Brenda Lee - Queen Of Rock n Roll '2009

Tracks list

 An international star who was voted Best Female Vocalist by the NME for five
consecutive years, Brenda Lee sold over 100 million records all before she was
21. Although she showed a preference for recording ballads in order to reach the
greatest number of record buyers, she also possessed one of the grittiest
rock’n’roll voices of the era – THE greatest according to
John Lennon.

Here are the tougher rock’n’roll recordings Lee made at the start
of her career before she fully embraced the smooth certainties of the pop
market. Comprising early singles and a few choice LP tracks, it is a stand-alone
release designed to wrap up all her early rockers and serve as a companion
volume to Ace’s existing programme of Brenda Lee album reissues.

Even at the height of her ballad phase, Brenda demonstrated that she had never
entirely left her rock roots behind by placing rockers on the on the B-sides of
her singles. These up-tempo offerings frequently became hits too – tunes
such ‘Just A Little’, ‘Anybody But Me’ and
‘That’s All You Gotta Do’, all heard here, are typical
examples. Also included is her breakthrough hit, ‘Sweet
Nothin’s’ , the perennial ‘Rockin’ Around The
Christmas Tree’, the all-time classic, ‘Let’s Jump The
Broomstick’ and early boppers such as ‘Dynamite (the 1957 version
not the later re-cut), ‘Rock The Bop’ and Jambalaya’ which
display a feisty attack for one so young – she was a mere 13 years-old at
the time.

Some of Lee’s biggest American ballads were less successful in Britain
where she was better known for her up-tempo material. In 1961, Brunswick, the
label representing US Decca in the UK decided to re-promote an earlier release,
‘Let’s Jump The Broomstick’, in response to an underlying
demand. The revived 45 reached #12 helping to keep Brenda’s name in the
limelight here. Similarly, ‘Here Comes That Feeling’ (relegated to
a B-side in the States) reached the Top 10 in Britain while barely making a
ripple back home.

By the time the British Invasion had swept the States in 1964, Brenda’s
recording profile had strayed just a little too far into AOR territory and she
was keen to reassert her pre-eminence in the fast-changing teen market. British
promoter Don Arden put her in touch with hotshot young British producer Mickie
Most who’d taken the Animals to the top with ‘House Of The Rising
Sun’. It was the first time she’d recorded outside Nashville since
1957. The result was the scorching double-sider, ‘Is It True’ c/w
‘What’d I Say’ featuring Jimmy Page and powerhouse drummer
Bobby Graham.

In the States, ‘Is It True’ came out with a different flip,
‘Just Behind The Rainbow’, so American fans never got to hear
‘What’d I Say’. Cut in a single take, ‘What’d I
Say’ appears here on CD for the first time and makes a tremendous closer
to this engaging set by the Queen of Rock’n’Roll’,
complemented, as always, by an attractive booklet brimming with rare ads and
period pics. 
:: TRACKLIST ::

01. Rock The Bop 02:14
02. Little Jonah (Rock On Your Steel Guitar) 02:24
03. Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 02:08
04. Anybody But Me 02:27
05. Here Comes That Feelin 02:11
06. Let The Four Winds Blow 02:08
07. Thats All You Gotta Do 02:29
08. Bigelow 6-200 02:15
09. Dynamite 02:03
10. Kansas City 02:38
11. Crazy Talk 02:42
12. Weep No More My Baby 03:01
13. Sweet Nothins 02:25
14. Rockin Around The Christmas Tree 02:05
15. Talkin Bout You 02:37
16. Bill Bailey, Wont You Please Come Home 02:24
17. Love You Till I Die 02:05
18. Hummin The Blues Over You 02:09
19. Dum Dum 02:24
20. Lets Jump The Broomstick 02:34
21. The Stroll 02:31
22. My Baby Likes Western Guys 02:14
23. Ring-A My Phone 02:02
24. Just A Little 02:26
25. Rock-A-Bye Baby Blues 02:17
26. One Step At A Time 02:40
27. Is It True 02:30
28. Whatd I Say 03:08

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