Ruth Brown

Born Ruth Alston Weston in Portsmouth, Virginia, Ruth Brown established herself from the late 1940s in a style spanning rhythm and blues, blues, gospel, jazz and the emerging soul, with a direct, flexible vocal delivery strongly influenced by club and theatrical phrasing. After starting out in bars and orchestras and performing on the Washington scene, she signed with Atlantic and played a key role in shaping the label’s identity in the 1950s with tracks like “Teardrops from My Eyes”, “5-10-15 Hours”, “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” and “Mambo Baby”, at the crossroads of jump blues, doo-wop and an R&B already moving toward pop. Her discography from that period includes Ruth Brown (1957), Miss Rhythm (1959) and Late Date with Ruth Brown (1959). Less visible in the 1960s, she returned in the mid-1970s and built a second career across concerts, television, film and Broadway, where her appearance in Black and Blue revitalized her stage presence. She later recorded Blues on Broadway (1989), Fine and Mellow (1991), R + B = Ruth Brown (1997) and A Good Day for the Blues (1999). Ruth Brown also played an important role in defending the rights and royalties of rhythm and blues musicians.