''Grandma, What Great Songs You Sang!'' is the debut studio album by American singer

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' hit aged 12 i ...

. The album was released on August 3, 1959 on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

and was produced by

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician, bandleader and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was a chief architect of the 1950s and 60s Nashville sou ...

. The album was Brenda Lee's only studio album released during the 1950s.

Background and content

''Grandma, What Great Songs You Sang!'' was recorded in two separate sessions in January 1959 at the

Bradley Film and Recording Studio Quonset Hut Studio is the nickname given to Bradley Studios, an independent recording studio complex established in 1954 in Nashville, Tennessee by brothers Harold and Owen Bradley. The first commercial recording studio facility in what would la ...

. The sessions took place on January 4 and January 26. The album consisted of twelve separate tracks of material, many of which were cover versions of previously recorded songs. The opening track entitled "

Some of These Days "Some of These Days" is a popular song, written and composed by Shelton Brooks, published in 1910, and associated with the performer Sophie Tucker. Background Shelton Brooks and "Some of These Days" was brought to Sophie Tucker's attention in ...

", written by Shelton Brooks, was originally composed in 1910 and the second track entitled "

Baby Face Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt Baby Face Willette, "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Fa ...

" was first recorded in 1926. The album was originally released on an

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

, which contained six songs on each side of the record.in 1961 it was rerelased with a new title but same catalog number as Sings Songs Everybody Knows and in 1968 on Vocalion Records a Decca subsiderary as Here's Brenda minus 2 songs ''Grandma, What Great Songs You Sang!'' received three and a half out of five stars from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

without an official review provided.

Track listing

Side one #"

" – ( Shelton Brooks) - 2:23 #"

" – (

Harry Akst Harry Akst (August 15, 1894 – March 31, 1963)
- accessed November 19, 2011 was an American

Benny Davis Benny Davis (August 21, 1895 - December 20, 1979) was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. Biography Davis started performing in vaudeville in his teens. He began writing songs when working as an accompanist for Blossom Seeley. In ...

) - 2:15 #"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" – (Eddie Green) - 2:27 #" Just Because" – (Bob Shelton, Joe Shelton, Sid Robin) - 1:57 #" Pennies from Heaven" – ( Johnny Burke, Arthur Johnston) - 2:25 #" Toot, Toot, Tootsie Goodbye" – (Ernie Erdman,

Ted Fiorito Theodore Salvatore Fiorito (December 20, 1900 – July 22, 1971),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 95. known professionally a ...

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (G ...

, Dan Russo) - 2:20 Side two #"

Ballin' the Jack "Ballin' the Jack" (or sometimes "Balling the Jack") is a popular song from 1913 written by Jim Burris with music by Chris Smith. It introduced a popular dance of the same name with "Folks in Georgia's 'bout to go insane." It became a ragtime, pop ...

" – (Jim Burris, Chris Smith) - 1:55 #"

Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" is a popular song written by Jean Schwartz, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song was introduced by Al Jolson in the Broadway musical '' Sinbad'' and published in 1918. Probably the ...

" - ( Sam M. Lewis,

Jean Schwartz Jean Schwartz (November 4, 1878 – November 30, 1956) was a Hungarian-born Jewish American composer and pianist. He is best known for his work writing the scores for more than 30 Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals, and for his creation of more t ...

, Joe Young) - 2:26 #"

Pretty Baby Pretty Baby may refer to: * ''Pretty Baby'' (1950 film), a comedy film featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake * ''Pretty Baby'' (1978 film), a drama film featuring Brooke Shields ** ''Pretty Baby'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film ...

" – ( Tony Jackson) - 1:42 #" Side by Side" – ( Harry M. Woods) - 2:12 #"

Back in Your Own Backyard "Back in Your Own Back Yard" is a popular music, popular song. Lyrics written by Al Jolson and Billy Rose with music by Dave Dreyer. A popular recording by Ruth Etting, made on January 3, 1928, was issued by Columbia Records as catalog number 1288 ...

" – (

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist and columnist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainm ...

, Dave Dreyer) - 2:50 #"

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

" – ( W.C. Handy) - 2:54

Personnel

Harold Bradley Harold Bradley may refer to: Others * Harold Bradley (guitarist) (1926–2019), American country and pop guitarist * Harold Bradley (pianist) (1906–1984), Canadian pianist * Harold Bradley (trade unionist) (1895–1979), British trade union leade ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Ray Edenton Ray Quarles Edenton (November 3, 1926 – September 21, 2022) was an American guitarist and country music session musician. Early life Ray Edenton was born into a musical family on November 3, 1926, and grew up near Mineral, Virginia. His fi ...

– guitar * Dottie Dillard –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* James Doster –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

Hank Garland Walter Louis Garland (November 11, 1930 – December 27, 2004), known professionally as Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and release ...

– guitar * Dutch Gorton – trombone * Jack Gregory –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

Buddy Harman Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – August 21, 2008) was an American country music session musician. Career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Harman studied music at Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion. He returned to Nashville ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Anita Kerr Anita Jean Kerr (''née'' Grilli; October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and ...

– background vocals * Douglas Kirkham – background vocals, drums *

Millie Kirkham Millie Kirkham (born Mildred Eakes; June 24, 1923 – December 14, 2014) was an American singer who was featured on many classic hit recordings from the mid-1950s through the 1980s. Early life Kirkham was born Mildred Eakes in Hermitage, Tenn ...

– background vocals * Brenda Lee –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Baverly LeCroy – trombone *

Grady Martin Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001) was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly. A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' "El Paso", Loretta Lynn's " Coal M ...

– guitar *

Bob Moore Bob Moore may refer to: * Bob Moore (musician) (1932–2021), American session musician * Bob Moore (executive) (1929–2024), co-founder of Bob's Red Mill * Bob Moore (American football) (born 1949), American football tight end * Bob Moore (Au ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Gene Mullins – trombone * Louis Nunley – background vocals *

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician. His 1963 saxophone hit " Yakety Sax" became the signature tune of ''The Benny Hill Show''. Randolph was a prolific session musician and member of the Nas ...

– saxophone * Bill Wright – background vocals

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1959 debut albums Brenda Lee albums Albums produced by Owen Bradley Decca Records albums