#44: Sweet Impossible You by Brenda Lee

City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: October 1963
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #45
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #70
Peak Position on the UK Singles chart ~ #28
YouTube: “Sweet Impossible You”
Lyrics: “Sweet Impossible You”

Brenda Mae Tarpley was born in 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents were poor. During her childhood, young Brenda shared a sagging iron bed with her brother and sister in a series of three-room houses. They had no running water. Here parents went from job to job. After the stock market crash in 1929, Brenda’s mother would recall “you could hardly buy a job.” The region was devastated by an infestation of the boll weevil. Brenda started singing solos each Sunday at the Baptist church where her family attended. In her 2002 autobiography, she wrote “I grew up so poor, and it saddens me to see the poverty that is still there. A lot of my family have never done any better. Some of them are just exactly where they were when I was a kid. And in a way, there is still something inside of me that is a part of that, the part that doesn’t expect much. Little things make them happy, and that’s the same with me.”

Her family moved to a tenant farm in Conyers, Georgia, about 25 miles southeast of Atlanta. Brenda’s father, Ruben Tarpley, had to quit carpentry after he broke his arm. And so, in 1951, he worked as a picker on a cotton farm. Brenda’s younger sister, Linda, learned about a talent contest between elementary schools in the district. Linda let Brenda know about the contest and Brenda decided to enter it, even though she was still six years old in the fall of ’51. In the school auditorium Linda Tarpley later wrote, “I’ll never forget that night of the show. It was the fall of the year and the school’s auditorium was packed with people – adults and kids. There was a microphone and stage lights and lots of little performers. But after Brenda sang the place just went nuts. They were really cheering.” Brenda Mae Tarpley sang “Too Young” by Nat King Cole and “Slow Poke” by Pee Wee King. The reward was a live appearance on an Atlanta radio show, Starmakers Revue, where she performed for the next year.

The family moved to a house with weathered clapboards, in Lithonia, about 6 miles west of Conyers. Brenda recalls “there wasn’t any paint on the house and the yard was mostly dirt. It had three rooms with an outhouse. You drew water out of the well, and the ice man would come by in a truck once a week with the ice.” She remembers making friends in town who had refrigerators. Her father died in 1953, in a construction accident. So that year Brenda got a gig singing at an event in Swainsboro, Georgia, for $35. This was more than a weeks wage.

A bus driver, who learned a little about the Tarpley family’s circumstances, suggested to Brenda’s mother, Grayce, that she meet WRDW-TV personality J.T. “Pee Wee” Devore, star of the Peach Blossom Special. Grayce Tarpley told Pee Wee about Brenda, and after listening to her, they were introduced to the program director Sammy Barton. He liked what he heard and suggested Brenda Mae Tarpley change her name to Brenda Lee when performing. The nine-year-old and her both mother agreed. Brenda Lee made her debut on the Peach Blossom Special in Augusta on August 27, 1954. She also began to appear on the TV Ranch show in Atlanta. By the time she turned ten, Brenda Lee was the primary breadwinner of her family through singing at events and on local radio and television shows.

Her mother remarried in 1955 and her new stepfather, Jay Rainwater, helped open the Brenda Lee Record Store on Broad Street in Augusta, Georgia. The family also briefly moved to Cincinnati, and Brenda appeared on a local radio station with the call letters WNOP.

In February 1955, Brenda Lee was introduced to country music singer, Red Foley, when he was in Augusta for a a touring show of his Ozark Jubilee on ABC-TV. After hearing her, Foley agreed to let her sing “Jambalaya” on stage during the show, unrehearsed. He recalls “I still get cold chills thinking about the first time I heard that voice. One foot started patting rhythm as though she was stomping out a prairie fire but not another muscle in that little body even as much as twitched. And when she did that trick of breaking her voice, it jarred me out of my trance enough to realize I’d forgotten to get off the stage. There I stood, after 26 years of supposedly learning how to conduct myself in front of an audience, with my mouth open two miles wide and a glassy stare in my eyes.” On March 31, 1955, the 10-year-old made her network debut on Ozark Jubilee in Springfield, Missouri.

In July 1956 Brenda Lee got a record deal with Decca Records. She recorded “Jambalaya” and “Bigelow 6-200”.

Brenda Lee was not only referred to as a “young lady” and a “young chick”, but also earned the nickname “Little Miss Dynamite”, after her next single release “Dynamite”. She toured with Jerry Lee Lewis. In early 1958 she had a regional Top 20 hit with “Rock The Bop” in Seattle, Kansas City and Nashville. But this, and several three other single releases in 1958 failed to chart nationally. This included “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree“, which was passed over by most radio stations who preferred to spin “The Chipmunk Song” by David Seville. While a few radio markets also played “Donde Esta Santa Claus?” by Augie Rios.

It was only in December 1960, when Brenda Lee had become a pop sensation that “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” became a hit at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #11 in Vancouver (BC). The single has returned to the pop charts on fifteen subsequent years since its 1958 release. Eventually, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #1 on December 18, 2023.

On October 17, 1959, WMPS in Memphis, Tennessee, began to chart “Sweet Nothin’s”. It quickly climbed into the Top Ten in Memphis in November. The single got a spin in Milwaukee and Albuquerque and climbed into the Top Ten in those radio markets in December ’59. In Vancouver (BC), “Sweet Nothin’s” climbed to #5 on CFUN in March 1960, and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In June 1960 Brenda Lee had a double-sided hit in the Top Ten across the USA and Canada with “That’s All You Gotta Do”/”I’m Sorry”. Of the two sides, “I’m Sorry climbed to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #2 in Vancouver (BC). Brenda Lee recorded “I’m Sorry” in early in 1960. However, Decca Records held it from release for several months out of concern that a 15-year-old girl was not mature enough to sing about unrequited love. When “I’m Sorry” was finally released in May 1960, it was as the B-side to the more uptempo “That’s All You Gotta Do”. Although “That’s All You Gotta Do” was a chart success in its own right, reaching #6 on the Hot 100, it was “I’m Sorry” that became the smash hit and is considered her signature song. “I’m Sorry” earned Brenda Lee a Grammy Award nomination for Best Vocal Performance Single Record or Track (Female)  in April 1961. The award was won by Ella Fitzgerald for her live recording of “Mack The Knife”.

Then, in October 1960, Brenda Lee was back on the top of the charts in the USA with another ballad titled “I Want To Be Wanted”. While in Vancouver (BC) the song stalled at #6. With four Top Ten singles in 1960, Decca Records re-issued “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree” to end the year with five hits for then 15-year-old Brenda Lee.

Between 1958 and 1963, Brenda Lee returned to the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 on twelve separate occasions.
These included “Emotions” (#2 in Ottawa and Vancouver, #6 in Belgium and #7 in the USA in early 1961)
“You Can Depend On Me” (#3 in Ottawa and #6 in the USA in June 1961)
“Dum Dum” (#2 in Calgary and Ottawa, and #4 in Australia and the USA in August 1961)
“Fool #1” (#2 in Hamilton and Ottawa, and #3 in the USA in December 1961)
“Break It To Me Gently” (#1 in Hamilton and #3 in Toronto, #4 in the USA, #8 in New Zealand and #10 in Australia in February 1962)
“Everybody Loves Me But You” (#2 in Montreal, and #4 in Hamilton and Ottawa, and #6 in the USA in May 1962)
“All Alone Am I” (#1 in Ottawa, #3 in the USA, #7 in the UK, and #10 in Ireland in November 1962)
“Losing You” (#2 in Ottawa, #6 in New Zealand and the USA, and #10 in the UK in May 1963)

In 1962, Brenda Lee went on a tour of Europe. While in West Germany, she appeared at the famous Star-Club, in Hamburg. Her opening act was the Beatles. After watching the Beatles perform, she approached John Lennon after her performance was over. Lee said to him, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, where do you get those songs?” Lennon replied, “Oh, we write them.” Brenda Lee and John Lennon became friends during their Star Club residency. Lee recalls, “I hung out with John. He was extremely intelligent, very acerbic with his jokes, just a gentle person. When I found out that they later said they were fans of my music, I was just floored.”

In the summer and fall of 1963, Brenda Lee charted three singles into the Top Ten of the Adult Contemporary chart in the USA. The second of these, “The Grass Is Greener”, reached #7 on the Middle-Road Singles chart (as it was named between 1962 and 1964). The B-side was “Sweet Impossible You”.

“Sweet Impossible You” was written by Ronnie Self. Ronald Keith Self was born in Tin Town, Missouri, in 1938. On the Black Cat website in Europe, Dik de Heer writes “Ronnie Self was his own worst enemy. His self-destructive behavior is probably the main reason why he is no more than a footnote in rock ‘n’ roll history. Hugely talented, both as a singer and a songwriter, he could have been a big star if he hadn’t possessed such an unstable personality. The oldest of five children, Ronnie was born on a farm in rural Missouri. After the war, the family moved to Springfield where his father took a job with the railroad. The signs of instability showed themselves early. On one occasion Ronnie chopped down a tree to block the school bus from getting to his house. Another story has him attacking a teacher with a baseball bat in grade school.”

He got signed with ABC-Paramount, and in April 1956 released his composition “Pretty Bad Blues”. Despite its resemblance to Sun Records artists like Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, the single didn’t catch on. Dik de Heer writes “Early in 1957, Ronnie joined the Phillip Morris Caravan as the token rockabilly in a country cast. Those who have seen Self perform say that he had the wildest stage act, which gained him the nickname of “Mister Frantic.”

In 1957, Self was the first rock n’ roll recording artist to sign with Columbia Records. This was despite Mitch Miller’s objections. On the label Self released a rockabilly tune called “Flame Of Love”. It didn’t chart. Though Ronnie Self wrote over 300 songs, the next release was “Ain’t I’m A Dog” – written by other contemporary songwriters. It was a #3 hit in Dauphin (MB).

In 1959, Ronnie Self wrote “Sweet Nothings” for Brenda Lee. The next year, Self’s “I’m Sorry” became Brenda Lee’s signature song Brenda Lee stated in her autobiography, Little Miss Dynamite, “Ronnie was burning bridges left and right.” A manager, Dub Albritten, kept doling out money to bankroll Ronnie Self’s chaotic rise to mostly songwriting success. In 1960, Owen Bradley was in the studio to provide lush strings and backing vocals for Ronnie Self. But unlike Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry”, Self’s self-reflective “I’ve Been There” never took off. In 1961, Self’s “Anybody But Me” was the B-side to Brenda Lee’s “Fool #1”, and charted to #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, Brenda Lee recorded another Ronnie Self composition titled “Everybody Loves Me But You”.

In 1964, Billy Walker took Ronnie Self’s “Circumstances” to #7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. In 1965, Ronnie Self wrote “Two Six Packs Away” which became a #15 country hit for Dave Dudley. In 1969, Ronnie Self’s country gospel song “Ain’t That Beautiful Singing”, recorded by Jake Hess, was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Sacred Performance.

However, the man behind the hit songs on the country chart was falling apart. Self was getting a reputation as being too unmanageable for any record label, despite his positives as a singer-songwriter and performer (when he could contain himself). Dik de Heer summarizes, “By the mid-1960s, Mr. Frantic was almost completely out of control. He had added amphetamines and marijuana to his alcohol consumption. After Dub Albritten died in 1971, Ronnie reportedly became completely unhinged. The story goes that when he discovered that his Gold Record of “I’m Sorry” wouldn’t play on his stereo, he burned all of his songwriter awards in front of his publisher’s office on Music Row. ” Ronnie Self died an alcoholic who’d exhausted his life, in Springfield, Missouri, in 1981 at the age of 43.

Ronnie Self’s “Sweet Impossible You” may have been autobiographical material:
Yes, I’m the reason, for your leaving,
you say that we are through.
Well let it be, ah you’ll never see,
sweet impossible you.
You think it’s right that I’m left,
yes with my little world upsidе down.

“Sweet Impossible You” climbed to #7 in Saskatoon (SK), #10 in West Monroe (LA), #11 in Columbus (OH), #12 in Louisville (KY), and #13 in Montreal.

Brenda Lee made trips to the UK in 1959, 1962, 1963 and 1964. She appeared at the annual Royal Variety Performance before Queen Elizabeth II at the London Palladium on November 2, 1964. Afterward, she toured Britain in November and December 1964, sharing the stage with Manfred Mann, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, Marty Wilde, the Tornados and others. Back in Vancouver (BC) in November 1964, Brenda Lee had a Top Ten hit with “Is It True”, featuring Jimmy Page on guitar.

In the USA Brenda Lee toured with Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checker, The Casuals, Duane Eddy and others. She appeared on American Bandstand numerous times.

In 1973, Brenda Lee made her first appearance on the Billboard Country chart Top Ten. Between 1973 and 1980 she charted nine singles into that charts’ Top Ten.

In 1997, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fameand the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. In 2008 her recording of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” marked 50 years as a holiday standard. In February 2009 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave Lee a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award.

At present, Brenda Lee’s website shows no upcoming concerts, though she has not officially retired. Throughout her career Lee has sold more than 100 million records. Aside from her uptempo rockabilly numbers, Brenda Lee will be forever remembered for her torch ballads that always ended with a sense of resolve.

May 29, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Brenda Lee, Little Miss Dynamite: The Life and Times of Brenda Lee, (Hyperion, 2002).
“Brenda Lee: The Lady – The Legend,” Rockabilly Hall of Fame.com.
Jonathan Bernstein, “Inside the Life of Brenda Lee, the Pop Heroine Next Door: She Awed a Young Elton John, Influenced Taylor Swift and Had the Beatles Open for Her. So Why doesn’t Brenda Lee Get More Respect?,” Rolling Stone, February 20, 2018.
“Singer Learned Young How to Rock the House,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 16, 2009.
Dik de Heer, “Ronnie Self,” Black Cat.
Dave Stephens, “Ronnie Self,” Toppermost.co.uk, June 2023.
Ronnie Self, “I’ve Been There“, Decca Records, 1960.

Fabulous Fifty – CKOM 1250-AM Saskatoon (SK) | October 27, 1963