Bye Bye Blues (album)

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Bye Bye Blues
Studio album by
Brenda Lee
ReleasedMarch 14, 1966 (1966-03-14)
RecordedAugust 1965–January 1966
StudioColumbia Studio
GenreNashville Sound[1]
LabelDecca
ProducerOwen Bradley
Brenda Lee chronology
Too Many Rivers
(1965) 		Bye Bye Blues
(1966) 		10 Golden Years
(1966)
Singles from Bye Bye Blues
  1. "Rusty Bells"
    Released: September 1965

Bye Bye Blues is a studio album by American singer Brenda Lee. It was released on March 14, 1966, via Decca Records and was her sixteenth studio album. The project consisted of 12 tracks, most of which were cover tunes recorded originally by other artists. A new song was also included called "Rusty Bells", which was the album's only single. The song made the US top 40 and the US adult contemporary top ten in 1965.

Background, recording and content[edit]

Brenda Lee rose to commercial recording stardom recording first as a Rockabilly artist and graduating to pop music. During the 1960s, she had a string of top ten singles like "Sweet Nothin's", "Fool No. 1", "Dum Dum" and chart toppers like "I'm Sorry". Lee's singles no longer made the US top ten following 1963, but continued reaching the top 20 while also being commercially successful in other countries.[2]

Among Lee's studio albums released during this period was Bye Bye Blues. The album was recorded in sessions held between August 1965 and January 1966 at the Columbia Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The album was produced by Owen Bradley.[3] Bye Bye Blues consisted of 12 tracks.[1] According to the liner notes, the album was prepared with "some arrangements" but left "plenty of moving around". Lee used the arrangements as a foundation to make decisions about how she wanted to record the material. The album mostly featured covers of songs first recorded by other artists.[3]

Release, chart performance, reception and singles[edit]

Bye Bye Blues was released by Decca Records on March 14, 1966. It accounted for being Lee's sixteenth studio album in her career. It was distributed as a vinyl LP, featuring six tracks on either side of the record.[3] The same year, it was released in Japan under the title A Taste of Honey.[4] In 1968, it was reissued by MCA Records under the title The Good Life.[5] In the British newspaper Record Mirror, the disc was highlighted as being "a sensational new album" and also being called "one of her best".[6]

Bye Bye Blues made the US Billboard 200 record chart, peaking at number 94 in 1966. Up to that point, it was Lee's lowest-charting album on the Billboard 200.[7] It also became her fourth album to make the UK Albums Chart, rising to the number 21 position.[8] The album's only single was the song "Rusty Bells", which was released in September 1965.[9] It made the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at the number 33 position in late 1965.[10] It also made the top ten of the US adult contemporary chart, peaking at number three around the same time.[11]

Track listing[edit]

Side one[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Taste of Honey"
2:49
2."The Good Life"
2:59
3."Flowers on the Wall"Lew DeWitt2:14
4."The Shadow of Your Smile" (love theme from The Sandpiper)Paul Francis Webster2:22
5."Remember When (We Made These Memories)"
2:10
6."Softly, as I Leave You"
2:40
Side two[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bye Bye Blues"
2:17
2."Make the World Go Away"Hank Cochran2:30
3."September in the Rain"
2:30
4."Rusty Bells"
2:26
5."What a Diff'rence a Day Made"
2:23
6."Yesterday"Lennon–McCartney3:15

Personnel[edit]

All credits are adapted from the liner notes of Bye Bye Blues.[3]

  • Owen Bradley – Producer
  • Bill McElhiney – Arrangements
  • Cam Mullins – Arrangements

Chart performance[edit]

Chart (1966) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 21
US Billboard 200[13] 94

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Australia March 14, 1966 Vinyl LP (Mono) Festival Records [14]
Japan Vinyl LP (Stereo) Decca Records [4]
Mexico
[15]
North America
  • Vinyl LP (Mono)
  • Vinyl LP (Stereo)
 Decca Records [3]
Spain Vinyl LP (Mono) [16]
United Kingdom
  • Vinyl LP (Mono)
  • Vinyl LP (Stereo)
 Brunswick Records [17]
Venezuela Vinyl LP (Mono) Decca Records [18]
United Kingdom 1968
  • Vinyl LP (Mono)
  • Vinyl LP (Stereo)
 MCA Records [5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Bye Bye Blues: Brenda Lee: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  2. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Brenda Lee Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Brenda (March 14, 1966). "Bye Bye Blues (Disc Information)". Decca Records. DL-4755 (Mono); DL-74755 (Stereo).
  4. ^ a b Lee, Brenda (March 14, 1966). "A Taste of Honey (Disc Information)". Decca Records. SDL-10240.
  5. ^ a b Lee, Brenda (1968). "The Good Life (Disc Information)". MCA Records. MUP-322 (Mono); MUPS-322 (Stereo).
  6. ^ "NEW LP FROM BRENDA LEE" (PDF). Record Mirror. July 30, 1966. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Albums Includes Every Album that Made the Billboard 200 Chart : 50 Year History of the Rock Era. Record Research, Inc. p. 591. ISBN 978-0898201666.
  8. ^ "BRENDA LEE songs and albums". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  9. ^ Lee, Brenda (September 1965). ""Rusty Bells"/"If You Don't (Not Like You)" (7" vinyl single)". Decca Records. 31849.
  10. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-188-8.
  11. ^ "Brenda Lee Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  12. ^ "Brenda Lee | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "Brenda Lee Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  14. ^ Lee, Brenda (March 14, 1966). "Bye Bye Blues [Australia]". Festival Records. SDL-931-919 (Stereo).
  15. ^ Lee, Brenda (March 14, 1966). "Bye Bye Blues [Mexico]". Decca Records/Orfeón. LPI-075 (Stereo).
  16. ^ Lee, Brenda (March 14, 1966). "Bye Bye Blues [Spain]". Decca Records. DL-116 (Mono).
  17. ^ Lee, Brenda (March 14, 1966). "Bye Bye Blues [UK]". Brunswick Records. LAT-8649 (Mono); STA-8649 (Stereo).
  18. ^ Lee, Brenda (March 14, 1966). "Bye Bye Blues [Venezuela]". Decca Records. DL-4755 (Mono).
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