Ruth Brown / Rhythm and Blues

Ruth Brown




Ruth Brown sang in various church choirs from an early age, but then switched to secular music against her father's wishes.
In 1945 she met the trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she married a short time later. She was spotted performing a song by Bing Crosby at New York's Apollo Theater.
She landed an engagement in Lucky Millinder's band in 1946, but was later fired after allegedly providing alcohol to two musicians. However, it wasn't long before Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway's sister, took her in and signed her on as a solo artist.

Just before she was due to perform at the Apollo Theater for the first time, she was hit by a car in Chester on October 28, 1948; she broke both legs and several ribs and was hospitalized for several months.
It wasn't until 1949 that she recorded her first single, So Long, with Atlantic Records, which soon turned out to be a success.
The song was the signature tune of Chicago singer Little Miss Cornshucks, who called her her greatest role model. She landed her first #1 hit on the R&B charts with 1950's Teardrops from My Eyes, which was to be followed by others; such as B. 1952 (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean. In 1954 she sang Sentimental Journey with the Delta Rhythm Boys.
In 1957 she celebrated her first major success in the US pop charts with the Leiber/Stoller song Lucky Lips, which she even surpassed in 1958 with This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'. Around 1960 she gave up touring, moved to New York and worked as a press secretary and agent for Dinah Washington.





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