Brenda Lee - All Alone Am I (1963)

Although All Alone Am I featured a classic 1962 hit single as its title track, like some of Brenda Lee's other early albums, it was unduly weighted toward adult pop standards. This LP alone had "(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco," "Lover," "What Kind of Fool Am I," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "Fly Me to the Moon," reinforcing the impression that her album market was viewed as being a more mature audience than the more youthful one responsible for buying a high percentage of her smash 45s. The cover of Fats Domino's "All By Myself" is, aside from "All Alone Am I," about the only nod to the more vigorous segment of the pop market that had made her a star in the first place. The bulk of the record, it should be emphasized, is well done, both due to Lee's always committed singing and to Owen Bradley's unfailingly lush production. It even swings, just a bit, on "By Myself," "Lover," and Cole Porter's "It's All Right with Me." But it's on the sedate side, and is one of the less imaginative and interesting of her early albums.