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Ruth Brown

Page history last edited by Kaavya 12 years, 11 months ago

 

Ruth Brown


 


 

               Biography 
    • born on January 12th, 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia 
    • died on November 17th, 2006 in Henderson, Nevada
    • her given name was Ruth Alton Weston
    • She grew up with her father heavily involved with the church choir. Although this music was not what she wished to be a part of, it was still the foundation of her love for singing, which soon led to a career in music.  
    • She was signed to Atlantic records---sometimes referred to as "The House That Built Ruth"
    • She became very successful and was on the R&B chart for 149 weeks---16 Top 10 Records and 5 #1 Hits
    • She even got nicknamed "Miss Rhythm" and later on "Queen of R&B"
    • She was so popular that a writer once said, "In the South, Ruth Brown is better known than Coca Cola."

       
       

          Her Later Life 

    • In the '60s she halted her music career and focused on being a housewife and mother.
    • When she returned later on, she did some acting.
    •  She was a part of a Broadway musical, Black and Blue which she won a Tony Award for "Best Female Star of a Musical"
    • She also won a Grammy Award as Best Female Jazz Artist for her album, Blues on Broadway that featured songs from the show.
    • In 1987, she fought for musician's rights and this led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
    • In 1989, she was inducted as a Pioneer Award recipient
    • In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
    • She has recorded with Charles Brown and has also toured with Bonnie Riatt in the late '90s
    • She wrote an autobiography entitled, Miss Rhythm released in 1995 which won the Gleason Award for music journalism.
    • She was also nominated for another Grammy in the Traditional Blues categoryfor her 1997 album R+B=Ruth Brown

       
          Her Musical Style  
    • Overall, most of her songs strongly use her voice in a raw way to compliment the background music. The music is normally upbeat music that makes you want to dance, kind of like swing music. She also has a classy voice but it is very strong and mature and powerful. In most of her songs, there are strong jazz influenced instruments, such as the saxophone and piano. She has used a lot of brass instruments in her songs.
    • Her voice is definitely the strongest part of all her songs. She has a very jazzy, bluesy, swingy voice and she uses that to help carry out the lyrics. Although she does not have many heartfelt ballads on her albums, her lyrics are still powerful and fun. Her voice is deep but in certain songs, such as (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean and Mambo Baby, she has a squeak in her voice that is fun to listen to and makes the song really lively. This "squeak" is somewhat of a vocal character trait of Ruth Brown.
    • The most popular instruments used in her songs would be the drums, saxophone, upright bass, and the piano. She used all of these instruments to create a true blues feel to her music. And these instruments all form a band and unlike some blues artists who play with just one instrument, Ruth Brown has heavy instrumentation in her songs, without overdoing it.
    • Her musical influences include Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Washington. These are all women who are known for their unique and strong voices.
    • She is also an amazing performer. While watching some of her videos, notice how she is dancing around to her own songs and sometimes even plays a character in an exaggerated way. 
    • In general, while listening to her songs, just pay attention to her voice and the uniqueness of her voice.   

         
               Most Popular Songs (R&B)

               Most Popular Songs (Pop)

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