Well, mroldies, here we are a couple of years after your post concerning what was being whispered into Brenda Lee’s ear at the beginning of “Sweet Nothin’s.  I am very glad you posted that.

The story is that in the recording session for “Sweet Nothin’s” in October of 1959 the following occurred:

Brenda Lee had her own microphone and the close-by backup singers had their own.  They needed someone to do the whispering so they choose Louis Nunley because he was the backup singer standing closest to Brenda Lee.

Louis Nunley sung baritone with the Anita Kerr singers and did many other backup singing engagements.

According to Louis Nunley, everyone was acting silly at this time.  So, one can assume Louis Nunley was acting silly by whispering something silly into Brenda Lee’s microphone.  When asked later what he whispered, Louis Nunley said it was “just gibberish”.  He presumably had to answer that way because what he actually whispered was totally and grossly inappropriate for a twenty-seven-year-old man to be whispering to a fourteen-year-old girl.
 
In response to your post, mroldies, I used twenty-first technology to render the whisper audible and posted this.  Other poster on The Oldies Music Board indicated they thought I was off my rocker and roller for thinking that.

The only person at the time who knew what was whispered was the whisperer himself and he was not telling.  Since the whisperer, Louis Nunley, passed away in 2012, no one knew after that until I answered your post.  And, I really doubt that anyone who read my post can remember it now.

So, I am happy that I have a claim to fame – that I am currently the only self-aware sentient being in the Universe that knows what was whispered at the beginning of “Sweet Nothin’s”.  That I know that I know is all that I need to know. 

Last edited by Jim Elder (February 1, 2025 5:21 pm)