RUTH BROWN
JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
RUTH BROWN
 | ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME: RUTH BROWN | | ROSEBUD AGENCY: RUTH BROWN |
| ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME: RUTH BROWN | | ROSEBUD AGENCY: RUTH BROWN |
Born Jan 12, 1928, Died Nov 17, 2006.
They called Atlantic Records "the house that Ruth built" during the 1950s, and they weren't referring to the Sultan of Swat. Ruth Brown's regal hitmaking reign from 1949 to the close of the '50s helped tremendously to establish the New York label's predominance in the R&B field. Later, the business all but forgot her -- she was forced to toil as domestic help for a time -- but she returned to the top, her status as a postwar R&B pioneer (and tireless advocate for the rights and royalties of her peers) recognized worldwide.
Young Ruth Weston was inspired initially by jazz chanteuses Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington. She ran away from her Portsmouth home in 1945 to hit the road with trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married. A month with bandleader Lucky Millinder's orchestra in 1947 ended abruptly in Washington, D.C., when she was canned for delivering a round of drinks to members of the band. Cab Calloway's sister Blanche gave Ruth a gig at her Crystal Caverns nightclub and assumed a managerial role in the young singer's life. DJ Willis Conover dug Brown's act and recommended her to Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, bosses of a fledgling imprint named Atlantic.
Unfortunately, Brown's debut session for the firm was delayed by a nine-month hospital stay caused by a serious auto accident en route to New York that badly injured her leg. When she finally made it to her first date in May of 1949, she made up for lost time by waxing the torch ballad "So Long" (backed by guitarist Eddie Condon's band), which proved to be her first hit.
Brown's seductive vocal delivery shone incandescently on her Atlantic smashes "Teardrops in My Eyes" (an R&B chart-topper for 11 weeks in 1950), "I'll Wait for You" and "I Know" in 1951, 1952's "5-10-15 Hours" (another number-one rocker), the seminal "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" in 1953, and a tender Chuck Willis-penned "Oh What a Dream" and the timely "Mambo Baby" the next year. Along the way, Frankie Laine tagged her "Miss Rhythm" during an engagement in Philly. Brown belted a series of her hits on the groundbreaking TV program Showtime at the Apollo in 1955, exhibiting delicious comic timing while trading sly one-liners with MC Willie Bryant (ironically, ex-husband Jimmy Brown was a member of the show's house band).
After an even two-dozen R&B chart appearances for Atlantic that ended in 1960 with "Don't Deceive Me" (many of them featuring hell-raising tenor sax solos by Willis "Gator" Jackson, who many mistakenly believed to be Brown's husband), Brown faded from view. After raising her two sons and working a nine-to-five job, Brown began to rebuild her musical career in the mid-'70s. Her comedic sense served her well during a TV sitcom stint co-starring with McLean Stevenson in "Hello, Larry", in a meaty role in director John Waters' 1985 sock-hop satire film Hairspray, and during her 1989 Broadway starring turn in Black and Blue (which won her a Tony Award).
There were more records for Fantasy in the '80s and '90s (notably 1991's jumping Fine and Mellow), and a lengthy tenure as host of National Public Radio's "Harlem Hit Parade" and "BluesStage." Brown's nine-year ordeal to recoup her share of royalties from all those Atlantic platters led to the formation of the nonprofit Rhythm & Blues Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping others in the same frustrating situation.
Factor in all those time-consuming activities, and it's a wonder Ruth Brown has time to sing anymore. But she does (quite royally, too), her pipes mellowed but not frayed by the ensuing decades that have seen her rise to stardom not once, but twice. -- Bill Dahl
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1. Lucky Lips 2. As Long As I'm Moving 3. Wild, Wild Young Men 4. Daddy, Daddy 5. Mambo Baby 6. Teardrops From My Eyes 7. Hello, Little Boy |
8. Mamma He Treats Your Daughter Mean 9. 5-10-15 Hours 10. It's Love, Baby 11. Sentimental Journey 12. Old Man River 13. So Long 14. Oh, What a Dream |
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1. This Little Girl's Gone Rocking 2. Just Too Much 3. I Hope We Meet (On The Road Some Day) 4. Why Me? 5. Somebody Touched Me 6. When I Get You Baby |
7. Jack O' Diamonds 8. I Can't Hear A Word You Say 9. One More Time 10. Book Of Lies 11. I Can See Everybody's Baby 12. Show Me |
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01. It Could Happen to You 02. Why Don't You Do Right? 03. Bewitched 04. I'm Just a Lucky So and So 05. I Can Dream |
06. You and the Night and the Music 07. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To 08. We'll Be Together Again 09. I'm Beginning to See the Light 10. I Loves You, Porgy |
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01. Yes Sir, That's My Baby 02. Trouble in My Mind 03. Sonny Boy 04. Bye, Bye Blackbird 05. I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town |
06. Black Coffee 07. Be Anything (But Be Mine) 08. You Won't Let Me Go 09. Fine Brown Frame |
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01. Yesterday 02. Please Send Me Someone to Love 03. Looking Back 04. Try Me and See |
05. Miss Brown's Blues 06. My Prayer 07. Since I Fell for You 08. This Bitter Earth |
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01. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You 02. You Won't Let Me Go 03. 5-10-15 Hours 04. Have a Good Time 05. Teardrops from My Eyes |
06. Always on My Mind 07. Yes Sir, That's My Baby 08. When I Fall in Love 09. (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean 10. What a Wonderful World |
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01. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out 02. Good Morning Heartache 03. If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' on It 04. 'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do 05. St. Louis Blues |
06. Am I Blue 07. I'm Just a Lucky So and So 08. I Don't Break Dance 09. Come Sunday |
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01. Fine and Mellow 02. I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues 03. A World I Never Made 04. Salty Papa Blues 05. I'll Drown in My Own Tears |
06. Knock Me a Kiss 07. It's Just a Matter of Time 08. Don't Get Around Much Anymore 09. Nothing Takes the Place of You 10. I'll Be Satisfied |
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01. Songs of My Life 02. I've Got the World on a String 03. While We're Young 04. God Bless the Child 05. It Could Happen to You 06. Tears in Heaven |
07. Stormy Weather 08. They Say 09. (I Wonder) Where Our Love Has Gone 10. I Know Why 11. Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man 12. I'll Be Seeing You |
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01. I've Got the World on a String 02. I'm Just a Lucky So and So 03. Have a Good Time 04. Fine and Mellow 05. Lover Man 06. Good Morning Heartache 07. Secret Love |
08. Fine Brown Frame 09. It Could Happen to You 10. 5-10-5 Hours 11. Be Anything (But Be Mine) 12. Since I Fell for You 13. He's a Real Gone Guy |
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01. That Train Don't Stop Here 02. In Another World 03. I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town 04. Destination Heartbreak 05. Too Little Too Late 06. Sold My Heart to the Junk Man 07. Go on Fool |
08. False Friend Blues 09. Break It to Me Gently 10. I Don't Know 11. Bite My Tongue 12. Love Letters 13. Can't Get Excited |
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01. Good Day for the Blues 02. Can't Stand a Broke Man 03. Never Let Me Go 04. Hangin' by a Shoestring 05. H.B.'s Funky Fable 06. A Lover Is Forever |
07. Ice Water in Your Veins 08. True 09. Cabbage Head 10. The Richest One 11. Be Good to Me Tonight 12. I Believe I Can Fly |
