Buster Brown
Whooping blues harpists nearing the age of 50 with number one R&B hits to their credit were predictably scarce in 1959. Nevertheless, that's the happy predicament Buster Brown found himself in when his infectious "Fannie Mae" paced the charts. Even more amazingly, the driving number made serious inroads on the pop airwaves as well.
The Georgian, whose harp style was clearly influenced by Sonny Terry, had never made a professional recording (there was a 1943 Library of Congress session that laid unissued at the time) before Fire Records boss Bobby Robinson brought the short, stockily built Brown into a New York studio in June of 1959 to wax "Fannie Mae."
Brown's reign as an unlikely star was short-lived. He managed minor follow-up hits on Fire with a rather ragged 1960 revival of Louis Jordan's "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" and his 1962 farewell bow, the effervescent rocker "Sugar Babe." A subsequent 1964 stop at Chicago's Checker Records produced a glistening update of the old blues "Crawlin' Kingsnake" that sank without a trace.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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I'm Going but I'll Be Back 1959-1962
Soul - Released by Jasmine Records on 30 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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My Blue Heaven / Two Women (Digital 45)
Soul - Released by Essential Media Group on 18 Dec 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Buster Brown's Doctor Brown
Blues - Released by Charly Records on 25 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Selection (Remastered)
Rock - Released by Master Tape Records on 22 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
St. Louis Blues (Remastered)
Blues - Released by Maestro Entertainment, Corp on 26 Feb 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'm Going But I'll Be Back
Pop - Released by Earfood on 28 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'm Going but I'll Be Back
Blues - Released by Kinky Jinky on 6 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fannie Mae: the Best of Buster Brown
Blues - Released by Classic Music International on 25 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby
R&B - Released by Delta Records on 15 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fannie Mae: The Bobby Robinson Sessions
R&B - Released by Fire - Fury Admin by Gulf Coast - Prime Entertainment - GAMC on 21 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Blueberry Hill Tonight
Blues - Released by Shami Media Group 3 on 25 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fannie Mae / Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby? (Digital 45)
Soul - Released by Essential Media Group on 6 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Sugar Babe (Billboard Hot 100 - No 99)
R&B - Released by Music Manager on 23 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo