Brenda That's All/All Alone Am I, one of Ace's numerous two-for-one packages of early Brenda Lee material, combines her 1962 album Brenda, That's All and her 1963 album All Alone Am I onto one CD, adding historical liner notes. Like almost all of her early albums, Brenda, That's All was a mix of... [+] Expand

Brenda That's All/All Alone Am I, one of Ace's numerous two-for-one packages of early Brenda Lee material, combines her 1962 album Brenda, That's All and her 1963 album All Alone Am I onto one CD, adding historical liner notes. Like almost all of her early albums, Brenda, That's All was a mix of material that seemed designed to highlight her versatility. Pop music was at the center, but there were various shades of country, R&B, and the adult contemporary market. It's not a scintillating record, but it's pretty good, in part because it avoids the overemphasis on adult pop standards that hurt some of her LPs from the period. "Fool #1" and "You Can Depend on Me" (which had actually been released as singles the year before most of the sessions for Brenda, That's All took place) are the only hits, but there are some good tracks here, whether the buoyant "I'm Sitting on Top of the World," the bluesily arranged "White Silver Sands," the orchestrated country-pop of "Just Out of Reach," or the mildly swinging "Why Me?" (co-written by Brook Benton). "Someday You'll Want Me to Want You" is the kind of classy, impeccably produced pop ballad in which she specialized in the early 1960s, and sounds like it could have had a chance of being a hit single on its own steam. The whole album is impressively sung and immaculately produced, in fact, in common with much of what Lee recorded under Owen Bradley's direction. Although the less impressive All Alone Am I features a classic 1962 hit single as its title track, it was unduly weighted toward adult pop standards. This LP alone had "(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco," "Lover," "What Kind of Fool Am I," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "Fly Me to the Moon," reinforcing the impression that her album market was viewed as being a more mature audience than the more youthful one responsible for buying a high percentage of her smash 45s. The cover of Fats Domino's "All by Myself" is, aside from "All Alone Am I," about the only nod to the more vigorous segment of the pop market that had made her a star in the first place. The bulk of the record, it should be emphasized, is well done, both due to Lee's always-committed singing, and to Owen Bradley's unfailingly lush production. It even swings, just a bit, on "By Myself," "Lover," and Cole Porter's "It's All Right with Me." But it's on the sedate side, and is one of the less imaginative and interesting of her early albums. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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