WarnerBrothers album A Brenda Lee Christmas ... In The New Old Fashioned Way.
By the beginning of 1961, Lee's newest single, the big ballad "Emotions,"that again featured a creamy string echo of Lee's chorus, was on its way to hitstatus, eventually making the Top 20. Its B�side, the likable easy�rocker"I'm Learning About Love," made the Top 40.
In early January 1961, Lee returned to the studio, putting her rock 'n' rollsound on hiatus to again wax a bushel of old standards, including HoagyCarmichael's "Georgia,"Judy Garland's trademark "Zing! Went TheStrings Of My Heart," the 1932 Louis Armstrong favorite "You CanDepend On Me" and the 1924 Vernon Dalhart million�seller "SomeoneTo Love (The Prisoner's Song)." Lee also gently covered the Shirelles' hitof the day, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow."
Lee's move away from rock 'n' roll reflected the trend of the times as softer,gentler pop sounds were peddled full�force. By then, the music industry'spayola scandal and unyielding parental pressure had fostered the rise of clean�cut,sanitized teen idols like Fabian and Ricky Nelson, and girl�next�doorballadeer Brenda Lee fit right in.
But Lee would not completely forsake rock n' roll, writing in a one�pageeditorial for the March 1961 edition of Music Journal, "Americanshave constantly criticized the current trend in popular music, claiming that itis responsible for low morality. I, being both a teenager and a pop singer,naturally disagree. I feel the musical taste of the young people in this countryis a healthy one. We can dance to the music, sing it, tap our feet to therhythm, and identify with the lyrics ... If radio stations would be listened tofairly, our critics would find that many current hits are ballads, and some verylovely ones, too. I know, myself, that my albums are bought by adults (as wellas by people my own age) who are very surprised when they learn that I am justsixteen years old. As long as the public listens to this type of music and likesit, I will continue to perform it as best I can."
Decca released the sad�'n'�slow, string�filled "You CanDepend On Me" in April 1961, coupling it with the percolating Jim Sealsballad "It's Never Too Late," recorded during the August 1960sessions. The A�side quickly went Top 10. Decca continued the momentum withrelease of Lee's fourth album, Emotions, composed mostly of Lee'srenditions of standards
After more touring abroad, including a chaotic jaunt through Australia wherehundreds of hysterical fans trapped Lee in a room at the Melbourne Airport forthree hours, Lee was back in Bradley's studio. Again, the emphasis was on a safepop repertoire: standards like "All The Way" and "How Deep Is TheOcean," R&B hits like "Kansas City" and "Talkin' 'BoutYou," gentle rockers like "Dum Dum" and grand, heartwrenchingballads like "Eventually" and "Tragedy." The Hammond organ�garnishedfinger�snapper "Dum Dum," penned by Jackie DeShannon [later of "PutA Little Love In Your Heart" fame] and Sharon Sheeley [rocker EddieCochran's ex�girlfriend who also wrote Ricky Nelson's "Poor LittleFool"], was chosen as the next single, backed with "Eventually,"another Ronnie Self number. Both sides made the charts; the flirty "Dum Dum"cracked the Top 10 in the U.S. and climbed to #22 in the U.K.
Lee waxed all�new songs in August 1961. One of these was a country weeper, "TheBiggest Fool Of All," introduced to Bradley through a demo done byNashville new�gal�in�town Loretta Lynn. Other notable materialrecorded at the sessions included the capering "Here Comes That Feeling,"co�written by Joe Osborn and Memphis rockabilly Dorsey Burnette; the bluesymover "Anybody But Me," another Ronnie Self number; and anotherDeShannon�Sheeley rocker, "So Deep." The sessions' standout,though, was another sweeping ballad, "Break It To Me Gently," whichthe teenaged Lee filled with torn�from�the�chest passion andworld-weary soul.
Many of these tracks comprised Lee's fifth LP, All Of Me, released inAugust 1961. Decca chose to issue "The Biggest Fool Of All" as thealbum's first single, retitling it "Fool #1" and pairing it with "AnybodyBut Me." The A�side quickly hurtled up the charts, peaking at #3,Lee's highest charting since the #1 I Want To Be Wanted" a year earlier.Continuing her string of double�sided hits, "Anybody But Me" wentTop 40 as well.
By the time of "Fool #1"'s release in September 1961, Lee and herfamily had forsaken Nashville for sunny Southern California. Hollywood had beenpushing hard and both Lee's mother and her manager Allbritten felt it was timeto explore a film career. Lee was enrolled in the private Hollywood ProfessionalSchool and started work on an Eddie Albert�Jane Wyatt film, The TwoLittle Bears, for Twentieth Century Fox. "It was cute," Lee toldKingsbury, "...but I just really was not interested in movies. It wasn'tsomething that I wanted to pursue. I was interested in my singing." She didperform two numbers in the film, "Honey Bear," crafted by JayLivingston and Ray Evans of "Mona Lisa" renown, and "Speak To MePretty," a tune she'd recorded in May 1961 and featured on the All TheWay LP. "Speak To Me Pretty," which went unissued as a single inthe U.S., became Lee's most popular U.K. side, charting at #3.
Though the movie was a bomb, Lee's musical star was still on the rise. Shereturned to Nashville in October for more recording, once again cuttingstandards for her sixth album, Sincerely, which would see daylight inFebruary 1962. Again, tried�and�true classics were the order of theday, with "I'll Be Seeing You," "Lazy River," "YouAlways Hurt The One You Love" and more recent hits like the Platters' "OnlyYou" and Little Richard's "Send Me Some Lovin'" benefiting fromthe brassy but sensual Brenda Lee treatment.
Lee rode out 1961 in Las Vegas with a three�week stand at the Sahara Hotel,backed by the Louis Basil Orchestra and her own longtime road band, the six�pieceCasuals from Nashville. 1962 dawned with the release of the soaring "BreakIt To Me Gently," backed with "So Deep." The A�side enteredthe charts within a week of its release, eventually grabbing the #4 spot on thepop chart.
She trooped back to the studio in March, armed with new material from RonnieSelf (ballads "Everybody Loves Me But You" and "It Takes One ToKnow One"), the DeShannon�Sheeley team (the slow dance "Heart InHand") and Jerry Reed ( the uptempo "Sweet Lovin'"). For Lee'snext single, Decca rolled out "Everybody Loves Me But You," backedwith "Here Comes That Feeling" from the August 1961 sessions, in earlyApril. By May, the A�side had crested at #6 on the pop chart. Meantime, atwo�week concert tour took Lee to England where she joined rockabillypioneer Gene Vincent. In December, the British music paper New MusicalExpress voted Lee Most Popular Vocalist of the year, as it did annually from1960 through 1965.
Many other artists would appear with Lee on her European tours, including a fourpiecerock 'n' roll band from Liverpool, England. "The Beatles used to open forme in the early '60s, throughout Europe, Germany especially," Leeremembered in Behind Closed Doors. "Right before they hit it big inthe States. They were crazy. John was always pulling practical pranks. One nighthe threw a smoke bomb into the audience. And people just went nuts, thought thewhole place had been bombed. But he was always doin' somethin' like that. He wasjust a funny, funny guy. When Dub [Allbritten] and I came back to the States, webegged Decca to sign 'em. And they wouldn't. Musically, they were very raw, youknow, but they were great. You could see that talent, and the depth."
Lee scored her ninth consecutive Top 10 pop hit with "All Alone Am I,"another throbbing ballad cut in August 1962. Again, Bradley was an innovator,embellishing the song with Nashville's first electric harpsichord. The torridtune lofted to #3 on the American pop charts in November and to #7 on the U.K.chart the following March.
P>In October 1962 Lee met the love of her life, Ronnie Shacklett, at a JackieWilson concert in Nashville. The two married in the spring of 1963 and are stillhappily together, the proud parents of two grown daughters.Other changes were in store for Lee as well. As 1962 drew to a close, so too didher string of consecutive Top 10 pop singles. "Heart In Hand,"released in June, peaked at #15. Lee's next hit came with "Losing You,"yet another torchy ballad, this time colored with clarion trumpet from DonSheffield. In May 1963, the song went Top 10 on both the U.S. and U.K. popcharts. That success was followed by respectable showings from the sing-song "MyWhole World Is Falling Down" and sulky, slow song "I Wonder,"paired as a single in July and kicking off a three-year run of Top 20 hits. InAugust, "My Whole World" rallied to #24 on the pop chart, with "IWonder" tailing it at #25.
In November, "The Grass Is Greener," a Barry Mann ballad recorded atthe same time as "Losing You," reached #17 on the American pop chart,followed by the broken-hearted country crooner "As Usual," whichpeaked at #12 in the U.S. in early 1964. "As Usual" was one of Lee'sfew ballads that fared better internationally than domestically, reaching the #5position on the U.K. pop chart. "Too Many Rivers," written by HarlanHoward ["I Fall To Pieces"] and featuring Grady Martin on one ofNashville's first 12�string guitars, maxed at #13 stateside in 1965 andreached #22 in the U.K.
While on a U.K. tour in September, 1964, which included a Royal CommandPerformance before Queen Elizabeth II, Lee recorded "Is It True," withhotshot British producer Mickie Most at the console. Most gathered some ofLondon's best session players, including a young Jimmy Page on snaggling leadguitar. The single was rush�released in the U.K., where it careened to theTop 20; it also went Top 20 stateside. Lee's London rock sessions with Most wereher only tracks from early 1957 until 1968 which were not produced by OwenBradley.
Back at home in August 1966, Lee, Bradley and the trusty Nashville A�Teamemerged from the studio with "Coming On Strong," a near�Top 10hit. The horn�garnished, country�pop platter, issued in September,reached #11, her last Top 20 pop chart placing. She still traveled abroadextensively, shrewdly cultivating her devoted fandom in England, Germany, Italy,France and Japan.
Back in the States in October 1968, under the direction of producer/A&R manMike Berniker, Lee cut a pop rendition of Willie Nelson's country side "JohnnyOne Time" in New York. Written by long-time country collaborators A.L. "Doodle"Owens and Dallas Frazier, Lee's easy�listening rendition just nipped at thepop Top 40, peaking at #41 in April 1969, but brought Brenda Lee her secondGrammy nomination.
As the 1970s dawned, the musical climate was in a state of flux, and so was Lee.She was now a new mother and was also having serious throat problems, due tooveruse of her vocal cords. And though she had recorded albums in New York, LosAngeles and Memphis--without Owen Bradley, at the urging of Decca, which wassearching for a new image for Lee--she'd been without pop hits for a few years.
"There was no real demand, first of all, for female vocalists," shereflected in Behind Closed Doors. "Female vocalists have always hada rough time of it, because females are the record buyers. And there was noplace for me. And my health had been bad. I didn't want to just keep on puttingout product that wasn't going to sell. I felt it could only hurt me. So I juststopped for a while."
The respite gave Lee, who was not yet even 30 years old, valuable time toreevaluate her career and reflect on her next move. She decided to go with whatshe knew best, and in 1971 reunited with Owen Bradley and his session players athis new studio, Bradley's Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Her gamble paid offwith her lush rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Nobody Wins"; thesong sprinted to capture the #5 slot on the country charts in early 1973. It wasthe start of yet another winning streak for Lee. Between 1973 and 1975 shescored a half�dozen Top 10 country hits with her "story�songs,"including "Sunday Sunrise," "Wrong Ideas," "Big FourPoster Bed," "Rock On Baby" and "He's My Rock."
After an ill�advised stab at country�disco for one Elektra single in1978, she returned to Decca and once again conquered the country Top 10 with astrong string of hits. Decca was now MCA, with new management and A&Rdirection from Jim Foglesong and Ron Chancey. Lee's voice was still inphenomenal form-- her 1979 Top 10 country hit, "Tell Me What It's Like,"brought Lee her third Grammy nomination. She followed up in 1980 with "TheCowgirl And The Dandy," then "Broken Trust," again produced byChancey and featuring backing vocals from country harmony group the Oak RidgeBoys. Both songs went Top 10, country.
Other notable collaborations have included a 1983 duet with Willie Nelson, "You'reGonna Love Yourself (In The Morning)" and a 1983 album with Nelson,Kristofferson and Dolly Parton, Kris, Willie, Dolly & Brenda: TheWinning Hand, a 1984 Top 15 country hit with George Jones, "Hallelujah,I Love You So," and a 1989 Grammy�nominated track from post�moderncountry crossover songstress k.d. lang's Shadowland: The Owen BradleySessions LP, "Honky Tonk Angels Medley," featuring lang, Lee,Loretta Lynn and Kitty Wells.
Today, Lee still maintains a rigorous work schedule. In addition toextensive touring across the U.S. and abroad, the singer headlined two Broadway�scaleproductions at the Acuff Theater at Opryland USA, Music! Music! Music!in 1988 and 1989 and Spirit Of America in 1990. And no stranger to thecamera--in 1980 she appeared in the Burt Reynolds�Sally Fields flick Smokeyand The Bandit II--Lee was one of the TV hosts for Willie Nelson's Farm Aidbenefit concert in 1985, was featured in a Cinemax cable special, TheLegendary Ladies, in 1987, and has hosted cable channel TNN [The NashvilleNetwork]'s long�running "Nashville Now" program, in addition to aplethora of appearances on TV specials. The singer has also hosted her ownsyndicated radio show, Brenda Lee's Country Profile, and has confessedambitions of one day having her own talk or variety show.
In 1991, her new label, Warner Brothers, released A Brenda Lee Christmas ...In The New Old�Fashioned Way and Brenda Lee, a criticallyhailed return to her rockabilly roots helmed by veteran country producer Jim EdNorman. Currently, Lee, Bradley and many of the players from her early Deccayears--including pianist Floyd Cramer, sax man Boots Randolph, drummer BuddyHarman, guitarist Harold Bradley and arranger Bill McElhiney--are hard at workon updated remakes of two dozen of Lee's hits.
"We're having a lot of fun doing it," Bradley said, "and Brenda,her voice, is just as fantastic as she ever was."
After more than 40 years in the spotlight, Brenda Lee remains one of the mostversatile and enduring artists in music history. And her ranging repertoire,which proves she's equally at home performing rockabilly raveups, chest�heavingballads or tear�stained country laments, still makes her difficult tocategorize. That suits Lee just fine.
"All of us entertainers hate labels," she said, Athough we realizethat we have to have them in the record business. I would just like to be knownas Brenda Lee the singer, because I like to sing it all, and I always have. I'vealways been able to incorporate [rock, pop and country] into my shows and myrecordings and I've enjoyed it. I'm just proud to still be around, to be able tobe doing what I'm doing."
Last Updated on 3/15/96
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