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Speaker 1: Because it is Christmas week. When we loaded this, I

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Speaker 1: thought it'd be fun to play the interview with Brenda Lee.

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Speaker 1: Now Brenda Lee has Rocking around the Christmas Tree. That

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Speaker 1: song has been around forever, but what we learn in

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Speaker 1: this podcast, in this interview is that it wasn't a

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Speaker 1: massive hit when it came out. Now, Brenda Lee just

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Speaker 1: turned eighty one on December eleventh. In this interview, she

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Speaker 1: talks about how Home Alone helped launch Well, I don't

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Speaker 1: will spoil it, but rocking around the Christmas Tree, even

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Speaker 1: though it was so many years after we talked about

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Speaker 1: playing the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. We

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Speaker 1: talked about her going to Japan when she was fourteen

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Speaker 1: and meeting Elvis and hanging out with Patsy Klein. Here

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Speaker 1: it is. This is our episode with Brenda Lee. Hello,

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Speaker 1: Miss Brenda Lee.

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Speaker 2: Hello, it's really good to see you again and you

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Speaker 2: as well.

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Speaker 1: The last time that we talked, we were trying to

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Speaker 1: get that Christmas song up to number one. We were

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Speaker 1: a boy did it go to then?

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Speaker 3: And you did it?

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Speaker 1: Oh? I didn't do anything.

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Speaker 3: Well, you helped with it.

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Speaker 1: That Rocking around the Christmas Tree went number one. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's really exciting.

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Speaker 2: When you think of how old it is, it truly is,

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Speaker 2: and when you think it was written by a Jewish man,

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Speaker 2: it truly was.

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Speaker 1: So what's remarkable about that song? And then I definitely

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Speaker 1: want to get onto the greatest hits, But what's remarkable

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Speaker 1: about that song is that it has been around for

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Speaker 1: a long time, it has sustained and also it even

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Speaker 1: sounds like the audio quality sounds like a song that

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Speaker 1: was recorded many years ago. Yet it's so good. It

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Speaker 1: continues to not only just linger around, but again it's

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Speaker 1: always in the top two or three, and it went

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Speaker 1: number one. Finally, like the sustained success of that song

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Speaker 1: is unlike many songs. Ever, at what point did you

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Speaker 1: realize this song is going to just stick around for decades?

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Speaker 4: You know?

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Speaker 2: I never dream in the world that that would be

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Speaker 2: my signature song. I always thought I'm Sorry would probably

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Speaker 2: be it. And that song was written by the great

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Speaker 2: Johnny Marks, who is Jewish, who wrote all the great

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Speaker 2: Christmas songs. And I said to him one day, I said, Johnny,

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Speaker 2: you don't even believe in Christmas. I said, how are

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Speaker 2: you writing these songs? He said, I don't know. But

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Speaker 2: when I sit down to write that's what comes out.

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Speaker 1: When it first came out, was it a hit? Was

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Speaker 1: it a holiday hit? Or did it take a.

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Speaker 3: While before it It took a minute. Yes, it did, And.

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Speaker 1: That's surprising because usually a song has its biggest when

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Speaker 1: it's released, usually has a shot, and then if it

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Speaker 1: does a hit, it's kind of done.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, especially back in those days. But no, it wasn't.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it was played, but I'll tell you when it.

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Speaker 3: Really took off.

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Speaker 2: One of my friends called me one night and said, Brenda,

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Speaker 2: have you seen the movie Home Alone? And I said no.

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Speaker 2: They said, well, your song's all over it. And I

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Speaker 2: said which song? And they said Rockin' And that was

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Speaker 2: really the catalyst that brought it to where it is.

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Speaker 1: So that means it had to have been out twenty

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Speaker 1: five or thirty years before the Home Alone? Right?

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Speaker 3: Probably?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And you're right, I guess even for me, that

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Speaker 1: was when I and I was a kid. Yeah, that

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Speaker 1: was my introduction to that song.

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Speaker 3: I'll we darn.

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Speaker 1: So you grew up, You grew up as a young

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Speaker 1: young kid in Atlanta. Correct? Did you ever have roots

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta? Because I felt like you were traveling so

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Speaker 1: much so young.

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Speaker 2: I was actually I lived in a little town called Lithonia,

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Speaker 2: which is maybe eighteen miles from Atlanta, and I used

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Speaker 2: to do a show called John Farmer and the TV

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Speaker 2: Ranch Boys, and that was out of Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: See were driving in Atlanta. Would your parents take you?

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Speaker 2: Uh?

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Speaker 3: Huh? My mom would take me. My dad died when

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Speaker 3: I was very young.

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Speaker 2: And then there was a big, huge ballroom at that

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Speaker 2: time called the Sports Arena. People would go there and

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Speaker 2: dance and it was just a really fun place. And

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Speaker 2: I used to sing there every Saturday night with the

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Speaker 2: band from the TV station.

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Speaker 1: Where did your music passion come from?

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Speaker 3: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I've often wondered that myself. My mother could sing, but

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Speaker 2: it wasn't like she sang to me or sang all

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Speaker 2: the time. We had a little radio, and I remember

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Speaker 2: my daddy he loved the Yankees, Mama loved the Dodgers.

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Speaker 2: So they would keep enough battery where they could do that,

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Speaker 2: and then I could listen to my music.

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Speaker 3: So I started listening really e.

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Speaker 1: And you think hearing your favorite songs and hearing the

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Speaker 1: i'm assuming AM radio, that's what motivated you to start singing.

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Speaker 1: Did you have a bunch of friends, because I feel

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Speaker 1: like I watched a lot of TV because I don't

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Speaker 1: have any friends. Like that's why I think that's kind

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Speaker 1: of why I'm funny now too, is because I don't

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Speaker 1: have a whole lot of friends. But so I had

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Speaker 1: to develop that if you're listening to a lot of music,

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Speaker 1: would you just sit at the radio and listen and

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Speaker 1: memorize songs and sing long? And was that what you

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Speaker 1: would do in the evenings?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I loved it.

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Speaker 2: I had friends, you know, I was in regular school

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Speaker 2: and I had friends, but it was it was just,

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Speaker 2: well you probably know, it's something that drew you and

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Speaker 2: you really had no control over it.

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Speaker 1: And when you tell your mom you want to sing publicly,

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Speaker 1: is what is her reaction and how does she immediately

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Speaker 1: help you try to?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they saw the talent, especially my mom.

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Speaker 2: My dad died when I was really young, and I

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Speaker 2: think she saw the talent and she saw the want

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Speaker 2: in me to want to do it. She was not

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Speaker 2: the kind of person or mother that would say, okay,

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Speaker 2: got it, you gotta sing tonight, blah blah blah. She

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Speaker 2: wasn't that at all.

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Speaker 1: So she didn't push you to do.

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Speaker 3: It, No, not at all.

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Speaker 1: But she encouraged you to follow your passion absolutely, And

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Speaker 1: how did she do that? At first?

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Speaker 2: Well, radio, she let me listen to what I wanted

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Speaker 2: to listen to on radio. And then there was a

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Speaker 2: place called the Sports Arena in Atlanta. It was, like

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Speaker 2: I said, big old, huge ballroom.

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Speaker 1: But how did she get you on stage there? Like

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Speaker 1: what she just asked?

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Speaker 2: She was very brazen. She would say, my little girl

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Speaker 2: can really sing? Would you let her sing tonight? And

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Speaker 2: finally the band said yeah, and I did, and I

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Speaker 2: became a regular Saturday nighter.

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Speaker 3: I was ten years old.

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Speaker 1: Were you ever full of stage fright at that age

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Speaker 1: or did it feel so natural?

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Speaker 3: It just felt natural.

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Speaker 1: What singers did you like as a young kid that

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Speaker 1: you would emulate.

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Speaker 2: I don't know that I emulated anybody, but I loved

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Speaker 2: Hank Williams. I think he was probably my favorite. I

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Speaker 2: loved Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Ella Fitzgerald. I loved all

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Speaker 2: the older singers, not that they were old then, but

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Speaker 2: they were older than me and I got to meet

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Speaker 2: all of them and that was a dream come true.

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Speaker 2: And I just liked I never could identify with kitchy songs.

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Speaker 3: I liked the good songs.

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Speaker 1: You liked the mature adult songs I did, which had

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Speaker 1: to be a little weird for a kid to like.

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Speaker 2: The magin Yeah, and everybody wondered, why do you like those?

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Speaker 2: You're ten years old? I said, I don't know, but

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Speaker 2: I do.

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Speaker 4: We interrupt this interview to bring you a message from

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Speaker 4: our sponsor.

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Speaker 1: This is the Bobby Cast. How long did you perform

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Speaker 1: in Georgia before he started to travel around?

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Speaker 3: We moved to Okay.

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Speaker 2: We were playing the Fox Theater and Red Foley came

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Speaker 2: to town and somehow or another he let me sing

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Speaker 2: a song on the show. And at that time he

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Speaker 2: was the host of the Ozark Jubilee out of Springfield, Missouri,

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Speaker 2: and he asked if I would like to come and

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Speaker 2: do the show, and of course we said yes. So

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Speaker 2: it wound up we moved there and I became a regular.

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Speaker 1: So you moved to Missouri? How'd you like that? Do

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Speaker 1: you remember it?

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Speaker 3: I do. I liked Missouri.

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Speaker 2: It was fun and I was doing absolutely what I

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Speaker 2: loved to do. Going to school too. Mama always made

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Speaker 2: me go to school. It wasn't like, oh she sings,

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Speaker 2: she you know, No, that wasn't the case.

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Speaker 1: Your mom moved for you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, wow, yeah she really did.

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Speaker 1: Like looking back now, is there a gratefulness? Is something

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Speaker 1: old sacrifice?

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Speaker 3: I couldn't.

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Speaker 2: Of course, I couldn't be here without her, But I

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Speaker 2: couldn't be who I am without her either, because she

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Speaker 2: was my best publicity person, my best Okay, you can

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Speaker 2: do this. She was my everything in my singing.

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Speaker 1: When did you start to come to Nashville.

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Speaker 2: I came to Nashville and I was I think I

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Speaker 2: was eleven.

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Speaker 1: Or twelve, So that's pretty quick then.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so you're singing in Georgia at ten. Yeah, you're

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Speaker 1: in Missouri at eleven. Yeah, and about a year later

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Speaker 1: you're in Nashville.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Do you move here or do you come here at

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Speaker 1: first just to kind of see what it's about.

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Speaker 3: We came, but we moved really quick. Why Well, because

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Speaker 3: there was.

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Speaker 2: More opportunity, There was more interest. People weren't afraid to

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Speaker 2: record a child thinking their voice might change, and you

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Speaker 2: put all that energy and finance into it, and then

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Speaker 2: it turns out their voice changes and they're not good anymore.

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Speaker 1: You know. I never thought about that, but I can

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Speaker 1: tell that was actually a thing by how you're describing it.

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Speaker 1: So there must have been reluctance then to invest in

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Speaker 1: you as a kid, because they thought as you grew

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Speaker 1: your voice would change and maybe you would not be

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Speaker 1: able to sing. Yeah, that's what they would say. So

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Speaker 1: who believe in you? Then? To invest in you and go?

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Speaker 1: I still believe that even if there is a voice change,

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Speaker 1: she'll be great.

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Speaker 3: Readfully, so the same, red fully, same redfully.

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Speaker 1: What do you think you saw on you?

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Speaker 2: Goodness, nobody's ever asked me that question. I think the

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Speaker 2: thing he really saw me in me was the need,

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Speaker 2: the need to be able to help my family financially,

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Speaker 2: and the need to be able to sing.

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Speaker 3: I love to sing.

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Speaker 1: Did you start to feel a pressure at eleven, twelve,

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Speaker 1: thirteen years old to support your family? No, you never

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Speaker 1: felt the pressure was never put on you. No, did

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Speaker 1: you feel like you needed to do even if there

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Speaker 1: wasn't a pressure. Do you feel like that's something you

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Speaker 1: wanted to do?

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Speaker 3: Yes? Always?

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Speaker 1: Why?

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Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know. I would have sang for nothing,

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Speaker 2: you know, the money was just good, too bad. I

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Speaker 2: just love to sing always. And where that came from,

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Speaker 2: I have no clue.

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Speaker 1: When you moved to Nashville and recorded, did you soon

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Speaker 1: start touring regionally or nationally.

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Speaker 3: All over the world, all over the world.

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Speaker 1: I don't like flying now.

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Speaker 3: I don't either.

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Speaker 1: I can imagine flying over the ocean.

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Speaker 2: Well you know when you're twelve. Yeah, that's true, you know,

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Speaker 2: and you don't think about that. I don't like it now,

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Speaker 2: So I don't go as much as I used to.

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Speaker 1: So you go all over the world, all over the world.

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Speaker 1: Did you feel safe as a kid singer?

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: My mom was with me, my manager, so yeah, and

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Speaker 2: the band guys would protect me. I was like their

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Speaker 2: little sister. Sometimes they protected me too much like a sister. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: like I couldn't get in any trouble.

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Speaker 1: When did you play the opry for the first time.

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Speaker 3: I was ten years old, so that would have been.

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Speaker 2: Fifty four or fifty five when we moved to Nashville.

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Speaker 3: I just went to the opera.

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Speaker 1: It seamlessly slid in at the Ryman any other performers

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Speaker 1: that you listened to or liked in that first year

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Speaker 1: so that you're playing the opera, that they would play

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Speaker 1: the opera and you think it was cool to be

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Speaker 1: able to see them.

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Speaker 2: I loved Patsy Kline, loved her, loved her heart, loved

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Speaker 2: her talent, loved her generosity.

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Speaker 3: She was.

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Speaker 2: Not affected at all by the industry. I loved that

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Speaker 2: about her, and she just kind of took me under

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Speaker 2: a wing, as did Dottie West, and we were friends forever.

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Speaker 1: Did you ever get to see Hank Senior at the opera?

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Speaker 1: Because I know he got some try they were like, hey,

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Speaker 1: don't come back around here no more. But did you

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Speaker 1: ever get to see Hank Senior or the operation?

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Speaker 3: I did one time?

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Speaker 1: And how was that experience.

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Speaker 3: A dream?

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Speaker 1: Really?

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Speaker 2: Because you know, I sang all his songs and had

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Speaker 2: hits with a lot of them, and to meet the

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Speaker 2: guy that wrote him, it's surreal almost.

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Speaker 1: And he had to be in his early twenties, right

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Speaker 1: young at that point.

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Speaker 3: Very young.

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Speaker 1: What about Elvis?

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Speaker 2: Oh, Elvis was a trip. I loved Elvis, but he

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Speaker 2: was he was almost like a pretend person because he

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Speaker 2: was so good you couldn't believe he was real. He

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Speaker 2: was sweet, but he was firm, He knew what he wanted.

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Speaker 3: Knew what he liked.

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Speaker 2: He wouldn't really if he really truly believed in it,

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Speaker 2: don't try to convince him of something else, because that's

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Speaker 2: what he was going to do.

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Speaker 1: Did you see him in town much in Nashville.

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Speaker 2: Not a whole lot went to his sessions and watched.

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Speaker 2: And that's that's back, gosh, late fifties. That's back when

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Speaker 2: we didn't have all the knobs to turn to make

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Speaker 2: you sound so good.

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Speaker 1: See, you had to sound good.

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Speaker 2: You either sounded good or you were asked to leave.

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Speaker 1: He was really good, really good, pure voice, pure voice.

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Speaker 3: No knob turning, no nothing. That was him.

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Speaker 1: Who else lived here that you're like you were excited

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Speaker 1: to see or run into it because I had those

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Speaker 1: people when I moved here, did you Yeah? For sure,

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Speaker 1: I moved here and it was you know, for me,

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Speaker 1: it was all the guys like the Chestnuts and all

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Speaker 1: those not late eighties and nineties got oh yeah, and

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Speaker 1: so you know, listen to the radio my whole life

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Speaker 1: growing up and listen to the stay down at Little Rock,

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Speaker 1: Arkansas on Hot Springs are so on. When I moved

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Speaker 1: here that Joe Diffy. I got to spend a lot

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Speaker 1: of time with Joe. Yeah, And I got to know

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Speaker 1: him pretty well before he died. Like we would spend

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Speaker 1: time together because we'd perform. I think before we got

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Speaker 1: to know each other. The best was performing together at

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Speaker 1: the Opry, not not at the same time, but we'd

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Speaker 1: be on the same night multiple times.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 1: And so you know, how do is it the Opry? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: doors are just open, they are and you just spend

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Speaker 1: time with the people that are there. Yeah. And so

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Speaker 1: for me that was exciting to get to see, like

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Speaker 1: the diffies. Kicks Brooks my first time ever playing the

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Speaker 1: Opry came into the room and was like, this is

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Speaker 1: what we do here. I'm Kicks and I'm like, you're

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Speaker 1: Brooks are done. This is crazy. So I wonder like

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Speaker 1: those those stories for you because I had my version

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Speaker 1: of that. It sounds like you did too, Oh I did.

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Speaker 2: It was like I was like the little sister, you

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Speaker 2: know and Dotty West, and.

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Speaker 1: We're the youngest by far? Were you the young youngies kid?

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Speaker 2: But Dotty West, Tammy Patsy, all the greats. They just

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Speaker 2: took me under their wing and I just loved them.

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Speaker 1: When you were twelve and you signed a record deal,

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Speaker 1: how much did you understand what was happening with the

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Speaker 1: business And how much do you think your mom understood

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Speaker 1: with the business.

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Speaker 2: My mom was pretty savvy. All I knew was I

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Speaker 2: want to sing and I want to be heard. And

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Speaker 2: if this is my avenue to do it and they'll

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Speaker 2: let me do it, I'm all in.

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Speaker 1: Did you ever sign one of those deals that maybe

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Speaker 1: wasn't the best deal and you learned later that what

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Speaker 1: you had signed.

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Speaker 2: I had Really I was lucky because I I had

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Speaker 2: people around me, not that many, but I did have

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Speaker 2: people that truly cared and loved me, which wasn't always

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Speaker 2: the case with artists.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems like with young artists as well, like,

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Speaker 1: oh yeah, they're pretty vulnerable, they are business, they are personal.

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Speaker 1: But it seems like you have a pretty good experience

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Speaker 1: because you had good people around you.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that truly cared about me, that weren't just in

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Speaker 2: it for the book and whatever. They really cared about me.

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Speaker 2: Starting with Red Foley.

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Speaker 1: When you would sing I'm sorry with the whole crowd

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Speaker 1: singing back, was that among sometimes that the coolest thing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that was cool. What was cool.

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Speaker 4: To me.

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Speaker 2: Was if you started a song and they started it

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Speaker 2: was like, oh lord, this really was a good song

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Speaker 2: because you don't expect it. You know, you want it,

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Speaker 2: but you at least I never did. I never expected it.

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Speaker 1: Growing up in a small town in the South and

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Speaker 1: then living in the Midwest to bed in Nashville, that

356
00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,480
Speaker 1: type of person. It's pretty similar. But when you're traveling

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Speaker 1: the continental you know, States, and you're in a Boston,

358
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,800
Speaker 1: you're in a California and you're going wow, they or

359
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,119
Speaker 1: you're in Japan and you're going, I can this is

360
00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,159
Speaker 1: so weird They know my songs. Yeah, I mean that

361
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,160
Speaker 1: had to happen to you pretty young. There are people

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Speaker 1: that you're not like at all that love you and

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Speaker 1: know your music.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

365
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Speaker 1: I had to feel strange but yet amazing.

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Speaker 2: It was like surreal. I remember the first time I

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Speaker 2: went to Japan.

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Speaker 3: I was.

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Speaker 2: Maybe fourteen maybe, and we landed at the airport and

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00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,920
Speaker 2: all these young kids were standing out there and they

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Speaker 2: had these little hats on and it said b LFC

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Speaker 2: and I thought, oh lord, somebody's coming in because I'm

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Speaker 2: just such I love all.

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Speaker 3: That, and I thought so when I got off the.

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Speaker 2: Plane, it meant Brenda Lee Fanclub and I was like, oh,

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Speaker 2: because I never dreamed I was known over there.

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Speaker 1: How do you think you became so well known in Japan? Specifically?

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Speaker 2: Well, I sang in their language, plus I spoke in

379
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:19,879
Speaker 2: their language, but I sang in English too, And I

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00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:30,520
Speaker 2: went every year to let them know I appreciated their support, and.

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Speaker 1: That's they reciprocated it.

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00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, big way, in a big way.

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Speaker 1: When did you start to learn Japanese?

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Speaker 3: M when?

385
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 2: Let's see, I well, I went over there the first

386
00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:49,159
Speaker 2: time because I had a big hit in Japan. My

387
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Speaker 2: first big year was one rainy night in Tokyo so oh,

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Speaker 2: and Bradley, my producer, he said, you know what would

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Speaker 2: be good if you sing half in English and half

390
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Speaker 2: in Japanese. And that's what I did and it They

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Speaker 2: loved it, and all of a sudden, I'm invited to

392
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Speaker 2: tour and I went, gosh, I bet I went forty times.

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Speaker 1: Wow, yeah, you've been to Japan at least I've been

394
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Speaker 1: once and I was blown away.

395
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Speaker 3: Isn't it great?

396
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 1: It's great, It's so great. It's clean. Oh, it's safe. Yes,

397
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,600
Speaker 1: people are kind. There are no trash cans because there's

398
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:31,960
Speaker 1: no litter, and if you have trash, you just keep

399
00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,280
Speaker 1: it until you get to it. It's unbelievable.

400
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Speaker 2: And if you go into a department store or a

401
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,560
Speaker 2: drug store each store for that matter, and you're lost,

402
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:47,080
Speaker 2: they'll take you to where you're supposed to go. They'll

403
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,159
Speaker 2: say in their language, they'll take your hand. Now, I

404
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,360
Speaker 2: don't know if they still do that, but that's what

405
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,120
Speaker 2: they did when I was going every year.

406
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Speaker 1: I also felt like I was seven feet tall and

407
00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:56,879
Speaker 1: that was awesome.

408
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,440
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I felt right at home.

409
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,600
Speaker 1: So you put out the Friendaly Greatest Hits. It's digital,

410
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,760
Speaker 1: people can stream it. It's also on vinyl. Why are

411
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,160
Speaker 1: the greatest Hits? Why? Now?

412
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:11,919
Speaker 3: I don't know.

413
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,880
Speaker 2: The label thought it was a good thing to do,

414
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Speaker 2: and I was proud that they thought enough to do it.

415
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Speaker 1: A couple of things that I would think. One is

416
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,120
Speaker 1: the song obviously Rocker around the Christmas Tree went number

417
00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,240
Speaker 1: one again, but also I'm Sorry went completely viral. Yeah, TikTok.

418
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,080
Speaker 1: What is old as new, as old as new, as

419
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,639
Speaker 1: old as new again? Yeah, and so that song was

420
00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: getting millions and millions of stream Yeah.

421
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Speaker 4: Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor,

422
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,879
Speaker 4: and we're back on the Bobby Cast.

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Speaker 1: The Beatles open for you. I read that. Yeah, must

424
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,880
Speaker 1: have been you know, it had to be the fifties.

425
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 3: Right, late fifties, early sixties.

426
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,439
Speaker 1: Yeah, how did that come together? It's your man at

427
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 1: your mom or No, it was.

428
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 3: A big tour. There was Dusty Springfield me.

429
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Speaker 1: The Beatles, what were they at the time, at this

430
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,200
Speaker 1: time we're talking about specifically, I'm assuming they're very young and.

431
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:27,919
Speaker 2: Not very young, yeah, and really kind of like, I

432
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 2: don't know, not polished, not just raw. But I saw

433
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,400
Speaker 2: the greatness in them, and you would have too.

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Speaker 1: And this is pre ed sulovon.

435
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,639
Speaker 3: Oh yeah. So I go back to New York.

436
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,040
Speaker 2: And I go to my label, which was Decca, which

437
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,200
Speaker 2: is now mc c A, which I'm still.

438
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Speaker 1: On same contract, And I said.

439
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 2: I took a picture of them, and they looked like

440
00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:03,159
Speaker 2: your normal teddy boy would look and I took a little.

441
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,240
Speaker 3: Tape and I'll never forget.

442
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 2: They walked in rank and file like they do, and

443
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,399
Speaker 2: it got through playing and it was very quiet, and

444
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,879
Speaker 2: I thought this could be bad, could be good.

445
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 3: And I said, okay, what do you think?

446
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,200
Speaker 2: And the president stood up and said, Brenda, we're very

447
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:31,440
Speaker 2: proud that you brought this in, but this look will

448
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:38,119
Speaker 2: never happen and this sound won't either either. Next year

449
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:43,760
Speaker 2: they were playing the ballpark stadium, filling.

450
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,640
Speaker 1: It up like stadium wow. And when you saw them

451
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,440
Speaker 1: the first time, was Ringo with them or was it

452
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 1: still pea best.

453
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 2: Pete was with them, but then Ringo came right along,

454
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,239
Speaker 2: so I've I've worked with them.

455
00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,959
Speaker 1: You've been there through all of it. Yeah, that's exciting.

456
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,119
Speaker 1: Do you ever listen back to any year old music,

457
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,040
Speaker 1: like every once in a while, put something on you

458
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 1: haven't thought about in a long time.

459
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:05,840
Speaker 3: I do.

460
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,560
Speaker 2: I listened back to like when I started at ten,

461
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 2: and I sound like Mickey Mouse on steroids, And I thought,

462
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,119
Speaker 2: oh my lord, but I was ten.

463
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 1: What would you tell that kid?

464
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,880
Speaker 2: Now, I would tell them, if that's what you want

465
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,439
Speaker 2: to do, you don't give up. People might give up

466
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,120
Speaker 2: on you, but don't you give up on you.

467
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:33,960
Speaker 1: And you would tell that to yourself as well. That's

468
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: the advice you'd give to yourself.

469
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 2: Because and I didn't know if I was good or not.

470
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 2: I just knew I loved it and that's what I

471
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 2: wanted to do.

472
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,920
Speaker 1: So were you able to be a support for any

473
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 1: other artists like Patsy and you know you listed all

474
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,200
Speaker 1: those wonderful women in the history of country music?

475
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:55,520
Speaker 3: Yeah?

476
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: Be able to do that with any artists?

477
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 2: Yeah?

478
00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:58,159
Speaker 1: Kind of repay that?

479
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,200
Speaker 3: Yeah? And it was fun.

480
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:09,040
Speaker 2: And I don't know how to put this, but today,

481
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:15,080
Speaker 2: with all the mechanical stuff they have to use.

482
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 3: You don't know if they're singing or not.

483
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:19,920
Speaker 1: You're absolutely right.

484
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,840
Speaker 2: Even I don't, and I can usually tell. So if

485
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,000
Speaker 2: somebody asked me an opinion on somebody new, I just

486
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:30,080
Speaker 2: have to say, I don't know.

487
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:36,360
Speaker 1: There's We're lucky that we can take live performances off

488
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,360
Speaker 1: of like somebody's phone or YouTube, because there'll be people

489
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 1: that want to come up and do my show and

490
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 1: perform and we've not checked if they can. We've just

491
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,919
Speaker 1: listened to the like that the studio version they come

492
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 1: in and then maybe they're not as good. So what

493
00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:50,639
Speaker 1: we do now is we'll do like super research and

494
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: try to go find some like natural yeah, just to

495
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:55,400
Speaker 1: hear if they can really sing, because when you get

496
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,200
Speaker 1: in the studio, obviously, like you said, you can make

497
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,080
Speaker 1: anybody sound pretty good. You can't write a good song

498
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,720
Speaker 1: make them sound pretty good. There you go, Hey, that's

499
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:06,399
Speaker 1: how it's does what I need to wish they do

500
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 1: that to me make me sound good. When you listen

501
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,400
Speaker 1: back to the songs from like the fifties sixties, can

502
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 1: you kind of hear the person you were like? If

503
00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:21,119
Speaker 1: you hear a song, for example, losing you early sixties. Little.

504
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,240
Speaker 1: You're not old by any means, but you're a little older.

505
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:24,439
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm a little older.

506
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 1: Can you kind of hear that song and put yourself

507
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: back to where you work?

508
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:38,080
Speaker 2: I can, because as a teenager in those years, I

509
00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:44,560
Speaker 2: wasn't allowed to date and or anything like that. So

510
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 2: all I had was my music, and that was my

511
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 2: heart beat, and I don't I never had the thought, oh,

512
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,000
Speaker 2: I'm doing this because I'm going to be a big success.

513
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,679
Speaker 2: I was doing it because I loved it and it

514
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,920
Speaker 2: was my company. It was something that I could always

515
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 2: turn to that I knew would be there and it

516
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,720
Speaker 2: wouldn't change, and that's why.

517
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 3: I loved it.

518
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,480
Speaker 1: What's your favorite song you've ever recorded? Oh?

519
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 3: Gosh.

520
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,439
Speaker 2: Owen Bradley was such a genius, and I had such

521
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 2: wonderful songwriters.

522
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 3: I mean, they're.

523
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,320
Speaker 2: Writing great songs today too, don't get me wrong, but

524
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:37,760
Speaker 2: they're not writing great ballads. And you know, when you

525
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 2: and I had a lot of foreign ballads like I

526
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:45,240
Speaker 2: Want to Be Wanted and Losing You and those kind

527
00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,200
Speaker 2: of songs were overseas songs.

528
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 3: So I it was the a team of musicians.

529
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 2: It was Owen, it was Selby, Kaffeen, the engineer, it

530
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,840
Speaker 2: was the Anita Kerr singers, it was Britain Banks and

531
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 2: its strings. It was a family, which doesn't happen today,

532
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 2: And that's why I stopped.

533
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,040
Speaker 1: Recording, because it felt more like a business or a

534
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 1: machine in a family.

535
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:23,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, if you can't. I've been in the

536
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 2: studio and I'm just thinking it's going great and I'm

537
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:33,040
Speaker 2: singing good and all, and one of the musicians may say, hey,

538
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:40,000
Speaker 2: everybody stop because they heard a clunker that I didn't hear.

539
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,400
Speaker 2: And that's how it was back then. If you did

540
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 2: that today, you wouldn't be working that session anymore.

541
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 3: But it was.

542
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:56,000
Speaker 2: A cohesive thing between everybody. Everybody wanted to be good,

543
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,400
Speaker 2: wanted it to be good. And I think that's the

544
00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 2: difference in today and.

545
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:03,440
Speaker 3: Sixties.

546
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 1: Today, maybe mercenaries have brought in just to go and

547
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,760
Speaker 1: do the job and get out, get to the next session.

548
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: More than you got it invest themselves into the arts.

549
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true.

550
00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 1: You still like music, You're still like just listening to music.

551
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:22,480
Speaker 1: I love being Do you get to like just pick

552
00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 1: whatever you want to listen to? What do you pick now?

553
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 2: Oh?

554
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:25,640
Speaker 4: Lord?

555
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 2: Well, my scope of musicians is is a.

556
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,000
Speaker 3: Little bit weird.

557
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:37,360
Speaker 2: I like everybody from Ozzie to the Frank Sinaultra.

558
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 3: You knows.

559
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,160
Speaker 2: I'm all out there because I hear different things with

560
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:47,720
Speaker 2: different people, and I try to figure out two, Okay,

561
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 2: why was that a hit?

562
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:50,280
Speaker 3: Why was that a success?

563
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,920
Speaker 2: And of course it all boils back to y'all too.

564
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 2: Artists can't do anything unless you play it. I mean

565
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,680
Speaker 2: they can, but it's probably going to lay on a

566
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 2: table or lay somewhere. So it's to me, we're all family.

567
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaker 2: We're all like, I want you to do good, you

568
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,560
Speaker 2: want me to do good. It behooves you, it behooves me,

569
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:23,360
Speaker 2: and it's not thought of that way today in the industry,

570
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 2: and it saddens me.

571
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,240
Speaker 1: I have two final questions. Not your song, but what's

572
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,000
Speaker 1: your favorite song of all time? If you had to

573
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,000
Speaker 1: pick a favorite song, it can't be.

574
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 3: That's too hard.

575
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: It's too hard. You can give me a couple and

576
00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: I'll vamp for you, meaning I'll give you a couple

577
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,240
Speaker 1: of mind way you thinking about yours? Blue Eyes Crying

578
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:42,360
Speaker 1: in the Rain is one of my favorites.

579
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:43,800
Speaker 3: Oh that's a great song.

580
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 1: It's perpant so and I love ballads. I'm big Valley.

581
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 1: I am too because the baperience, Yeah, I feel like

582
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:52,560
Speaker 1: I can really experience them.

583
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 3: But I'm one of those girls too.

584
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 2: When I was in France, of course I didn't speak

585
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 2: French when I'm went over.

586
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:05,400
Speaker 3: But I heard this song and it was love.

587
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,800
Speaker 2: Be loveabouho said, this was I, you know, And I thought,

588
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,000
Speaker 2: I don't really like that. And I'd go up and

589
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 2: down the sidewalk singing that song. And finally somebody tapped

590
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,640
Speaker 2: me on the shoulder because I'm like thirteen.

591
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,760
Speaker 3: And they said, don't sing that, and I said, why

592
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 3: I like it? They said, you're singing about a toilet.

593
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:32,440
Speaker 1: What was this?

594
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 3: Oh song?

595
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,040
Speaker 1: What was this that? Do you even know what the toy?

596
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 2: I don't know, but they said, you're singing about the

597
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:41,240
Speaker 2: toilet on the corner.

598
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 3: I said, oh, well.

599
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 1: The melody must have been good.

600
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:45,400
Speaker 3: Yeah it was. I loved it.

601
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,200
Speaker 1: Okay, last favorite song of all time? What is it?

602
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 1: That's not yours?

603
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:51,120
Speaker 3: You, that's not mine?

604
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:51,960
Speaker 1: Not yours?

605
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 3: Oh Lord, that's due now.

606
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 1: It's really hard. You don't have to commit to it.

607
00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:58,280
Speaker 1: You can just say one now.

608
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:05,400
Speaker 3: Okay, Oh gosh over the rainbow.

609
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 1: Judy Garland.

610
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, would I finally got to meet her.

611
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:12,480
Speaker 1: How old were you?

612
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 3: Thirteen?

613
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,080
Speaker 1: And what was the experience? Give me walk me through it.

614
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 2: I followed her to the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas.

615
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 1: What do you mean you followed her?

616
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 3: I mean I was next to perform.

617
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 2: She was laying out by the pool, and I thought, okay,

618
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:31,240
Speaker 2: this is my chance.

619
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,760
Speaker 1: How old was she at the time, Judy.

620
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 2: Was probably early late twenties, early thirties. I thought, if

621
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,200
Speaker 2: I don't go now, I'll probably never see her again

622
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:42,000
Speaker 2: in my life.

623
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,080
Speaker 3: So I just brazenly walk.

624
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:49,840
Speaker 2: Up and I said, miss Garland, my name is Brenda Lee,

625
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 2: and I am a huge, huge fan. You cannot believe

626
00:33:56,120 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 2: how you have influenced what I do. If you had

627
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:07,760
Speaker 2: one piece of advice to give me, what would that be?

628
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 2: And she didn't skip a beat, and she said, don't

629
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,880
Speaker 2: let them take away your.

630
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 1: Childhood, probably because a lot of hers was, yeah, taken away.

631
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:25,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's a memory I'll never forget.

632
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,120
Speaker 1: It's really kind of her to not just brush you

633
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 1: off and actually give you give.

634
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,480
Speaker 3: Me a kernel of wonderful advice.

635
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,279
Speaker 1: Brenday's greatest tits it's you can stream it. You get

636
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 1: the vinyl, the vinyl is always really cool to have.

637
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,160
Speaker 1: It has I'm sorry it has sweet nothings. It has

638
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:45,080
Speaker 1: I want to be wanted. Eleven of the tracks on

639
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 1: the album we're in the top ten of the Billboard

640
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:50,719
Speaker 1: Hot one hundred. You are a joy to be Thank

641
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,520
Speaker 1: you my friend and I Brett who lives over he's

642
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 1: an artist too, he says Brett Aldritch. She sings Christmas

643
00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 1: song Okay, making sure we would always see a drive

644
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 1: around and we would be like we.

645
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,040
Speaker 3: Just saw Brin run all.

646
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:06,840
Speaker 1: That was kind of our way of like checking in

647
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:09,040
Speaker 1: each other. Can we just driving around so we' always

648
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:09,800
Speaker 1: see a driving around.

649
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 3: I love that. Tell m A, I definitely will now

650
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:14,120
Speaker 3: you know I'm southern.

651
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:18,879
Speaker 1: Hey, that's right. Thank you so much. Congratulations on all

652
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,000
Speaker 1: your very recent success too, well, thank you. It's really

653
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 1: it's it's really amazing rushing to see that you went

654
00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:29,719
Speaker 1: viral again and you had a number one song. Yeah,

655
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,279
Speaker 1: and that is that's who knew, who knew.

656
00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 3: After all these years after.

657
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 2: That, that's what you That's what gets you in this

658
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:39,520
Speaker 2: business because you don't know what's coming. That's true, and

659
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,839
Speaker 2: it's the it's it's the wanting to know that just

660
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:43,680
Speaker 2: keeps you there.

661
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm a big fan. Thank you so much.

662
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:46,600
Speaker 3: Thank you.

663
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,200
Speaker 1: Love this thirty forty minutes we've just been together.

664
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:51,400
Speaker 3: Thank you, and I love it too. Thank you.

665
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:54,960
Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to a Bobby Cast production