November 20, 2006 @ 1:37 pm

R&B Singer Ruth Brown Dies

by: Mariel Concepcion

Brown, who died Friday (Nov. 17), suffered a stroke in 2000 and had been in declining health in recent years. She had been on life support in a hospital near her home in Las Vegas. Born Ruth Weston in Portsmouth, Va., she was inspired by such vocalists as Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. She began touring as a teenager with bandleader Jimmy Brown, whom she married. She later sang with Lucky Millinder's jump-blues group. right On the recommendation of DJ Willis Conover, Brown was signed to Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson's fledgling Atlantic label. Her debut session was interrupted by a grave auto accident which kept her from recording for nine months. However, her first session with guitarist Eddie Condon's N.B.C. Television Orchestra spawned the top five hit "So Long" in 1949. Brown's decadelong run of lively R&B hits for Atlantic earned her the nickname "Miss Rhythm." Her biggest smashes were 1950's "Teardrops From My Eyes," which enjoyed an 11-week run at No. 1; 1952's "5-10-15 Hours," which stayed at the top for seven weeks; 1953's "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean," which took the pinnacle for five weeks; and 1954's "Oh What a Dream," a Chuck Willis-penned number that boasted an eight-week run at the pinnacle. In all, Brown charted 24 singles, only three of which failed to reach the R&B top 10. After her split with Atlantic in the early '60s, Brown's fortunes waned; for a time, she worked as a domestic. Under the aegis of comic Redd Foxx, she began a comeback in the late '70s, appearing on such TV sitcoms as Hello, Larry and The Jeffersons. Brown's renewed profile led to her high-profile Broadway and film parts; during the '80s and '90s, Brown hosted National Public Radio's "Harlem Hit Parade" and "BluesStage" and recorded for Fantasy and Rounder's Bullseye Blues imprint. She also won a Tony for her role in the 1989 Broadway revue "Black and Blue," and the following year her Fantasy album "Blues on Broadway" won a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance. Her latter-day film performances included an unforgettable turn as DJ "Motormouth Maybelle" in John Waters' 1988 feature Hairspray. Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Over the years, she won a dozen awards from the nonprofit Blues Foundation and was inducted into its Blues Hall of Fame in 2002; she frequently served as a co-host of the foundation's annual awards ceremonies. Brown published her autobiography, "Miss Rhythm," co-authored with Andrew Yule, in 1996. She is survived by sons Lonnie McFadden and Earl Swanson, sister Delia Weston and brothers Alvin, Lenard and Benjamin Weston.

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Article tags: Blues, R&B, Ruth Brown, Ruth Brown Dies

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Comments

Jon A Shields says:

Member Name

Dear Vibe Magazine,

I was thrilled to see that your staff was knowledgable and respectable enough to address the passing of one the music industries pioneer icons, namely Ruth Brown. She opened so many doors for today's youth in the industry and received very little credit for it.

A correction is warranated in your release. She is survived by her eldest son Ron David McPhatter (not Lonnie MaFadden, as printed in your article), son Earl Swanson, Jr., 3 grandchildren; Brandon, Shauna, and Loren, in addition to 3 brothers and 1 sister all of whom you named correctly.

November 30, 2006 at 8:10 am