Ruth Brown
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 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 MacLean Stevenson in Hello, Larry, in a meaty role in director John Waters' 1985 sock-hop satire film Hairspray, and 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. In 1993 Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and 1995 saw the release of her autobiography, Miss Rhythm. Brown suffered a heart attack and stroke following surgery in October 2006 and never fully recovered, passing on November 17, 2006.
© Bill Dahl /TiVo
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Late Date With Ruth Brown
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by PnR on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of Legends: Female Blues Singers, Vol. 8
Blues - Released by Intense Media GmbH on 18 Mar 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
As Long As I Am Moving
Pop - Released by Black Barn Music on 31 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleepless Times
Jazz - Released by Sleepless Times 2020 on 13 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Miss Rhythm
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by PnR on 4 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rock And Roll (HD Remastered)
R&B - Released by Reborn recordings on 13 Feb 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Late Date with Ruth Brown (HD Remastered)
R&B - Released by Reborn recordings on 13 Feb 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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It's Christmas Time with Ruth Brown
R&B - Released by Wintertime Love on 27 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Teardrops from My Eyes (A Collection)
Soul - Released by Must Have Records on 24 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Happy Easter
Jazz - Released by Archive & Catapulte on 12 Apr 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Along Comes Ruth (HD Remastered)
R&B - Released by Reborn recordings on 1 Sep 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Miss Rhythm (HD Remastered)
R&B - Released by Reborn recordings on 1 Sep 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Greatest Of Big Maybelle, Ruth Brown & The Shirelles (All Tracks Remastered)
Big Maybelle, Ruth Brown, The Shirelles
R&B - Released by Millennium Digital Remaster on 12 Aug 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Ruth Brown
R&B - Released by Milestones Records on 15 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Collection
Jazz - Released by 33x digital on 17 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Hottest Ever
Jazz - Released by total hot records re on 11 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Teardrops from My Eyes
Blues - Released by Jasnet Records on 12 Jul 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Soul Story USA (Remastered)
R&B - Released by Forrest Hill on 25 Aug 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo