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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZBROWN, Ruth(b 30 January 1928, Portsmouth VA; d 17 November 2006) R&B/jazz singer. Sang in church; won amateur night at the Apollo singing ballad 'It Could Happen To You' (she'd heard Bing Crosby sing it); landed a job with Lucky Millinder band '48; Blanche Calloway (Cab's sister) became her manager and got her an audition at Atlantic Records. On the way a car crash hospitalized her for months, but the contract was signed: her first record 'So Long' was no. 6 R&B chart '49, top ten hits '50-5 included no. 1 entries 'Teardrops From My Eyes' '50, '5-10-15 Hours' '52, '(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean' '53, 'Oh What A Dream' and 'Mambo Baby' '54. Her hits were covered in the pop charts by Georgia Gibbs and Patti Page, she was billed as Miss Rhythm and was always a star attraction at the Apollo, where she shared a bill late '50s with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Pop crossover began none too soon in '57 with 'Lucky Lips' (no. 25 pop, no. 12 R&B; written by Leiber and Stoller, covered in UK '60s by Cliff Richard); 'This Little Girl's Gone Rockin' ' '58 (no. 24 pop/23 R&B) featured King Curtis on sax; 'I Don't Know' '59 was no. 5 R&B, Hot 100 pop. The hits continued through '62 with seven Hot 100 entries, 18 R&B altogether. She lived on Long Island, still performed occasionally at jazz festivals, recorded '68 with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis band (CD on Capitol). But in 1983 she was working as a domestic when she met Howard Begle (b 4 January 1944, Detroit; d 30 December 2018), a partner in a Washington DC law firm, who had been a fan of hers since before he reached his teens, and had a collection of thousands of 78s, including Atlantic records by Ruth Brown. He had recently collected some albums of hers, which he said were very expensive. She said, 'Where's the check?' She hadn't had a royalty statement for many years. Begle began investigating and uncovered bad contracts and sloppy bookkeeping; Atlantic were saying that after all the hits Brown had had (Atlantic was called 'The house that Ruth built'), she owed them money, for recording fees and whatnot (not uncommon in the record business). Atlantic (by then part of WEA) owned up and started paying back royalties. Begle's efforts also benefitted Big Joe Turner, Sam and Dave, the Drifters, Clovers, Coasters, and probably others. Brown called him 'Begle, the legal eagle'. Brown had a comeback on Fantasy (Have A Good Time, Blues On Broadway, Fine And Mellow '87-91) and a superb album Live In London '94 with a quintet on Ronnie Scott's Jazz House label; obviously enjoying the audience, and it was mutual. There was a good profile of Brown by Chip Deffaa in his Blue Rhythms: Six Lives '96. |