Happy 74th birthday today to Brenda Lee! Born in Lithonia, Georgia, she went on to become known as “Little Miss Dynamite,” standing at 4’9″. One of her most famous songs is her original version of the Christmas classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The song was written by Johnny Marks, a very prolific Christmas songwriter whose other songs include the classics “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Brenda’s version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” took a while to catch on. First released in 1958 (Brenda was only 13 when she recorded it), it didn’t make any appearance on the record charts that year or the next. It wasn’t until it was re-released in 1960 that it caught on. Decades later, Brenda remembered the song had been recorded in July with legendary Nashville producer Owen Bradley. She said, “Owen had the studio all freezing cold with the air conditioning, and he had a Christmas tree all set up to kind of get in the mood just a little bit. We had a lot of fun.”