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Born in1928 in Portsmouth, Va., Ruth Weston got her earliest musical education in the church choir, singing hymns and spirituals. Her father was the assistant choir director and he also played piano for the church and for the family. As a young girl, Weston was also exposed to the music of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington thanks largely to an uncle who brought back the latest records from New York.
At age 17, Weston began singing with a singer/trumpeter named Jimmy Brown. She left Portsmouth with Brown's band soon after. She also married Jimmy Brown and took his name.
In 1948, Ruth Brown was singing in a Washington, D.C., nightclub when a young Ahmet Ertegun caught her act. Ertegun recruited Brown to sign to his new jazz and blues record label, Atlantic Records. For much of the 1950s, Brown ruled the R&B charts, with such hits as "So Long," "I'll Wait For You," "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean," and "Don't Deceive Me." She was the most popular act on Atlantic Records and her albums helped the label take hold in the music business -- so much so that Atlantic became known as "the house that Ruth built."
Brown left Atlantic in 1961 and recorded a few more records for Phillips and Decca before she slipped into relative obscurity. For much of the next decade, she focused on raising her family. Because she had never received any royalties from her hits with Atlantic, Brown worked as a housekeeper and bus driver to make ends meet.
Brown re-emerged in the 1970s with several recordings for various labels. She also began appearing on stage and screen with numerous TV appearances as well as memorable roles in the John Waters film, Hairspray and her 1989 Tony Award-winning role in the Broadway musical, Black and Blue. In 1990, Brown won a Grammy for her album, Blues On Broadway.
Brown began to receive her proper recognition as one of the pioneers of R&B and blues music. She embraced the role emphatically and became one of the foremost ambassadors for the musical style she helped to popularize. Brown hosted a blues program on National Public Radio called Blues Stage that helped bring wider attention to the genre. She also served as an advocate for the musicians who had created the music; inspired by her own ultimately successful legal battle with the music industry, Brown founded the Rhythm and Blues Foundation -- an organization that sought back pay and overdue royalties for R&B and blues pioneers.
Brown died November 17, 2006.
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Set List for Ruth Brown on Piano Jazz:Fine and Mellow (Billie Holiday)
Skylark (Carmichael, Mercer)
Grooveyard (Perkins)
When I Fall In Love (Heyman, Young)
Yes Sir, That's My Baby (Donaldson, Kahn)
Time After Time (Cahn, Styne)
Solace (McPartland)
B Flat Blues (McPartland, Brown)
At age 17, Weston began singing with a singer/trumpeter named Jimmy Brown. She left Portsmouth with Brown's band soon after. She also married Jimmy Brown and took his name.
In 1948, Ruth Brown was singing in a Washington, D.C., nightclub when a young Ahmet Ertegun caught her act. Ertegun recruited Brown to sign to his new jazz and blues record label, Atlantic Records. For much of the 1950s, Brown ruled the R&B charts, with such hits as "So Long," "I'll Wait For You," "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean," and "Don't Deceive Me." She was the most popular act on Atlantic Records and her albums helped the label take hold in the music business -- so much so that Atlantic became known as "the house that Ruth built."
Brown left Atlantic in 1961 and recorded a few more records for Phillips and Decca before she slipped into relative obscurity. For much of the next decade, she focused on raising her family. Because she had never received any royalties from her hits with Atlantic, Brown worked as a housekeeper and bus driver to make ends meet.
Brown re-emerged in the 1970s with several recordings for various labels. She also began appearing on stage and screen with numerous TV appearances as well as memorable roles in the John Waters film, Hairspray and her 1989 Tony Award-winning role in the Broadway musical, Black and Blue. In 1990, Brown won a Grammy for her album, Blues On Broadway.
Brown began to receive her proper recognition as one of the pioneers of R&B and blues music. She embraced the role emphatically and became one of the foremost ambassadors for the musical style she helped to popularize. Brown hosted a blues program on National Public Radio called Blues Stage that helped bring wider attention to the genre. She also served as an advocate for the musicians who had created the music; inspired by her own ultimately successful legal battle with the music industry, Brown founded the Rhythm and Blues Foundation -- an organization that sought back pay and overdue royalties for R&B and blues pioneers.
Brown died November 17, 2006.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
Subscribe!
Set List for Ruth Brown on Piano Jazz: