Brenda Lee - Merry Christmas (1964)

It's conceivable that many people are sick of Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" because it's played incessantly every holiday season. While it's not my favorite Christmas song I've actually grown to like it more as I got older. I guess it's because this now mature classic rock fan has mellowed.

Even though few young people today know Lee outside of her Christmas classic she's among the more popular American recording artists of all time, having sold over one hundred million records around the world. Billboard named her the Top Female Artist of the 1960s. With her song "I'm Sorry" (1960) she became only the second woman to ever hit #1 on the Hot 100. (Connie Francis was first with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" in 1960.)

Her perennial Christmas chestnut is the lead track on Lee's first album of seasonal tunes, simply titled Merry Christmas. The star recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in 1958 when she was only thirteen years old. It was already an established holiday classic when it became the leadoff track on this 1964 LP that was released when she was only nineteen. It's a twelve-song set that clocks in at under thirty minutes. So, if there's a song you don't like you don't have to wait very long for the next one to come along.

The music found on the LP is a product of its time. Many of the tracks included a male and female chorus that sounds dated today, but they were quite common in the late 50s and early 60s. Many of the top singers of the era featured them on their records - including Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole - and they definitely added some color to the arrangements.

Lee was wise enough to not just rely on the most famous Christmas songs. There are four tracks that I've never heard elsewhere: "Strawberry Snow," "This Time of Year," "Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day," and "The Angel and the Little Blue Bell."

Lee was always classified as a country music singer, but that label is much too restrictive because her pop sensibilities broadened her appeal. Produced by hall-of-famer Owen Bradley and recorded in Nashville, Merry Christmas is a lightweight but enjoyable Christmas record that appeals to many older country and pop music fans.

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