02/05/2024
Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1928 Brown was the eldest of seven siblings. She attended I. C. Norcom High School in the 30’s. Brown's father was a dockhand. He also directed the local church choir at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, but the young Ruth showed more interest in singing at USO shows and nightclubs, rebelling against her father. She was inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington. In 1945, aged 17, Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with the trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs. She then spent a month with Lucky Millinder's orchestra.
Ruth was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Queen of R&B". For generations, Yankee Stadium has been known as “The House That Ruth Built,” a nod to the legendary baseball player Babe Ruth [1895-1948]. In the 1950s, Atlantic Records was also known as “The House That Ruth Built,” but they weren’t talkin’ ‘bout The Babe. They were celebrating the legacy of Ruth Brown, who, at one time, sold more records than anyone else on that storied label.
Before Ray Charles, before Aretha Franklin, it was Ruth Brown who wore the crown. When she used to hold court at the Lone Star Café in Manhattan on 13th and Fifth, she’d ride that rhythm out for 10 minutes or more, building a slow burn into the rampaging fire of “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean.” No one who ever witnessed her incendiary Lone Star Café performances will ever forget them. When Ruth Brown took the stage, she was an actress as well as a singer, and she lived every song. She could s**t along with a sax riff like Ella Fitzgerald, yet turn on a dime into unparalleled, ballsy, gutsy rock ’n’ roll. She also won the Bessie Smith Award as “Best Blues Singer.” As featured vocalist for the Count Basie Orchestra and the Billy Eckstine Orchestra, her ballads and jazz singing never failed to send audiences into total swoon mode.
Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway's sister, also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Brown at the Crystal Caverns, a nightclub in Washington, D.C., and soon became her manager. Willis Conover, the future Voice of America disc jockey, caught her act with Duke Ellington and recommended her to Atlantic Records bosses Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Brown was unable to audition as planned because of a car crash, which resulted in a nine-month stay in the hospital. She signed with Atlantic Records from her hospital bed.
It was Ruth Brown who bravely fought for the rights of singers everywhere to recoup their rightful royalties. The pervasive practice of record executives cheating musicians out of money was (and is) common practice. Brown’s efforts culminated in 1987 in the formation of The Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. Her autobiography, “Miss Rhythm,” was published in 1995.
Ruth Brown died Nov. 17, 2006, at the age of 78. She had continued to tour and appear in movies in the months before her death in Las Vegas from a heart attack and a stroke that she suffered after surgery. She had yet to complete work on another film, “Honeydripper,” when she died. The song she recorded for that film, “Things About Comin’ My Way,” was released posthumously.
