Brenda Lee

If Charles Brown is the unofficial king of Christmas music, Brenda Lee has to be the unofficial queen. "Little Miss Dynamite" is one of the most successful female singers in history, and she recorded many Christmas sides, including two albums and numerous singles. Only one, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," became a preeminent hit, but it was an irrepressible song that defined the golden age of Christmas rock more than any other - except maybe Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock," and Lee's is the better record, to boot.

Between the jaunty beat, the spicy guitar interjections, and Brenda's confident vocals, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" is a quasi-rockabilly masterpiece over-and-above its status as a Christmas classic. Brenda's bold declaration that "everyone's dancing merrily in the new old-fashioned way" exemplifies the very spirit of a rock 'n' roll Christmas - a kinetic, volatile, joyful blending of traditional and modern, sacred and profane, old and new. The single was produced by Owen Bradley, and it featured a who's who of Nashville session men, including Boots Randolph (saxophone), Floyd Cramer (piano), and Hank Garland (guitar), the latter of whom also played on Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" the previous year.

Recorded in 1958 and written by Johnny Marks (who also penned "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"), "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" finally hit the pop charts in 1960, when it leapt all the way to #14 - quite an accomplishment for a Christmas single, even in those days. The record ultimately charted - either on the Top 100 or the Christmas charts - for ten years running (1960-1969), and occasionally thereafter. During the Christmas season of 2023 - after digital streaming had changed how music was consumed and its popularity tabulated - "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" finally hit #1 on the Billboard charts, 65 years after its release.

Squirt! Squirt!

However, Brenda Lee's Christmas credentials don't stop there, nor is that where they began. She waxed her first Yuletide hit, "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus," in 1956 as a prepubescent country star. But, more importantly, she released a full album, Merry Christmas From Brenda Lee, in 1964, consisting of new recordings plus "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree." Highlighted by the effervescent girl group lament, "Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day," the album nevertheless signaled Brenda's move towards more adult sounds. On her reading of Brook Benton's "This Time Of Year," for instance, Brenda sounds more like the reincarnation of Patsy Cline than the precocious little girl who, eight years prior, bragged about shooting Santa Claus with her squirt gun.

Merry Christmas From Brenda Lee proved to be a juggernaut, reaching #12 on Billboard's Christmas chart in 1964 and spawning four hit songs: "Jingle Bell Rock" (#10), "This Time Of Year" (#12), "Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day" (#24), and "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," which recurred at #4. The album went on to chart four straight years after that and occasionally ever since.

So, Merry Christmas is a fine album with lots of nostalgic appeal, but Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree: The Decca Christmas Recordings (1999) is even better. It compiles her complete Christmas recordings from 1956 through 1965, including the entirety of her 1964 LP plus the rare Cajun romp, "Papa Noel," the original b-side of "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree." Sharply mastered, beautifully packaged, and fully annotated, I strongly recommend it! The album was later repackaged as The Best Of Brenda Lee: The Christmas Collection, part of Universal's enormous "20th Century Masters" series, and reissued on vinyl as A Rockin' Christmas With Brenda Lee.

Little Miss Dynamite

After beginning her career as a teeny bopper with saucy singles like "Dynamite" (1957) and "Sweet Nothin's" (1959), Brenda Lee ruled the pop charts for over ten years with increasingly mature songs like "I'm Sorry" (1960), "Break It To Me Gently" (1962), and "Too Many Rivers" (1965). Ultimately, she became the #1 female singer of the 1960's and later earned a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

In the early 1970's, Brenda Lee switched gears and returned to her country roots, ultimately entering Nashville's Hall of Fame, as well - the first woman to earn both honors. She is known by the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite" for several reasons. For starters, she was only 12 years old when she belted out "Dynamite" with the force of a full-grown woman. Then, she only grew up to be four feet, nine inches tall, but she never lost her vocal power and dynamic stage presence. As I write this, she's still at it, aged 80 years and still dynamite! Anyway, Anthology 1956-1980 (1991) will give you a near-definitive survey of her rock 'n' roll years, and then a quick glance at her country recordings.

During the long, last phase of her career, she recorded another holiday album, A Brenda Lee Christmas (1991). She's in fine voice, but I recommend it only for big Brenda Lee buffs, as the album consists exclusively of slick, heavily orchestrated Christmas standards with just a hint of country. Of course, it includes a new version of her greatest hit - "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" - by then a Christmas standard itself. The distinguishing feature of A Brenda Lee Christmas is that it plays almost like one giant medley, with most of the tracks transitioning seamlessly into the next. It's a neat trick, but it doesn't distract from the lack of substance and originality that otherwise defines the album. Stick with Merry Christmas From Brenda Lee or Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree: The Decca Christmas Recordings, and you'll be happy you did. [top of page]