Six more albums from Brenda Lee’s expansive catalog have just hit DSPs for the first time. 1965’s Brenda Lee Sings Top Teen Hits, 1970’s Memphis Portrait, 1974’s Now, 1981’s Only When I Laugh, and 1985’s Feels So Right are all available to stream now.
The new reissues are part of a larger, year-long campaign to restore Lee’s catalog, which spans 36 studio albums and dozens more compilations and live releases, to streaming. This collection, titled Decades Vol. 3, is the third batch of albums to hit DSPs since the project kicked off in late May.
Brenda Lee Sings Top Teen Hits was a 12-track compilation that mostly compiled popular songs of the era covered by the then-21-year-old singer. These included Dusty Springfield’s “Wishin’ and Hopin’,“ Dave Berry’s “The Crying Game,” and the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “He Loves You.” Top Teen Hits also featured three originals, all singles from 1964: “Is It True,” “Thanks a Lot” and “When You Loved Me.” It landed on Decca Records in December 1965, and was compiled from recording sessions at Columbia Studio in Nashville.
Five years later, Lee took advantage of a growing interest in Memphis as a production hub with Memphis Portrait, one of the earliest glimpses of her eventual country sound. The album was made during a whirlwind week in the city, with Lee recalling recording “around the clock” and having food catered to the studio in order to continue working. She collaborated with local Memphis session musicians, and again tackled a number of covers, including of the Bee Gees’ “Give a Hand, Take a Hand” and John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”
In 1974, Lee’s 20th studio album Now arrived. The ballad-heavy collection was produced entirely by her longtime collaborator Owen Bradley. Lee’s self-described interest in Kris Kristofferson at the time informed the inclusion of two covers, of his songs “Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends” and “Enough for You.” It’s lead single, “Big Four Poster Bed,” further established Lee in the country space, becoming her fourth top ten single on the US Hot Country Songs chart.
Only When I Laugh, released in 1981, paired Lee with Ron Chancey, her primary producer after her return to the label MCA. Perhaps the album’s most enduring song, “Shine On,” ultimately became a hit for George Jones, and Lee has said she regrets not releasing her own version as a single. Still, the album featured other standout moments, including the title track, which was penned for a 1981 movie of the same name.
1985’s Feels So Right was Lee’s final album for MCA, and continued her long streak of successful blues and country-minded albums. She gathered a number of genre-spanning session musicians, including Elvis Presley’s drummer Larrie London and Neil Diamond’s bandleader Richard Bennet. It received critical support, with outlets like Billboard and Cash Box noting that it demonstrated Lee’s perspective and sound still had a place in the industry even after such a long career.
