Brenda Lee’s Hall of Fame Exhibit Is Dynamite

Fifty years ago, Brenda Lee emerged as the biggest star in Nashville -- and she was only 14 years old. She possessed a full, round, sassy, dynamic voice that captured the attention of the world. That's not an overstatement because Lee, a.k.a. Little Miss Dynamite, is one of the first Nashville entertainers to capitalize on the international market. At the peak of her "Sweet Nothin's" success, she landed a five-week engagement in Paris. Some reporters there believed she was really a 32-year-old midget! She scored a massive 1971 hit in Japan by singing the lyrics phonetically and that tune -- "One Rainy Night in Tokyo (Omoide No Bara)" -- has since become a standard there. These are just a few things I learned from the exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum dedicated to her illustrious career.

It's not hard to fathom how the teen phenomenon sold more than 100 million albums worldwide when you listen to the music. Her pop hits in the late 1950s can rip out your heart -- "I Want to Be Wanted," "Emotions," "You Can Depend on Me" and even "I'm Sorry," which she recorded in 10 minutes at the end of a studio session. Even though her label didn't think she was old enough to convey its message, "I'm Sorry" went on to sell 50 million copies. Around this time, she also captured the holiday spirit in "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," now an undisputed classic.

The Hall of Fame also screened two episodes of Jubilee U.S.A., the most famous country music TV show of the late 1950s, with Lee as a special guest. She seemed like a kid you would like. One of the episodes was the "Junior Jubilee" with a bunch of other cutesy girls squeaking out songs. Ugh. They had nothing on Brenda Lee.