Break It to Me Gently
Encyclopedia
"Break It to Me Gently" is a pop song written by blues musician Joe Seneca
with lyrics by Diane Lampert. Both Brenda Lee
and Juice Newton
met with considerable success with their versions of the song.
Brenda Lee recorded "Break It to Me Gently" on August 31 1961 with Owen Bradley
producing the session at his Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville: after another track from the same session: "Fool No.1", had become a Top Ten hit "Break It To Me Gently" was released as a single at the end of 1961 and reached #4 on the Hot 100
in Billboard
in January 1962. In 2008, the Brenda Lee version of the song was featured at the closing of season 2, episode 7 of the AMC series Mad Men
.
Juice Newton had included "Break It to Me Gently" in the set list for her 1981 national tour - with New York Times music critic Stephen Holden terming Newton's "steamy version" of the song the concert's highlight . Newton made her recording of the song at Souncastle Studio in Hollywood CA on January 11 1982: this was the first session of recording the tracks which would comprise Newton's Quiet Lies
album whose lead single: "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me
" was the one other track recorded in that session. Issued as the second single from Quiet Lies in August 1982, "Break It to Me Gently" just missed becoming Newton's fifth consecutive Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #11 that October. The track reached #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (making it Newton's third #1 on that chart), and #2 on the Billboard country singles chart
. Newton won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female
, for her performance of the song. Newton would score two more Top 40 hits after "Break It to Me Gently", neither of which reached the Top 20. From 1985, Newton shifted the musical focus of her career in a more emphatically C&W-oriented direction.
"Break It to Me Gently" has also been recorded by Ruth Brown
, Dean Martin
, Linda Martin
and Lorrie Morgan
.
Joe Seneca
Joe Seneca was an American film and television actor who had a lengthy Hollywood career, portraying bit parts in many major films and television sitcoms spanning from the 1970s to the 1990s....
with lyrics by Diane Lampert. Both Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
and Juice Newton
Juice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American Pop music and Country singer, songwriter and guitarist...
met with considerable success with their versions of the song.
Brenda Lee recorded "Break It to Me Gently" on August 31 1961 with Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley was an American record producer who, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly.-Before the fame:...
producing the session at his Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville: after another track from the same session: "Fool No.1", had become a Top Ten hit "Break It To Me Gently" was released as a single at the end of 1961 and reached #4 on the Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
in January 1962. In 2008, the Brenda Lee version of the song was featured at the closing of season 2, episode 7 of the AMC series Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
.
Juice Newton had included "Break It to Me Gently" in the set list for her 1981 national tour - with New York Times music critic Stephen Holden terming Newton's "steamy version" of the song the concert's highlight . Newton made her recording of the song at Souncastle Studio in Hollywood CA on January 11 1982: this was the first session of recording the tracks which would comprise Newton's Quiet Lies
Quiet Lies
Quiet Lies is a 1982 album by American pop-country star Juice Newton. It reached #20 on the Billboard pop chart and includes three major hits, "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me", "Break It to Me Gently" and "Heart of the Night." Quiet Lies sold more than 900,000 copies in the U.S...
album whose lead single: "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me
Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me
"Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me" is a 1982 song recorded by country-pop singer Juice Newton. It was a #7 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of that year. It also charted at #4 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and #30 on the Billboard Country chart. The recording garnered...
" was the one other track recorded in that session. Issued as the second single from Quiet Lies in August 1982, "Break It to Me Gently" just missed becoming Newton's fifth consecutive Top Ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #11 that October. The track reached #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart (making it Newton's third #1 on that chart), and #2 on the Billboard country singles chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
. Newton won the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female
Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1965 to 1967 the award was known as Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female...
, for her performance of the song. Newton would score two more Top 40 hits after "Break It to Me Gently", neither of which reached the Top 20. From 1985, Newton shifted the musical focus of her career in a more emphatically C&W-oriented direction.
"Break It to Me Gently" has also been recorded by Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Linda Martin
Linda Martin
Linda Martin is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known in Europe as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, with the song "Why Me?", and in Ireland as a member of the 1970s/1980s band, Chips.-Chips:Martin started off her musical career when she joined the band Chips...
and Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
.