Ruth Brown: A Musical Pioneer

By Deardra Shuler

When R&B singer/actress Ruth Brown passed on November 17, 2006, the world lost a musical pioneer. Known for for her rhythm and blues style, it was Ruth Brown who in the 1950s brought popular music to the then fledgling company, Atlantic Records. In fact, one might say that Atlantic Records was the house that Ruth built. Hits like “So Long,” “Teardrops from My Eyes,” and (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” put Atlantic Records on the map.

Born Ruth Weston, in Portsmouth, Virginia, Ruth, like many African American entertainers, got her start singing in the church choir, although she had a great fondness for singing at USO shows and in nightclubs. This often upset her strict father who sought to tame Ruth's adventurous spirit.

Inspired by jazz chanteuses Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington, Ruth was determined to prove herself. In fact, eager to impress Billie Holiday when she spied Billie at a club where Brown was singing, Ruth belted out one of Billie's songs. Afterwards, Holiday approached Ruth advising Ruth to work on her own style telling Ruth she need not imitate anyone else's style. She told Ruth that as long as Ruth tried to sound like Billie, she would never find her own voice in music. Billie's advice remained with Ruth.

Eager to break loose from the family yoke and establish her singing career, Ruth married trumpeter, Jimmy Brown (who she later discovered was aleady married), so she could finally sing in bars and clubs. She spent a month singing with the Lucky Millinder's orchestra.

Cab Calloway's sister, Blanche, also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Brown at a club called Crystal Caverns where Willis Conover, a DJ, known as the Voice of America, saw her and recommended her to Atlantic Record Executives, Herb Abramson and Ammet Ertegun. Unfortunately, Brown was in a car accident preventing her from auditioning. In the hospital for 9-months, Ertegün and Abramson drove to Washington to hear Brown sing convincing her to switch her musical repetorie from popular ballads to R&B, while still maintaining her pop style. It wasn't long before Brown became R&B royalty earning the tag “Miss Rhythm.”

Ms. Brown ended her relationship with Atlantic Records in 1960 with the recording "Don't Deceive Me," choosing to raise her two sons. She disappeared from the music scene until the mid-70s, when once again after supporting herself as a bus driver and working regular 9-5 jobs, she reestablished her musical career. Always known to have a comedic sense Ruth appeared in the TV sitcom “Hello,” which featured actor MacLean Stevenson. She later appeared in Hairspray and then in 1989 appeared on Broadway in “Amen Corner,” and Black and Blue, which won her a Tony Award. She later won a Grammy Award for her album Blues on Broadway which featured hits from the Black and Blue show.

It is no secret that many of the artists of her time did not get the royalties due them for their records, Ruth was no exception. Therefore, Ruth became an outspoken advocate of artists rights. Using her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding fairness in contracts and royalties, led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

In 1989, Ms. Brown was the recipient of a Pioneer Award and in 1993, Ruth Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the “The Queen Mother of the Blues.”
Ruth Brown died following a heart attack and stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November, 2006. A memorial concert for her was held at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.