Ruth Brown Michael, Katelyn, Kellie, Grace & Kyle Group 1.

Ruth BrownMichael, Katelyn, Kellie, Grace & KyleGroup 1

Early life

• Born Ruth Weston in Portsmouth, Virginia on January 12, 1928.

• She was the daughter of a church choir director, however she preferred pop music and rebelled from tradition.

• In this rebellious spirit, Ruth ran away from home at the age of 17 with Jimmy Brown to Detroit, Michigan.

• This fling, which later resulted in marriage, didn't last long, as Ruth later found out that Jimmy was already married. Therefore, her own marriage to him was legally void.

• Ruth had already established some popularity in Detroit as Ruth Brown, so she kept her false husband's name.

Early Life continued

• Ruth's first gig was at the Frolic bar. There she was discovered by Lucky Millinder who recruited her as a backup singer for his orchestra.

• She was later fired for bringing sodas to the rest of the band, which Lucky considered degrading.

• He stranded Brown in D.C..

A Rising Star

• It was in D.C. where Brown met Blanche Calloway, who owned Crystal Caverns nightclub. She performed there until DJ Willis Conover discovered her in 1948.

• DJ Willis recommended Brown to Atlantic Records.

Signing Contract

• Ruth signed with Atlantic Records while in the hospital

• She was in the hospital with two broken legs after a car accident

Early Songs

• After a full recovery, Brown came back with a bang and recorded the song "So Long" which made the top 10 for R&B in 1949.

• Her next recording, "Teardrops from my Eyes" was her first No. 1 hit, and gave her the nickname The Girl With a Tear in Her Voice.

Success

• Ruth had a number of hit songs, most notably "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" and "5-10-15 Hours".

• Atlantic Records became known as The House that Ruth Built.

• Some people joked that R&B actually stood for Ruth and Brown.

More Misfortune

• When the 1960's rolled around, Atlantic dumped Brown nearly penniless as her profits were used to pay for recording time and tour fees.

• Broke, Brown moved to Long Island where she worked various part time jobs.

• She remarried twice, both ending in divorce

Acting career

• In 1975 Brown made the move to L.A. to star in the musical Selma.

• From 1979-80, she starred on the sitcom Hello, Larry.

• She performed in many Broadway musicals. In 1989, Brown won a Tony Award for her performance in Black and Blue and a Grammy for the album Blues on Broadway.

Later Life

• To prevent anymore mistreatment by the music industry, Ruth worked tirelessly to make sure artists were not exploited by their labels.

- co founded the Rhythm and Blues Foundation to try to get royalties back to deserving artists

• Ruth died on November 17, 2006 due to heart complications.

Musical Style

• Ruth Brown was one of the first female R&B singers. Every black woman before her was either a jazz, blues, or gospel vocalist. She was all of those with the added element of rhythm. For this Brown got the nickname Miss Rhythm

• She is noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music.

• Her early repertoire was mostly popular ballads but Atlantic Records convinced her to switch to R&B. However, Brown retained her "pop" style.

• She was a combination of sass and innocence, and was extremely funky. The tone of her voice was mighty and feisty. She could sound as if she were hurting, joyfully lusty, or both at once.

• During the sessions for “Teardrops From My Eyes”, her voice cracked upward into a squeal. Atlantic Records liked it and called it a “tear” and this sound became her trademark for a string of hits.

• She achieved enormous popularity with black and white audiences alike.

• Ruth Brown's greatest hits provided a template for much of the rock and roll music that followed in their wake.

• In addition to her musical legacy, she also left future artists a more artist-friendly environment, thanks to her Rhythm and Blues Foundation

• In 1993, Ruth Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Legacy

Music That Influenced Ruth Brown

• Ruth Brown’s main influences included Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington. Other influences include Ella Fitzgerald, and Fats Domino.

• Brown first started singing in a gospel choir at her church, but these three jazz artists inspired her at an adolescent age to run away from home to pursue her music career and love life. But it was Brown’s rich “shouting voice” that lead her to become the “Queen of R&B”.

Sarah Vaughan was a very influential jazz singer. Her vibrato was superb, along with the range her voice reached. She was able to influence many other artists, including Ruth Brown, and start a type of revolution in which female singers became more and more popular.

Dinah Washington was known as the “Queen of Jukebox”. She had the most distinct enunciation of words of all the singers of that time, which made it easier for the crowd to recognize and repeat the lyrics to her songs.

Billie Holiday was a very influential singer in the way that she did not grow up in a “perfect family”. Abandoned by her father at a young age and shortly thereafter left by her mother, Billie Holiday grew up with her other relatives who mistreated her. She grew up in a poor environment with very little education, but was still able to make it big-time in the jazz singing industry. A PBS article states “Holiday is often considered the foremost female singer in jazz history, a view substantiated by her influence on later singers.”

Other Popular Music

Other popular artists of the time included Ray Charles, Little Richard, and Fats Domino. These three singers were all influenced and influencing the crossover from R&B to Rock and Roll through their songs.

Ray Charles was a “Father of soul” and in the 1950’s combined jazz and gospel music to create legendary songs. Although not in the same technical genre, Ruth Brown and Ray Charles mostly appealed to the same crowds, and their soul/R&B backgrounds are very similar.

Fats Domino was one of the six main pivotal figures of rock and roll. His songs crossed over from R&B to rock and roll, and one of his key unique features was that he sang many songs that contained falsetto. Rather than short phrases, he was able to sing up to 16 bars in falsetto at a time.

Little Richard was also one of the six main pivotal figures in rock and roll. His style is one that led to most mainstream rock. He grew up in a religious family, singing for the church and soon turned to R&B for his creative work. He had a great “shouting voice”, similar to Ruth Brown.

Artists Influenced by Ruth BrownRuth Brown influenced many future

artists, including Aretha franklin, Janis Joplin, and Tina turner. Brown also used her power for good in that she promoted rights for all musicians' with regard to contracts, royalties, and production companies in the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

Aretha Franklin was a “child prodigy” in her Baptist Church gospel choir. She grew up with a lot of talent, but in her young adult years switched over to singing soul music, a close sister to R&B.

Janis Joplin had blues inspired vocals and, like Ruth brown, sang in a church choir as a child. She strived to get out of her small hometown to a larger community of musicians.

Tina Turner, unlike most soul singers, did not grow up singing in a church gospel choir. Rather, she started singing formally when she was older. She turned to R&B music in her times of trial as a young adult, and later became famous and even crossed over to the pop charts in her hits.

Civil Issues of 1950s

• Separate but Equal - As a result of this being still present, Brown spent

much of her time touring in the South

• Rosa Parks- example of how black women were still not accepted as equal at this time- Brown had to traverse these issues in order to be successful

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http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_holiday_billie.htmDinah Washington: A Queen in Turmoil. (2004). NPR Music website. Retrieved June 23, 2013, from

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3872390Fats Domino Biography. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved June 24, 2013, from

http://www.biography.com/people/fats-domino-9276748Fontenot, R. (2013) "Ruth Brown." Oldies Music. Retrieved June 25, 2013, from

http://oldies.about.com/od/oldieshistory/a/womenshistory.htmJanis Joplin Biography. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved June 24, 2013, from

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http://www.biography.com/people/little-richard-9383571Pareles, J. (2006, November 17). Ruth Brown, R&B Singer and Actress, Dies at 78 - New York Times. The New

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