Sweet Nothin's

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"Sweet Nothin's"
Sweet Nothin's.jpg
Single by Brenda Lee
from the album Brenda Lee
B-side "Weep No More My Baby"
Released28 September 1959
Recorded13 August 1959
Studio Bradley Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre
Length2:23
Label Decca 30967
Songwriter Ronnie Self
Producer Owen Bradley
Brenda Lee singles chronology
"Let's Jump the Broomstick"
(1959)
"Sweet Nothin's"
(1959)
"That's All You Gotta Do"
(1960)

Sweet Nothin's is a 1959 song by Brenda Lee written by Ronnie Self. [4] It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 12 on the Hot R&B Sides chart, in 1960. [5] The song (as Sweet Nuthin's) also charted on the UK Singles Chart in 1960, peaking at No. 4, [6] marking Lee's first appearance on the UK chart.

The track begins with the sound of a whispering man who is speaking in a gibberish voice, where only Brenda Lee could understand, before the singing begins. Several radio stations banned the whispering dialogue as being too risque for airplay.

Musician and producer David Z adapted Lee's vocals from the song to produce the distinctive backing vocals in "Kiss", the smash hit for Prince. [7] Lee's voice from "Sweet Nothin's" was later sampled in Kanye West's song "Bound 2" on his 2013 album Yeezus . [8] This sample in turn was used by Sigma in their 2014 song "Nobody to Love."

The song was used in a 1985 TV commercial for Molson Canadian beer in Canada.[ citation needed ]

References

  1. Hickey, Andrew (April 22, 2020). "Episode 79: "Sweet Nothin's" by Brenda Lee". 500 Songs. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Brenda Lee Biography". Allmusic. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  3. Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 92. ISBN   978-0-571-28198-5.
  4. Steve Leggett (2002-07-23). "Sweet Nothings - Brenda Lee | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
  5. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN   978-0-89820-177-2.
  6. "Brenda Lee UK chart runs". Polyhex. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  7. "Prince 'Kiss'". Soundonsound.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. Yeezus (PDF) (Media notes). Kanye West. Def Jam Recordings. 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)