While Brenda Lee is known around the world as the unmistakable voice behind timeless classics like “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and “I’m Sorry,” her extraordinary career extends far beyond those signature hits. One of the female founders of rock ‘n’ roll, Lee was the first woman inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame, and is also a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. She earned 47 U.S. chart hits during the 1960s alone, ranking behind only Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Ray Charles for the decade. Beginning her career at just nine years old, she became a pioneering force across pop, country, and adult contemporary music. A national treasure and living legend, Lee is simply one of the most successful recording artists of all time, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide.
As one of the most influential and enduring voices in American music, Lee’s catalog continues to resonate across generations. Over the next several months, more than a dozen key albums from across her celebrated catalog — spanning the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s — will arrive on streaming platforms for the very first time, bringing another chapter of her groundbreaking career into the digital era.
Launching today via MCA/UMe, Decades Vol. 1 serves as the first installment in the rollout, featuring four landmark releases that showcase Brenda’s artistic evolution across multiple decades and genres. Spanning heartbreak ballads, countrypolitan classics, and modern country reinventions, the collection highlights Brenda during some of the most defining moments of her career.
- Decades Vol. 1 includes:
- Too Many Rivers (1965)
- New Sunrise (1973)
- L.A. Sessions (1976)
- Even Better (1980)
“I’m thrilled that these albums are going to be available for streaming,” said Brenda Lee. “Listening through these albums which span three decades of my career, has brought back so many memories. I hope that my fans are able to relive these memories with me while allowing a new generation of fans to discover these gems for the first time. To all of you keep on rockin’.”
Originally released by Decca Records in 1965, Too Many Rivers marked the thirteenth studio album of Lee’s career and her transition from teen pop sensation into the sophisticated “Nashville Sound.” Produced by Lee’s longtime collaborator Owen Bradley — whom she first began working with at just 13 years old — the album features the crossover hit title track “Too Many Rivers,” which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The album itself reached the Billboard 200 Top 40 and showcased Lee’s versatility through a mix of contemporary pop favorites and classic standards, including renditions of “It’s Not Unusual,” “Stormy Weather (Keeps Raining All The Time),” “Hello, Dolly!” and “Unforgettable.” Praising the album upon release, Billboard wrote that “Miss Lee displays her boundless versatility for equal feel of today’s pop music as well as the evergreens in this well balanced program.”
New Sunrise was released at the height of Lee’s country music resurgence, further solidifying her place as one of the era’s standout crossover artists. Released by MCA Records in 1973 as Lee’s twenty-third studio album, the project blended countrypolitan production with contemporary pop influences, pairing Lee’s unmistakable vocal style with interpretations of songs like Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and Paul McCartney’s “My Love.” The project became Lee’s second consecutive Top 10 release on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, spending 25 weeks on the chart and peaking at No. 7. Driven by the hit singles “Sunday Sunrise” and “Wrong Ideas” — both of which reached the Top 10 on the U.S. country chart — New Sunrise further cemented Lee’s place within country music while expanding her visibility across country television, touring circuits, and Las Vegas performances throughout the decade.
Released in 1976 as Lee’s twenty-sixth studio album, L.A. Sessions found her embracing a polished pop-oriented sound after several years as a country hitmaker. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Snuff Garrett — known for his work with Cher — the album reflected a stylistic shift toward upbeat West Coast pop arrangements while continuing to showcase Lee’s versatile vocal style. Praised by Billboard for its “commendable array of pop oriented tunes,” the album became Lee’s fifth release to chart on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and featured the singles “Takin’ What I Can Get” and “Ruby’s Lounge.”
Heralded as a triumphant return for Lee, Lee’s twenty-eighth studio album Even Better reestablished her presence on the country charts at the start of a new decade. Produced by Ron Chancey — the first of several successful collaborations between the two — the 1980 album embraced a more contemporary country sound while continuing to showcase Lee’s unmistakable vocal style across a collection of modern country compositions, including songs written by acclaimed songwriter Rafe Van Hoy. Promoted by MCA as a major comeback for the legendary singer, Even Better earned critical praise and delivered Brenda’s first country Top 10 hits in several years with “Tell Me What It’s Like,” which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and “The Cowgirl and the Dandy,” which reached No. 10. A third single, “Keeping Me Warm For You,” followed in 1982, further extending the album’s success and helping introduce Brenda to a new generation of country audiences.
Whether rediscovering these albums or hearing them for the first time, listeners can now experience another essential chapter in Brenda Lee’s legendary career — from her evolution into the Nashville Sound of the mid-’60s to her countrypolitan reinvention of the ’70s and her country comeback success in the early ’80s — as more classic albums arrive on streaming platforms throughout the year.
Decades Vol. 1 is now available on all streaming platforms: https://brendalee.lnk.to/DecadesVol1PR
TOO MANY RIVERS
1. It’s Not Unusual
2. Call Me Irresponsible
3. Too Many Rivers
4. Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)
5. Whispering
6. Stormy Weather (Keep Raining All the Time)
7. Hello, Dolly!
8. Unforgettable
9. Everybody Loves Somebody
10. No One
11. Truer Than True
12. Think
NEW SUNRISE
1. Sunday Sunrise
2. My Love
3. You Are the Sunshine of My Life
4. Must I Believe
5. Wrong Ideas
6. We Had It All
7. Everybody’s Had the Blues
8. Why Me
3. Slippin’ Away
4. You’re My Man Again
5. Something for a Rainy Day
L.A. SESSIONS
1. Oklahoma Superstar
2. Takin’ What I Can Get
3. I Let You Let Me Down Again
4. Ruby’s Lounge
5. When Our Love Began (Cowboys and Indians)
6. Mary’s Going Out of Her Mind
7. Your Favorite Wornout Nightmare’s Coming Home
8. One More Time
9. Saved
10. The Lumberjacks Had a Lady
11. It’s Another Weekend
EVEN BETTER
1. Keep Me Warm for You
2. Love Ain’t Seen the Last of Me
3. You Only Broke My Heart
4. At The Moonlite
5. Goodbye Love
6. I Wish That I Could Hurt That Way Again
7. Tell Me What It’s Like
8. Memories for Sale
9. Do You Wanna Spend the Night
10. The Cowgirl and the Dandy
