Brenda Lee - Is It True, 1964.
Give the 45-obsessed guy his 30 seconds to show you the deets, and after that be blown away by the queen of singing-imps, Miss Brenda Lee! What a firecracker!(Also, some trivia, that’s a young Jimmy Paige strumming the geet-box).
’45s! Hypnotic pinwheels of glory! Like a good postmodern slave, I stradle the line between the vinyl-digital divide. I love the sound and smell of good ol’ vinyl, but if I can pre-screen on Spotify, or rip it for free, I’m in. Vinyl aficionados, I envy your fortitude.
That being said, this is the kind of song that needs to be heard on ‘45. Gaining a new vitality with every grimy analog pop, the dirtier the recording gets, the more fun the song. A poppy recording is like spilled beer on a poodle skirt, it dirties up the prude.
Its not just the poppin’ 45 that makes this track rock, the music does it all for itself. That waterjuggin’ bassline underneath Lee’s soaring vocals is magic enough for a great pop song.
