Sincerely, Brenda Lee

Background and content

Sincerely, Brenda Lee was recorded in five separate sessions at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, United States under the direction of Owen Bradley. The first session began on January 8, 1961 and the last session took place on October 28, 1961. The album consisted of twelve tracks of material of previously recorded Pop music standards. It includes covers of "Lazy River" and "Fools Rush In". It also includes a cover of "Hold Me", which would later become a major Pop hit in 1964 for P.J. Proby. Unlike any of Lee's previous releases for the Decca label, the album did not contain any uptempo numbers that resembled that of Rock and Roll of Rockabilly music. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic found that the album did not "add much versatility" because of this missing element. Unterberger reviewed the album and gave it three out of five stars, calling it, "one of the more forgettable albums from her prime, of value only to big fans and completists." Unterberger also stated, "It wasn't unknown for rock singers to make albums dominated by adult-oriented material in an attempt to broaden their appeal, and Lee could sing this kind of stuff well. The problem was that the record featured almost nothing but these kind of songs, most of them taken at a slow tempo, and none of them rock & rollers (or hit singles, for that matter)." The album did not receive any other reviews.

Release

Sincerely, Brenda Lee was originally released as an LP record, containing six songs on the record's "A-side" and six songs on the record's "B-side" as well. The album has since be reissued in the United Kingdom on a compact disc. Sincerely, Brenda Lee was officially released on February 12, 1962 on Decca Records and it peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The album did not spawn any singles mainly because all of the album's tracks were cover versions.

Track listing

1. "You Always Hurt the One You Love" – (Doris Fisher, Allan Roberts) 2:41
2. "Lazy River" – (Sidney Arodin, Hoagy Carmichael) 2:15
3. "You've Got Me Crying Again" – (Isham Jones, Charles Newman) 2:36
4. "It's the Talk of the Town" – (Jerry Livingston, Al J. Neiburg, Marty Symes) 3:10
5. "Send Me Some Lovin'" – (John Marascalco, Leo Price) 2:50
6. "How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky)" – (Irving Berlin) 3:04

1. "I'll Always Be in Love with You" – (Bud Green, Herman Ruby, Sam H. Stept) 2:30
2. "I Miss You So" – (Jimmy Henderson, Sid Robin, Bertha Scott) 2:51
3. "Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)" – (Rube Bloom, Johnny Mercer) 2:35
4. "Only You (And You Alone)" – (Buck Ram, Andie Rand) 2:53
5. "Hold Me" – (Jack Little, David Oppenheim, Ira Schuster) 2:34
6. "I'll Be Seeing You" – (Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal) 2:35

Personnel

Sales chart positions