All Country - Brenda Lee (2023)

It's a cold December morning when she packs up her son and daughter. Today is the day and the kids are excited to get out there and find the perfect Christmas tree. You will never tell them that you have already found that perfect pine tree on your property. On the other hand, he will always tell you that this is one of his favorite days of the year.
With their boots tied tight, their hats on their heads, and their gloves on their hands, they go together to the shed to find the ax and the slide. The children impatiently asked when they were going to get their tree. He carefully leads his children north, where he found the perfect balsam fir before it snowed last week.
It is his son who points to the tree first. Your daughter runs to the tree with the sled behind her. This year she teaches her son to cut the family Christmas tree. It is these precious moments with her children that make this vacation unforgettable.
With a slight push, the tree lands on top of the sled. Together they enthusiastically bring the tree home and bring it inside. At home, his wife gathered all the necessary utensils to decorate the tree. There are popped popcorn, thread, needles, colored paper, scissors, glue and all kinds of materials on the table, waiting for children's imagination to create decorations for the tree. It is a family effort to create a Christmas filled with love and magic.
The children energetically shed their outerwear and run to the kitchen table to begin their creative process of decorating their tree. With the help of his wife, they water the tree and put it back into storage. His wife joins the children in helping with the decorations while he carefully places the lights on the tree. The lights are old, but through his ingenuity, he manages to extend those lights for another year.
Once the lights are decorated, he joins the family in collecting all the decorations for the home. Together they begin the decorating process. You will never see a tree like this in these department stores. But those department store trees don't have the love that surrounds this one.
With an ooh and an ah, the lights come on and the tree comes to life in all its glory. One last thing before the tree is ready, he picks up her daughter and she puts the finishing touches, a foil star adorns the top.
It's not Christmas yet. He walks over to the old record player and puts the needle in the old 45. He walks over to her wife and gently hugs her around the trash can and the two begin to dance as her children laugh with delight at the sight of them. This well-known song begins to play through the speakers...

Spin around the Christmas tree in Christmas Party Hop.
The mistletoe hangs where it can be seen, each couple trying to stop it.
Spin around the Christmas tree, let the Christmas spirit ring out.
Later, we ate punk cake and sang Christmas carols.
You will have a sentimental feeling when you hear
The voices sing, "Let's have some fun, garnishing the halls with boughs of holly."
It revolves around the Christmas tree. Good parties.
Everyone dances merrily in the old fashioned way.

Christmas involves many traditions; from decorating the Christmas tree to singing Christmas carols. Listening to the song "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" while singing and dancing became one of those traditions. As we approach the 60th anniversary of its original release, I wanted to find out the story behind this iconic song.
"Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" is a fun Christmas song by Johnny Marks. Although Marks was Jewish, he specialized in writing Christmas songs. Some of his most notable songs are "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "A Holly Jolly Christmas", and "Run Rudolph Run".
Johnny Marks sent the song to producer Owen Bradley and asked a young peach from Georgia named Brenda Lee to record it.
"He sent it to Owen Bradley and he asked me to record it. No one else. He wanted me to record it," says Ms. Brenda Lee. "I wasn't even thirteen at the time. I didn't really have any great records to speak of. I was taking a big risk, I think, on a big, big song."
In July 1958, Brenda Lee entered a recording studio to record "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree." Lee was joined by guitarists Grady Martin and Hank Garland, drummer Buddy Harman, saxophonist Boots Randolph, and more.
"I loved the song when I first heard it. We all did it. Owen Bradley, all the musicians, we all loved it!" shares Ms. Lee. "To my great surprise, Owen had the studio decorated. It was in the middle of July when we recorded and he had a studio decorated for Christmas, with a Christmas tree and Christmas lights, all kinds of things. Christmas. It was great!
I think we did for a few takes. It was just one of those magical songs where we all come together. Boots Randolf, the saxophonist, said, "Well, I'm going to play this solo here." Grady Martin on guitar and Hank Garland on guitar - the guitar intro - said, "We're going to play these licks here." So we all formed a little circle and wrote and did it. We had no agreement. We were all in the studio, all together, we recorded everything, no DJing, no dubbing, no going back and everything, everything was done at the same time. For me it was [the best kind of recording]. That's how I record to this day."
The single "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" was released on October 19, 1958. The "B" side of the single featured "Santa Claus" by Brenda. The original release flopped, selling only 5,000 copies. A year later, the song was released for the second time. Once again, the second launch flopped just above the original launch.
In 1960, Brenda Lee released her signature song "I'm Sorry" here, which earned her No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. It was this success and the growing popularity of her that finally drew attention to the song "Rockin 'Around The Christmas Tree". Later that year, the song's third release eventually led to over fivemillion copies sold. The song peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart, and continued to sell well through the holiday seasons that followed. In December 1965, the song peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Christmas Singles chart. As of December 25, 2011, Nielson SoundScan estimated total digital download sales at 679,000 units, placing it fourth on SoundScan's list of best-selling digital Christmas singles of all time.
"Well, like all the goals I made with everything I recorded, I recorded it to do it as well as possible. To sing it in the best possible way and to make the author proud of what he wrote," explains Ms. Lee.
Author Johnny Marks was very proud of Lee's rendition of the song. The two became good friends and remained good friends until Mark's death in 1985.
Although the song regains popularity every Christmas, sales have declined over the years. Then, on November 16, 1990, the movie Home Alone was released. The song "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" was included in this beloved film and introduced a whole new generation of fans to this iconic Christmas song.
"I didn't know that alone at home I would comeAdd the song version.” humbly shares Ms. Brenda. "But it was amazing because it opened up a whole new era of young people that they didn't know about. So it was amazing! It was great! They did the whole song that hadn't been released! They did the full version!"
Brenda Lee's version of the song was also included in the 2007 film Deck The Halls, which starred Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito. However, only the main part of the song's lyrics are included in the film.
For decades, Brenda Lee's recording was the only notable version of the song. Ms. Lee's version is so remarkable because she introduces it with such a juvenile joke that she brings out the happy child in all of us. Many artists have recorded their own versions over the years, but none compare to Brenda Lee's.
“I've heard some of the versions, but I haven't heard them all. But I've heard some of them.She," shares Brenda. "I'm one of those artists who always thinks that original is always best. Not because I sing better or play better or whatever. for. it is the first one
Owen Bradley always had a saying: "If you can't do it better than the original, don't do it!"
On December 11, Ms. Brenda Lee will be 71 years old. She today continues to perform in select cities, as well as on The Grand Ole Opry.
"You love it! You love it!" Doña Brenda explains about the interpretation of the song. "Since I don't make it to the end of the show, it's the last song. So I think the whole show is thinking: when is he going to do this? They're even yelling 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree!' I think they're thinking if he's going to do this." I don't think I will! So we're done with it! I'll save "I'm Sorry" and "Rockin' until the end."
Since the release of the songs, our society has changed a lot. However, one thing is still clear: when it comes to Christmas and holiday music, we are still going back to the good old days. This song has stood the test of time and keeps coming back.
"Oh gosh, society has changed so much, ideas have changed so much, attitudes, things have gotten more complicated. I hope [the song] makes someone happy and is a bright light on their day." brings when touched. ” shares Ms. Brenda.
Very few artists are known for an iconic song that has stood the test of time. Can you imagine being known for a Christmas carol?
“It's something I thought would never happen. I always wanted to be known for a song,” Ms. Lee explains. “A Christmas carol was certainly not something I would remember. But I'll take it! It is a good song. a very popular song. It is a happy song. Kids, adults and everyone in between love it and I'm happy to make them feel good. It's a feel good song and you work towards it!
2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the original release of this legendary song. There are currently no plans for a special release, but I hope everyone celebrates Johnny Marks and this amazing song, the musicians who played it, and of course, Ms. Brenda Lee.
"It was a blessing. The old adage is true that beautifully written songs by a great writer stand the test of time. I was lucky to be the artist who got it. Of course, it was recorded by many artists, but I was the first." . artist to record it and become known for it. It's amazing that it has a Christmas standard, because that's unheard of in the realm of Christmas records.

And as I always say, keep rocking!” - Mrs. Brenda Lee.

(This article was published in the November/December 2015 issue of Strictly Country magazine.)

Click on the image to buy the album.

On the topic of the corresponding articles:

A Christmas in the Northwoods Country...