Brenda Lee was one of the first child stars in the modern rock era to make it big.  Before there was Taylor Swift, and before there was LeAnn Rimes, there was Brenda Lee.  Little Miss Dynamite, as she was nicknamed, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1944.  Her family was poor and lived in a small three-room house that didn’t have indoor plumbing.  Brenda Lee was fascinated with music ever since she was a baby.  She won local singing contests starting at the age of six.  By the time Brenda Lee was ten years old, she was the primary breadwinner for the family.

Brenda Lee received her first record contract with Decca Records in 1956, at the age of 11.  Her first record did not do well in the charts.  Neither did her second single which was a double-sided Christmas novelty record.  The A side was I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus and the B side was Christy Christmas, both of which are included on this CD.  Her first big hit, One Step At A Time, came in 1957 and off she went.  Keep in mind, we’re talking about a 13-year-old girl.

Most of Brenda Lee’s early hits were Country flavored and did well on the Country charts.  Although she sounded Country, and she recorded in Nashville using the best studio musicians, her record company wanted to market her as a Pop singer.

Although most of Brenda Lee’s early hits were Country flavored, she found greater success recording Rock-A-Billy records.  Her biggest hit, and everybody should know this, was Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, released in 1958, although it failed to make an impact until 1963.  Since then, it has become one of the biggest Christmas songs of all time.  Other big hits for Brenda Lee include I’m Sorry, All Alone Am I and Break It To Me Gently, amongst many others.

Brenda Lee released her first Christmas album in 1964 and it peaked at # 15 on the Billboard Christmas Charts that year.  She would go on to release another Christmas CD in 1991.  (Look for a review of that Christmas CD in this blog’s future).  This Christmas compilation CD combines that first Christmas album, plus the two Christmas songs that were recorded before the album (but not included on it), and three Christmas songs recorded in 1965, a year after this album was released.

The CD artwork is very good.  The cover displays a small head and shoulders picture of Brenda Lee from 1965, so she was around 20 years old when the photo was taken.  (It’s actually a picture taken from the same photo session for her 1965 album cover Too Many Rivers.  It’s almost the same picture as the album cover, but not quite.  Her hair is the same, she’s wearing the same dress and the same necklace, but the head is turned more slightly).

Brenda Lee’s name appears at the top of the front cover in red script and the CD title below is in green.  All are placed on a muted background picture of a decorated Christmas tree covered in snow.  The words “The Decca Christmas Recordings” appear under her picture in red letters.

The back of the CD features a picture of Brenda Lee in a fanned party dress.  (She’s wearing the same dress as on the cover of her 1962 album, Brenda, That’s All).  Again, her name, the CD title and The Decca Recordings words appear above her.  On either side of the picture is a numerical track listing.  All is presented on the same muted Christmas tree as found on the front cover, but the picture is taken from farther away, so more of the tree is exposed.

The CD cover opens along a double fold out that is mostly biographical.  The inside three pages detail Brenda Lee’s career and the recording of all the songs contained here.  On the back, one side has a detailed numerical track listing including writer credits, recording dates and original album and catalog numbers for all the songs.  Very good, indeed!  Also included is an even earlier picture of a 13-year-old Brenda Lee, from 1958.  The other page on the flip side is a plain red background with an MCA Nashville logo and a Decca logo at the very bottom of the page.

The CD’s first song is the title of the CD and of course her biggest hit, Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, recorded in 1958.  She sure doesn’t sound 13 years old.  The song is a Rockabilly song that swings, and Brenda Lee uses her Country accent to great effect.

The 2^nd song, Papa Noel, is one of the most unique Christmas songs I’ve ever heard.  Her first single, which was released in 1956, was the Hank Williams song Jambalaya and Papa Noel uses a Cajun influenced arrangement to capitalize on the former’s success.  Because it features Cajun influences and the lyrics speak of Santa Claus coming down to the bayou, it is a rather unusual Christmas song.  The simple arrangement is greatly enhanced with a sweet chorus of voices oohing and aahing their way along with Brenda Lee’s vocals.  It is easy to forget this is a Christmas song until you pay close attention to the lyrics.  This was the B side to the single Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree in 1958.

Brenda Lee does a fantastic job with Jingle Bell Rock.  It combines her flair for Rockabilly while covering another Rockabilly Christmas song made famous by Bobby Helms in 1957.  The musical arrangement is not unlike the Bobby Helms original.  I think if Brenda Lee had recorded it first, it would have been as big a hit for her as it was for him.

The 5^th and 6^th songs, Christy Christmas and I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus, respectively, are from the second single Brenda Lee ever recorded in 1956.   Although the record label boasted that they were performed by Little Brenda Lee (9 Years Old), she was actually 12 when they were recorded.  Both songs feature a strong Country influence featuring lap steel guitar with a Western Swing arrangement.  Brenda Lee uses her Country twang to great effect.

Christy Christmas describes a wooden elf that Santa Claus carved from a Christmas tree and who comes to life to assist Santa with loading his sleigh and delivering all the toys.  This is an odd but likable Christmas song.

I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus has a strong Western Swing flavor to it as Brenda Lee declares that she is going to kidnap Santa Claus, steal his bag of toys and deliver them to all the other children that Santa fails to visit every year.  This is another very unique Christmas song that features Brenda Lee giving her Georgia dialect a strong workout.

The 7th song, Winter Wonderland, features a fast-paced arrangement, accented with Latin percussion and accompanied by flutes, violins and a light chorus.  It’s a terrific arrangement and very festive.  It uses all the traditional instruments found in other versions, but in a much different way.

The 10^th song, The Angel And The Little Blue Bell, is the first of three original songs included on Brenda Lee’s first Christmas album.  It tells the story of a lonely, blue bell high up in a church steeple that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t make himself ring.  Then one Christmas Eve, an angel appeared to the blue bell and told him she was going to dry his tears by turning him into the brightest gold bell and giving him the best tone that would last and last.  The music that accompanies the lyrics is soft and simple and features a light melody of strings and celeste.  Once again, the light chorus gives this song a wonderful festive feeling.

Knowing that this was recorded in Nashville, I’m inclined to think that perhaps the Anita Kerr Singers provide the lush chorus, but I can not confirm this.  The original album was released on Decca Records, and I know that the Anita Kerr Singers worked a lot at RCA Nashville, but I don’t know if they worked outside of RCA Nashville or if Decca used the same studio.

Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day is another original Christmas song and was written by Ray Stevens.  It features an upbeat rocking arrangement using traditional orchestral instruments.  Brenda Lee sings of her loneliness on Christmas Eve.  And even though everywhere is decorated for Christmas and the mood is festive, since her lover went away, Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day.

The 15^th song, Strawberry Snow, is the last of the original Christmas songs included on this Christmas compilation CD.  It features a string laden arrangement accented with celeste and organ that speaks sadly of… well, I don’t know what this song speaks of.  It has to be one of the strangest songs ever written.  It’s not really a Christmas song.  It doesn’t speak of Christmas, Santa or Jesus.  It speaks solemnly of accepting life’s path and knowing that the next day will be sweeter than today (???).  I looked up the lyrics and read them while listening to the song, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what the heck the author was trying to communicate with the lyrics.  Is it a Country expression from a time ago before I was born?  I don’t know.  It’s a very strange song.

Anyway, the music is very lush, and our wonderful chorus is there to make this a beautiful Christmas song.  All the right pieces are there.  It has a terrific melody and arrangement, it’s just that it doesn’t make any sense.  But it’s a very unusual Christmas song, so I guess that’s all it needs to be.

The last three songs on the CD are the three recorded in 1965, after her Christmas album was released.  White Christmas is the first of this trio of traditional, secular Christmas songs.  The arrangement is very traditional, and the chorus is as well, but Brenda Lee’s 20-year-old voice is more mature than it was on her earlier Christmas records.  The Rockabilly era was over, and it was time to move on.  Most of Brenda Lee’s songs from the 1960s are very Country flavored.

And that is no more prevalent than on Jingle Bells.  Once again, the music and the chorus are traditional in all respects, but by now Brenda Lee has gone Country. There is nothing wrong with that.  But people expecting the ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ Brenda Lee will be caught off guard with these last three songs.

The CD closes with the reverent Silent Night.  Even with Brenda Lee’s Country dialect, I think she does a super terrific job with this song.  The music is very light, barely discernable.  The chorus is lush and soft.  Brenda Lee delivers one of the softest, solemn and passionate versions of this song I am familiar with.  But beware, it IS Country!

It was hit or miss for Brenda Lee by 1965.  Although she continued to release albums throughout the 1960s and 1970s, some performed well on the charts, and some didn’t.  Funny though, is that even though Brenda Lee WAS a Country singer, her records were not released to the Country music stations, and she didn’t chart her first album on Billboard’s Country charts until 1973.

So, what we have here is a very unique collection of Christmas songs from a young girl who will forever be known for recording one of the biggest Christmas records of all time.  This Christmas compilation may not appeal to people who know Brenda Lee for only one song, but I think that those who are familiar with Brenda Lee’s records will know of her Country flavor and will like this very much.  Yes, it is a Country Christmas CD, but it was recorded right in the heart of the Classic Christmas Music Era and all the arrangements of the songs are lush and traditional.

The CD’s liner notes gives those that are unfamiliar with Brenda Lee’s early career a great biography and history of these songs.  And out of the 18 songs here, six are unique to Brenda Lee, albeit some unusual ones at that.  Those that are familiar with this blog should know that I would like this very much and I do.

I give this CD :

****