Shirley Brown
Encyclopedia
Shirley Brown is an American soul
singer, best known for her million-selling single
"Woman to Woman" which was nominated for a Grammy Award
in 1975.
, where she started singing in church when she was nine years old. Early experience singing gospel gave her a powerful but expressive voice likened to Aretha Franklin. Albert King
discovered her at age 14, singing in the Harlem Club in Brooklyn, Illinois
. Young Shirley went on the road with King for nine years. While King made sure she had a tutor, Brown often cut her classes to work with the band.
By 1972, Shirley was living in East St. Louis, Illinois
, where she made her first record for the Abet label called, "I Ain't Gonna Tell" and "Love Built on a Strong Foundation". Bandleader
Oliver Sain
produced the record; Sain worked with King on his first hit record ten years earlier. By 1974, King recommended Brown to Stax Records
in Memphis, Tennessee
, where he had been one of the label's stars for some time.
Her 1974 hit, "Woman to Woman" spent two weeks at #1 in the Billboard
R&B
chart
and climbed to #22 in the Billboard Hot 100
. It sold over one million copies by December 1974, and was awarded a gold disc
. It was to prove to be Stax's final major hit record
, (the song was later covered
by Barbara Mandrell
in 1978 and became a top-five country hit).
A successful debut album
, Woman to Woman, was released by Stax on their Truth label, but by 1975, the company was struggling financially and also facing litigation. A follow-up single, "It Ain't No Fun" was only a moderate success, and Stax closed soon afterwards.
Her signing to Arista Records
in 1977 resulted in the album Shirley Brown, produced
by the former Stax owner Jim Stewart and writer-producer Bettye Crutcher, who provided most of the songs. These included "Blessed Is The Woman" which reached #14 R&B (#102 pop).
Brown continued to record for several labels
since then, including Fantasy, on the re-formed Stax label, and Sound Town. She has been with the Mississippi
based blues
and soul label, Malaco Records
since 1989. She remains a popular live performer, mainly in southern states of the US, without having found the recording success of her earlier years.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer, best known for her million-selling single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Woman to Woman" which was nominated for 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...
in 1975.
Woman to Woman
Brown was born in West Memphis, but was raised in Madison, IllinoisMadison, Illinois
Madison is a city in Madison County and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,545 at the 2000 census. It is home to Gateway International Raceway and the first Bulgarian Orthodox church in the United States.-Geography:...
, where she started singing in church when she was nine years old. Early experience singing gospel gave her a powerful but expressive voice likened to Aretha Franklin. Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
discovered her at age 14, singing in the Harlem Club in Brooklyn, Illinois
Brooklyn, Illinois
Brooklyn , is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Located just 2 miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and 3 miles northeast of Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, it is the oldest town incorporated by African Americans in the United States...
. Young Shirley went on the road with King for nine years. While King made sure she had a tutor, Brown often cut her classes to work with the band.
By 1972, Shirley was living in East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis is a city located in St. Clair County, Illinois, USA, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 27,006, less than one-third of its peak of 82,366 in 1950...
, where she made her first record for the Abet label called, "I Ain't Gonna Tell" and "Love Built on a Strong Foundation". Bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
Oliver Sain
Oliver Sain
Oliver Sain was an American saxophonist, songwriter, bandleader, drummer and record producer....
produced the record; Sain worked with King on his first hit record ten years earlier. By 1974, King recommended Brown to Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, where he had been one of the label's stars for some time.
Her 1974 hit, "Woman to Woman" spent two weeks at #1 in the 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...
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
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....
and climbed to #22 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. It sold over one million copies by December 1974, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. It was to prove to be Stax's final major hit record
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, (the song was later covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s...
in 1978 and became a top-five country hit).
A successful debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Woman to Woman, was released by Stax on their Truth label, but by 1975, the company was struggling financially and also facing litigation. A follow-up single, "It Ain't No Fun" was only a moderate success, and Stax closed soon afterwards.
Her signing to Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
in 1977 resulted in the album Shirley Brown, produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by the former Stax owner Jim Stewart and writer-producer Bettye Crutcher, who provided most of the songs. These included "Blessed Is The Woman" which reached #14 R&B (#102 pop).
Brown continued to record for several labels
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
since then, including Fantasy, on the re-formed Stax label, and Sound Town. She has been with the Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
based blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and soul label, Malaco Records
Malaco Records
Malaco Records is an independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi. Malaco is and has been the home of various major soul, blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, ZZ Hill, Denise LaSalle, Benny Latimore, Dorothy Moore, Little Milton, Shirley Brown, Marvin Sease, and the...
since 1989. She remains a popular live performer, mainly in southern states of the US, without having found the recording success of her earlier years.
Albums
| Year | Title | United States R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
US Pop Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Woman to Woman | 11 | 98 |
| 1979 | For the Real Feeling | - | - |
| 1984 | Intimate Storm | - | - |
| 1989 | Fire & Ice | 66 | - |
| 1991 | Timeless | 63 | - |
| 1995 | Diva of Soul | 67 | - |
| 2009 | Unleashed | - | |
Singles
| Year | Title | United States R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
Album Album An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | "Woman to Woman" | 1 | 22 | Woman to Woman |
| 1975 | "It Ain't No Fun" | 32 | 94 | |
| 1979 | "After a Night Like This" | 73 | - | For The Real Feeling |
| 1989 | "Ain't Nothin' Like The Lovin' We Got" | 46 | - | Fire & Ice |
| 1995 | "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" | 80 | - | Diva of Soul |
Grammy Award history
- Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA 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...
- 1975, Best Song of The Year: "Woman to Woman" (Nominated)
External links
- [ Allmusic.com]
- Blues.about.com
- Shirley Brown Discography
- Shirley Brown, Malaco Records