NEW YORK (AP) — Her memories of recording “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” are a little hazy. She remembers the producer placing decorations around the studio and blasting the air conditioner on a warm Nashville day to create a holiday spirit. The musicians, she recalls, nailed it in a couple of takes.
That’s about it. After all, Brenda Lee was 13 years old at the time — and it was 66 years ago, in 1958.
Somewhat implausibly, her celebration of a “Christmas party hop” is more popular today than ever before. It’s an unusual trajectory, even accounting for the fact that music listeners during the holiday season tend to embrace songs they’ve known for years.
“Rockin’” eclipsed Mariah Carey’s perennial favorite “All I Want for Christmas is You” last December to top the Billboard music chart and make Lee, at age 78, the oldest woman to achieve that feat. A week later, following a birthday, she beat her own mark.
Kendrick Lamar likely stands in her way of doing it again this year. Another record: Sixty-five years represented the longest interval between a record being released and making it to No. 1.
“It is a good song,” Lee told The Associated Press. “It’s a song that anybody can sing. You can join in, you can sing it, everyone is happy. I sure am glad that I have it. I never thought in my life that a Christmas song would be my legacy. But I’ll take it.”