Ruth Brown
Encyclopedia
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 "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean
".
For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built" (alluding to the popular nickname for Old Yankee Stadium).
Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970s and peaked in the 1980s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties
and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
. Her performances in the Broadway musical, Black and Blue
, earned Brown a Tony Award
, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award
.
, United States
, she attended I. C. Norcom High School
, a historically black high school. Brown's father was a dockhand
who directed the local church choir, but the young Ruth showed more of an interest in singing at USO
shows and nightclub
s. She was inspired by Sarah Vaughan
, Billie Holiday
and Dinah Washington
. In 1945, Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with trumpet
er, Jimmy Brown
, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs. She then spent a month with Lucky Millinder
's orchestra.
, Cab Calloway
's sister, also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Brown at a Washington, D.C.
nightclub
called Crystal Caverns and soon became her manager. Willis Conover
, a Voice of America
disc jockey
, caught her act and recommended her to Atlantic Records bosses, Ahmet Ertegün
and Herb Abramson
. Brown was unable to audition as planned because of a serious car accident that resulted in a nine-month hospital stay. In 1948, Ertegün and Abramson drove to Washington, D.C., from New York City
to hear her sing in the club. Although her repertoire was mostly popular ballads, Ertegün convinced her to switch to rhythm and blues.
In her first audition, in 1949, she sang "So Long," which ended up becoming a hit. This was followed by "Teardrops from My Eyes
" in 1950. Written by Rudy Toombs
, it was the first upbeat major hit for Brown. Recorded for Atlantic Records
in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was Billboard
s R&B number one for 11 weeks. The hit earned her the nickname "Miss Rhythm" and within a few months Brown became the acknowledged queen of R&B.
She followed up this hit with "I'll Wait for You" (1951), "I Know" (1951), "5-10-15 Hours
" (1953), "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean
" (1953), "Oh What a Dream
" (1954), "Mambo Baby
" (1954), and "Don't Deceive Me" (1960). In all, she was on the R&B chart
for 149 weeks, from 1949 to 1955, with sixteen Top 10 records including five number one records.
, followed by a series of comedic acting gigs. These included a role in the sitcom Hello, Larry
, and the John Waters
film, Hairspray, as well as Broadway
appearances in Amen Corner
and Black and Blue
. The latter earned her a Tony Award
as "Best Female Star of a Musical", and a Grammy Award
as Best Female Jazz Artist for her album, Blues on Broadway, featuring hits from the show.
Brown's fight for musicians' rights and royalties
in 1987 led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
. She was inducted as a Pioneer Award recipient in its first year, 1989. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
.
Brown recorded and sang along with fellow rhythm and blues performer Charles Brown
, and toured with Bonnie Raitt
in the late 1990s. Her 1995 autobiography
, Miss Rhythm, won the Gleason Award for music journalism. She was nominated for another Grammy in the Traditional Blues category for her 1997 album, R+B=Ruth Brown.
Brown had completed pre-production work on the Danny Glover
film, Honeydripper, which she did not live to finish, but her recording of "Things About Comin' My Way" was released posthumously on the soundtrack CD.
Brown died in a Las Vegas-area hospital on November 17, 2006, from complications following a heart attack
and stroke
she suffered after surgery in October 2006. A memorial concert for her was held on January 22, 2007 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church
in Harlem
, New York.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
style to R&B music
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes
Teardrops from My Eyes
"Teardrops from My Eyes", written by Rudy Toombs, was the first upbeat major hit for Ruth Brown, establishing her as an important figure in rhythm and blues. Recorded for Atlantic Records in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was on BillBoard's List of number-one R&B hits...
" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean
(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean
" He Treats Your Daughter Mean" is a 1953 song by Ruth Brown, written by Johnny Wallace and Herbert J. Lance. It became Brown's third number one on the R&B chart.-References:...
".
For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built" (alluding to the popular nickname for Old Yankee Stadium).
Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970s and peaked in the 1980s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
Rhythm and Blues Foundation
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music....
. Her performances in the Broadway musical, Black and Blue
Black and Blue (musical)
Black and Blue is a musical revue celebrating the black culture of dance and music in Paris between World War I and World War II.Based on an idea by Mel Howard and conceived by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, it consists of songs by artists such as W. C...
, earned Brown a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
.
Early life
Born Ruth Alston Weston in Portsmouth, VirginiaPortsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, she attended I. C. Norcom High School
I. C. Norcom High School
I.C. Norcom High School is a public high school located in Portsmouth, Virginia. It is administered by Portsmouth City Public Schools. The school colors are maroon and grey, and the nickname is the Greyhounds. The school was named after Israel Charles Norcom, its first supervising principal.I. C...
, a historically black high school. Brown's father was a dockhand
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
who directed the local church choir, but the young Ruth showed more of an interest in singing at USO
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
shows and nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s. She was inspired by Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
and Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
. In 1945, Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er, Jimmy Brown
Jimmy Brown (musician)
Jimmy Earle Brown was an American trumpeter, saxophonist and singer, who was the first husband of R&B singer Ruth Brown. He was also known as Jumpin' Jimmy Brown from his performing style of jumping from the stage into the audience with his trumpet. In his early career he played trumpet with Paul...
, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs. She then spent a month with Lucky Millinder
Lucky Millinder
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
's orchestra.
Career
Blanche CallowayBlanche Calloway
Blanche Calloway was a Jazz singer, bandleader, and composer from Baltimore, Maryland. She is not as well known as her younger brother Cab Calloway, but she may have been the first woman to lead an all male orchestra. Cab Calloway often credited her with being the reason he got into show business...
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
's sister, also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Brown at a Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
called Crystal Caverns and soon became her manager. Willis Conover
Willis Conover
Willis Clark Conover, Jr. was a jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America for over forty years. He produced jazz concerts at the White House, the Newport Jazz Festival, and for movies and television. By arranging concerts where people of all races were welcome, he is credited with...
, a Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, caught her act and recommended her to Atlantic Records bosses, Ahmet Ertegün
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...
and Herb Abramson
Herb Abramson
Herbert C. Abramson was an American record company executive and producer.He was born in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York City and initially studied to be a dentist but he landed a job with National Records producing such performers as The Ravens, Billy Eckstine and Joe Turner...
. Brown was unable to audition as planned because of a serious car accident that resulted in a nine-month hospital stay. In 1948, Ertegün and Abramson drove to Washington, D.C., from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to hear her sing in the club. Although her repertoire was mostly popular ballads, Ertegün convinced her to switch to rhythm and blues.
In her first audition, in 1949, she sang "So Long," which ended up becoming a hit. This was followed by "Teardrops from My Eyes
Teardrops from My Eyes
"Teardrops from My Eyes", written by Rudy Toombs, was the first upbeat major hit for Ruth Brown, establishing her as an important figure in rhythm and blues. Recorded for Atlantic Records in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was on BillBoard's List of number-one R&B hits...
" in 1950. Written by Rudy Toombs
Rudy Toombs
Rudolph "Rudy" Toombs , born in Monroe, Louisiana, was an American black songwriter who wrote "Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B successful song...
, it was the first upbeat major hit for Brown. Recorded for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was 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...
s R&B number one for 11 weeks. The hit earned her the nickname "Miss Rhythm" and within a few months Brown became the acknowledged queen of R&B.
She followed up this hit with "I'll Wait for You" (1951), "I Know" (1951), "5-10-15 Hours
5-10-15 Hours
"5-10-15 Hours" is a rhythm and blues song written by Rudy Toombs in 1952 for Ruth Brown and became another Rudy Toombs' number-one R&B hit for Brown. The song, smooth, sophisticated blues shouting at its best, has a touch of suppliance more characteristic of the vocal qualities of popular...
" (1953), "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean
(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean
" He Treats Your Daughter Mean" is a 1953 song by Ruth Brown, written by Johnny Wallace and Herbert J. Lance. It became Brown's third number one on the R&B chart.-References:...
" (1953), "Oh What a Dream
Oh What a Dream
"Oh What a Dream" is a 1954 blues song written by Chuck Willis and originally performed by Ruth Brown backed by members of The Drifters...
" (1954), "Mambo Baby
Mambo Baby
"Mambo Baby" is a 1954 single by Ruth Brown and Her Rhythmmakers. The single would Ruth Brown's last number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart, where it spent one week....
" (1954), and "Don't Deceive Me" (1960). In all, she was on the R&B chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
for 149 weeks, from 1949 to 1955, with sixteen Top 10 records including five number one records.
Later life
During the 1960s, Brown faded from public view to become a housewife and mother. She returned to music in 1975 at the urging of Redd FoxxRedd Foxx
John Elroy Sanford , better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life:...
, followed by a series of comedic acting gigs. These included a role in the sitcom Hello, Larry
Hello, Larry
Hello, Larry is an American sitcom which aired on NBC from January 26, 1979, to April 30, 1980.-First season:Larry Alder is a radio talk show host who left Los Angeles after being divorced and moved to Portland, Oregon, with his two teenage daughters, Diane and...
, and the John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
film, Hairspray, as well as Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
appearances in Amen Corner
Amen Corner (musical)
Amen Corner is a musical with a book by Philip Rose and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell, and music by Garry Sherman, based on the 1965 play of the same title by James Baldwin...
and Black and Blue
Black and Blue (musical)
Black and Blue is a musical revue celebrating the black culture of dance and music in Paris between World War I and World War II.Based on an idea by Mel Howard and conceived by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, it consists of songs by artists such as W. C...
. The latter earned her a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
as "Best Female Star of a Musical", and a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
as Best Female Jazz Artist for her album, Blues on Broadway, featuring hits from the show.
Brown's fight for musicians' rights and royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
in 1987 led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
Rhythm and Blues Foundation
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music....
. She was inducted as a Pioneer Award recipient in its first year, 1989. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
.
Brown recorded and sang along with fellow rhythm and blues performer Charles Brown
Charles Brown (musician)
Charles Brown , born in Texas City, Texas was an American blues singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced the development of blues performance during the 1940s and 1950s...
, and toured with Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
in the late 1990s. Her 1995 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Miss Rhythm, won the Gleason Award for music journalism. She was nominated for another Grammy in the Traditional Blues category for her 1997 album, R+B=Ruth Brown.
Brown had completed pre-production work on the Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
film, Honeydripper, which she did not live to finish, but her recording of "Things About Comin' My Way" was released posthumously on the soundtrack CD.
Personal life
- Oldest of seven children.
- First husband Jimmy Brown (trumpeter) was found to be already married.
- Married Earl Swanson (saxophonist) in 1955, the father of her son Earl Swanson Jr.
- Married to Bill Blunt (police officer) for three years.
- Had Ronald David Jackson ("Ronnie") with Clyde McPhatterClyde McPhatterClyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
of the Drifters, though Ronnie grew up believing that her former companion and accompanist Willis "Gator" Jackson was his father. - Nephew RakimRakimWilliam Michael Griffin Jr. , known by his stage names Rakim , Rakim Allah, R.A.K.I.M., and The Master, is an American rapper. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled emcees of all time. Eric B...
is considered one of the most influential rappers in the history of the hip hopHip hop musicHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
genre.
Brown died in a Las Vegas-area hospital on November 17, 2006, from complications following a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
and stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
she suffered after surgery in October 2006. A memorial concert for her was held on January 22, 2007 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church
Abyssinian Baptist Church
The Abyssinian Baptist Church is among the most famous of the many prominent and activist churches in the Harlem section of New York City.- History :...
in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, New York.
Albums
- 1957: Rock & Roll (Atlantic)
- 1959: Late Date With Ruth Brown (Atlantic)
- 1959: Miss Rhythm (Atlantic)
- 1962: Along Comes Ruth (Philips RecordsPhilips RecordsPhilips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
) - 1962: Gospel Time (Philips Records)
- 1969: Black Is Brown And Brown Is Beautiful (Skye RecordsSkye RecordsSkye Records was a music label formed in early 1968 by vibist Cal Tjader, guitarist Gábor Szabó, composer/musician Gary McFarland, and music executive Norman Schwartz....
) - 1972: The Real Ruth Brown (Cobblestone RecordsCobblestone RecordsCobblestone Records was an American jazz record label.Cobblestone had two successive incarnations. The early one was in 1968-69 as a singles label, subsidiary of Buddah Records...
) - 1970s: You Don't Know Me (Dobre Records)
- 1989: Blues on BroadwayBlues on BroadwayBlues on Broadway is an album by Ruth Brown, released in 1989 through Fantasy Records. The album earned Brown a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female....
(Fantasy RecordsFantasy RecordsFantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
) - 1991: Fine and Mellow (Fantasy Records)
- 1993: The Songs Of My Life (Fantasy Records)
- 1997: R+B=Ruth Brown (Bullseye Blues)
- 1999: A Good Day For The Blues (Bullseye Blues)
Singles
| Year | Single | US R&B Singles Rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a... | US Pop Singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | "So Long" | 4 | - | |
| 1950 | "Teardrops from My Eyes Teardrops from My Eyes "Teardrops from My Eyes", written by Rudy Toombs, was the first upbeat major hit for Ruth Brown, establishing her as an important figure in rhythm and blues. Recorded for Atlantic Records in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was on BillBoard's List of number-one R&B hits... " |
1 | - | Rockin' with Ruth |
| 1951 | "I'll Wait for You" | 3 | - | |
| "I Know" | 7 | - | ||
| 1952 | "5-10-15 Hours 5-10-15 Hours "5-10-15 Hours" is a rhythm and blues song written by Rudy Toombs in 1952 for Ruth Brown and became another Rudy Toombs' number-one R&B hit for Brown. The song, smooth, sophisticated blues shouting at its best, has a touch of suppliance more characteristic of the vocal qualities of popular... " |
1 | - | |
| "Daddy Daddy" | 3 | - | Ruth Brown | |
| 1953 | "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean " He Treats Your Daughter Mean" is a 1953 song by Ruth Brown, written by Johnny Wallace and Herbert J. Lance. It became Brown's third number one on the R&B chart.-References:... " |
1 | 23 | |
| "Wild, Wild Young Men" | 3 | - | ||
| "Mend Your Ways" | 7 | - | Ruth Brown & Her Rhythmakers - Sweet Baby of Mine | |
| 1954 | "Oh What a Dream Oh What a Dream "Oh What a Dream" is a 1954 blues song written by Chuck Willis and originally performed by Ruth Brown backed by members of The Drifters... " (with The Drifters The Drifters The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953... ) |
1 | - | Ruth Brown |
| "Mambo Baby Mambo Baby "Mambo Baby" is a 1954 single by Ruth Brown and Her Rhythmmakers. The single would Ruth Brown's last number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart, where it spent one week.... " |
1 | - | ||
| 1955 | "As Long As I'm Moving" | 4 | - | Rockin' with Ruth |
| "Bye Bye Young Men" | 13 | - | ||
| "I Can See Everybody's Baby" | 7 | - | ||
| "It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)" | 4 | - | The Best of Ruth Brown | |
| "Love Has Joined Us Together" | 8 | - | ||
| 1956 | "I Want to Do More" | 3 | - | Sweet Baby of Mine |
| "Sweet Baby of Mine" | 10 | - | ||
| 1957 | "Lucky Lips Lucky Lips Lucky Lips is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by Ruth Brown in 1957. Her version reached # 6 on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, and # 25 on the US pop chart.-Cliff Richard version:... " |
6 | 25 | The Best of Ruth Brown |
| 1958 | "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin' This Little Girl's Gone Rockin' "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin" is a 1958 rhythm and blues single performed by Ruth Brown and released on Atlantic Records as Atlantic 1197 the week of August 25. The song was written by Bobby Darin and Mann Curtis. It reached number 24 in Billboard's pop charts.It was later covered by Glenda... " |
7 | 24 | Rockin' with Ruth |
| "Why Me" | 17 | - | Miss Rhythm | |
| 1959 | "I Don't Know" | 5 | 64 | |
| "Jack'O Diamonds Jack of Diamonds (song) Jack of Diamonds is a traditional folk song. It is a Texas gambling song that was popularized by Blind Lemon Jefferson. It was sung by railroad men who had lost money playing Coon can. At least twelve white artists recorded the tune before World War II... " |
23 | 96 | ||
| 1960 | "Don't Deceive Me" | 10 | 62 | Rockin' with Ruth |
| "Taking Care of Business/Honey Boy" |
External links
- Ruth Brown at the Rock and Roll Hall of FameRock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
[Link compromised 2011-Apr-04.] - Ruth Brown biography at VH1VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
- Atlantic Records discography
- Jazz Conversations with Eric Jackson: Ruth Brown from WGBH Radio Boston