Brenda Lee (maybe my first love)

As a male growing up through the 1950's and 1960's I fell “IN LOVE” many times. Let's see there was Annette and Sharon on The Mickey Mouse Club, Gretchen Christopher from The Fleetwoods, Patty Duke, and then there was Brenda Lee.

My crush on Brenda Lee came a little later than the rest, and has lasted a long time. I first saw Brenda “live” in 1965 at the Bloomsburg, Pa Fair. I vividly recall that performance, as she was the first of countless artists I met in person. I was sitting in the front row of what was called “track seating,” meaning that I was right at the stage. Most times Brenda was only a few feet away from me as she sang her hits. When she sang “I'm Sorry,” which is one of my favorites, I could see tears in her eyes; she packed such emotion into the song that there was not a dry eye in the house, including mine. After the show I got the chance to meet her in person and I collected my first autograph.

Fast forward to 2005; I learned that she was going to be performing her Christmas Show in “The Valley.” NO question in my mind that I was going to see it! At the time I was just starting to think about doing an interview series on my radio show, The Class Reunion, so I thought how great it would be to have her on the air. I looked up her website and sent an e mail fully expecting that I would receive an answer from her agent. The very next day my e mail contained a reply from Brenda herself telling me she would be very happy to do my show and gave me contact numbers for her. I called fully expecting to get a secretary, but to my amazement the voice on the other end was really Brenda. I must have stuttered and stammered for what seemed like an hour, but finally I calmed down and we chatted about the date and details. As the date drew closer I received another e mail from her stating that she would not be in the office that day and would I mind if she did the interview from home. At the appointed time I called her and we stared the interview. Brenda had told me the reason she would be home was because she was babysitting her five year old grandson. The irony of that struck me; here is a lady that sold over 200 million records, is a member of both the Rock & Roll and country Music Hall of Fame, and she's babysitting! Just as we went on the air her grandson opened her cupboard and pulled out some cooking pots making quite a bang! I jumped as I know Brenda did and then we both dissolved into laughter. During the interview I recounted the first time I saw her and she thanked me for remembering her and was flattered that I did. Why would I not remember her, she was 20 and I was 18 at our first meeting!

I remember making the comment to her as we finished playing one of her hits, “Golly that piano sounds just like Floyd Cramer.” Brenda told me that in fact it was and that she had the good fortune of having such talented musicians as Floyd, Boots Randolph (Saxophone) and others as they were also studio musicians. Bye the way, you will hear a great Sax lead by Boots in Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.

All too soon the interview was over and I looked forward to seeing her performance. The 40 years since I first saw her have done nothing to her voice except make it better, what a show! Afterward I got to spend a few minutes with her at the autograph session and thanked her for all the great music and memories. A picture of Brenda with me along with her autograph and my recording of that interview has center space on my “Wall of Fame” in my office. Today Brenda still tours and not long after our meeting she released a Gospel album called “Gospel Duets with Treasured Friends” with guest stars Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Brooks & Dunn, Pam Tillis, George Jones and others.
hope you are enjoying these articles that share some of my favorite times in broadcasting. In the future I will take you behind the scenes of a radio station and talk about the side of the business that you didn't know existed. But first the housekeeping duties, the answer to the last trivia question. No you don't win anything other than expanding your reserve of totally useless information. The question “What “precious” Canadian group recorded a song called “Gretchen” in honor of Gretchen Christopher?” The answer, The Diamonds. Lead singer Dave Somerville presented her with a copy of the song during an appearance with Dick Clark''s Caravan of Stars.


As a male growing up through the 1950's and 1960's I fell “IN LOVE” many times. Let's see there was Annette and Sharon on The Mickey Mouse Club, Gretchen Christopher from The Fleetwoods, Patty Duke, and then there was Brenda Lee.

My crush on Brenda Lee came a little later than the rest, and has lasted a long time. I first saw Brenda “live” in 1965 at the Bloomsburg, Pa Fair. I vividly recall that performance, as she was the first of countless artists I met in person. I was sitting in the front row of what was called “track seating,” meaning that I was right at the stage. Most times Brenda was only a few feet away from me as she sang her hits. When she sang “I'm Sorry,” which is one of my favorites, I could see tears in her eyes; she packed such emotion into the song that there was not a dry eye in the house, including mine. After the show I got the chance to meet her in person and I collected my first autograph.

Fast forward to 2005; I learned that she was going to be performing her Christmas Show in “The Valley.” NO question in my mind that I was going to see it! At the time I was just starting to think about doing an interview series on my radio show, The Class Reunion, so I thought how great it would be to have her on the air. I looked up her website and sent an e mail fully expecting that I would receive an answer from her agent. The very next day my e mail contained a reply from Brenda herself telling me she would be very happy to do my show and gave me contact numbers for her. I called fully expecting to get a secretary, but to my amazement the voice on the other end was really Brenda. I must have stuttered and stammered for what seemed like an hour, but finally I calmed down and we chatted about the date and details. As the date drew closer I received another e mail from her stating that she would not be in the office that day and would I mind if she did the interview from home. At the appointed time I called her and we stared the interview. Brenda had told me the reason she would be home was because she was babysitting her five year old grandson. The irony of that struck me; here is a lady that sold over 200 million records, is a member of both the Rock & Roll and country Music Hall of Fame, and she's babysitting! Just as we went on the air her grandson opened her cupboard and pulled out some cooking pots making quite a bang! I jumped as I know Brenda did and then we both dissolved into laughter. During the interview I recounted the first time I saw her and she thanked me for remembering her and was flattered that I did. Why would I not remember her, she was 20 and I was 18 at our first meeting!

I remember making the comment to her as we finished playing one of her hits, “Golly that piano sounds just like Floyd Cramer.” Brenda told me that in fact it was and that she had the good fortune of having such talented musicians as Floyd, Boots Randolph (Saxophone) and others as they were also studio musicians. Bye the way, you will hear a great Sax lead by Boots in Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.

All too soon the interview was over and I looked forward to seeing her performance. The 40 years since I first saw her have done nothing to her voice except make it better, what a show! Afterward I got to spend a few minutes with her at the autograph session and thanked her for all the great music and memories. A picture of Brenda with me in posted on the picture page of my web site. Today Brenda still tours and not long after our meeting she released a Gospel album called “Gospel Duets with Treasured Friends” with guest stars Vince Gill, Dolly Parton, Brooks & Dunn, Pam Tillis, George Jones and others.

Time for the trivia question: Where did Brenda Lee get her nickname of “Little Miss Dynamite?” The answer next time. At 4 ft 9 inches tall, she received the nickname Little Miss Dynamite in 1957 after recording the song "Dynamite";