(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARIAH CAREY: (Singing) It is time.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
In case you do not acknowledge that well-known excessive word, it is Mariah Carey in a social media video she dropped on November 1 this 12 months. Within the video, she breaks out of a frozen vault carrying a skintight, crimson Santa outfit to tell us it is time for…
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU”)
CAREY: (Singing) I do not need loads for Christmas. There is only one factor I would like.
DETROW: “All I Need For Christmas Is You.” For thus many individuals in latest a long time, it is develop into the Christmas tune, and it is climbed to the highest of the Billboard Scorching 100 each single 12 months since 2019. However…
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE”)
BRENDA LEE: (Vocalizing).
DETROW: There’s one other vacation traditional that is been nipping at Mariah’s heels for years.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE”)
LEE: (Singing) Rocking across the Christmas tree on the Christmas get together hop. Mistletoe hung the place you possibly can see – each couple tries to cease.
DETROW: Brenda Lee’s 1958 hit, “Rockin’ Across the Christmas Tree.” This 12 months her report label went all in to lastly push the tune to No. 1. There was a brand new music video with a cameo from Trisha Yearwood and Tanya Tucker, and Lee obtained a TikTok account at 78 years outdated.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
LEE: Hi there, Brendanators (ph). Grandmother is right here.
DETROW: It labored. This week, 65 years after its launch, “Rockin’ Round The Christmas Tree” topped the Billboard Scorching 100 for the very first time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE”)
LEE: (Singing) You’re going to get a sentimental feeling while you hear voices singing, let’s be jolly. Deck the halls with boughs of holly.
DETROW: We talked with Brenda Lee about the way it feels to get a chunk of the Queen of Christmas crown and ask her a couple of profession that was a lot larger than a single seasonal hit.
I really feel like I would like to start out the interview by saying, congratulations. You probably did it. You are No. 1.
LEE: Nicely, you recognize what? That’s nonetheless not connecting with my mind. I am simply so thrilled for the author. I used to be very near the author, Johnny Marks, and I want he was right here to witness all this. However it’s a terrific tune. It is a great tune, and, Lord, has it been good to me. I by no means thought {that a} Christmas tune can be my signature tune.
DETROW: Yeah.
LEE: However it’s, and I am pleased with it.
DETROW: You understand, there’s at all times a second to me each November the place I am within the retailer and I hear a Christmas tune for the primary time. And I believe, oh, all proper, it is Christmas season. I am questioning. Do you have got a second every year the place you hear your self in a retailer or on the market, while you hear “Rockin’ Round The Christmas Tree” for the primary time for the season? And what does that really feel like?
LEE: It nonetheless feels fairly surreal. It actually does. And after I say that, individuals say, oh, Brenda, good Lord. That factor got here out while you had been 12 or 13 or nonetheless outdated you had been. I stated, however you recognize what? It by no means will get outdated.
DETROW: Can we return to while you first recorded it? – since you simply talked about proper there you had been 13 when the tune got here out, and I believe this newest era of followers have been stunned to be taught you had been so younger as a result of your voice sounds so full within the recording. You don’t sound like a 13-year-old. I imply, what was happening in your life at the moment? What do you keep in mind about going into the recording studio and recording the tune?
LEE: Nicely, I do not forget that my nice producer, Owen Bradley – he had the air-con turned to zero as a result of we recorded it, in fact, in the summertime. And he had a Christmas tree up, and we simply had a good time doing it. You understand, good songs are straightforward to do, and I believe we did that one possibly in a single rehearsal and one tape.
(SOUNDBITE OF BRENDA LEE SONG, “ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE”)
DETROW: You understand, this previous few weeks, there’s been a lot consideration. You’ve got been climbing the charts. There’s been this push to get this to No. 1. And, in fact, Mariah Carey is the opposite singer who, in recent times, has been so recognized with the No. 1 Christmas hit. Have you ever and her had any dialog in latest weeks, I am questioning?
LEE: No, however I might like to. I really like Mariah. I am…
DETROW: Yeah.
LEE: …An enormous fan. Her Christmas tune is nice. You understand, there’s room for all of us, and…
DETROW: Yeah.
LEE: If it is good, it is all the pieces, so…
DETROW: I – effectively, I hearken to each of you numerous round this time of 12 months, so I admire you each as effectively.
LEE: I wager you do. I wager you get bored with us.
DETROW: No, not for an additional few weeks.
LEE: Nicely, that is huge of you. Thanks a lot (laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE”)
LEE: (Singing) …Within the new old school method.
DETROW: You talked about earlier than you might be completely wonderful with the truth that that is the tune that’s in individuals’s minds, however I wished to speak about the remainder of your profession, for those who’re up for it, for a couple of minutes.
LEE: Completely.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DUM DUM”)
LEE: (Vocalizing). (Singing) Oh, yeah.
DETROW: There’s an anecdote that is floated round a variety of the profiles that mentions that there was one time limit the place The Beatles opened for you.
LEE: That is precisely proper. I used to work with the fellows after I first began going to England, touring over there and simply cherished them. I used to be closest, I assume, to John, knew they had been going to be big, introduced again somewhat acetate that they made for me. And I took it to my report firm, and I stated, I would like you to listen to these guys, and I would like you to signal them. Nicely, they turned them down. And, in fact, the following factor you recognize, it is all about The Beatles, so that you simply by no means know. However I knew they had been good.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DUM DUM”)
LEE: (Singing) A-music’s candy. The lights are low, enjoying a tune on the radio.
DETROW: You understand, you had success so younger, and so many individuals who’ve success so younger have a tougher time in life. It looks like you have lived a very fulfilling, lengthy life. It looks like issues have labored out fairly effectively. What do you suppose the trick was to navigating being so well-known early on in your teen years and popping out of it seemingly fairly OK?
LEE: Nicely, I believe that the best factor was no one ever advised me I used to be well-known. I cherished what I did. I cherished singing. I cherished the entire scope of the business, and I simply wished to be part of it. I did not should be No. 1 to be pleased. And I believe when you will get to that place in life, in something that you just do, you are going to achieve success.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I’M SORRY”)
LEE: (Vocalizing).
DETROW: Of your different hits that individuals nowadays won’t be as a lot aware of, what’s your favourite? What’s one which we must always be sure that to incorporate on this section?
LEE: Nicely, you’ll want to embody “I am Sorry.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I’M SORRY”)
LEE: (Singing) I am sorry, so sorry, that I used to be such a idiot.
The early stuff ‘trigger that is actually how I lower my tooth and discovered what I used to be doing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I’M SORRY”)
LEE: (Singing) Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, sure.
I admire the songwriters that introduced them to me. I admire the nice A Workforce, the musicians, as a result of they had been like my huge brothers and the Anita Kerr Singers. It is simply listening to all these nice guys do their factor and share their expertise with me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I’M SORRY”)
LEE: (Singing) Love was blind, and I used to be too blind to see. Sorry.
And it simply do not get any higher than that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE”)
LEE: (Vocalizing).
DETROW: Nicely, Brenda Lee, I’ve obtained to say I get a sentimental feeling each time I hear your tune. And it was actually great to speak to you. Thanks a lot for becoming a member of us.
LEE: Thanks. Merry Christmas.
DETROW: Merry Christmas to you. And congratulations once more – the No. 1 tune within the nation proper now, “Rockin’ Round The Christmas Tree.”
LEE: Thanks. Carry on rocking.
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