Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brownwas an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes known as the "Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and "He Treats Your Daughter Mean". For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionR&B Singer
Date of Birth12 January 1928
CityPortsmouth, VA
CountryUnited States of America
I remember singing in a warehouse where there was no stage and I sung on the top of a tobacco truck and there was a clothesline between the races on the floor, and when the music got too good, the clothesline feel down where everybody was dancing in the same place and they pulled me off the stage and took me to jail for singing it.
I was like the queen of the South.
In those days, as I always tell B.B and Buddy Guy and these guys and gave them a place to cry like a man without having to do it.
There were times that Harvey (Fuqua), myself, B.B King, we almost had to go to jail to sing this stuff.
I did it by sneaking out at home to get on the ferryboat and get over to Norfolk.
All three of us came from the Tidewater area (in Virginia).
She's another Tina Turner is what I see,
Unfortunately, I'm a little concerned where the legends are coming from nowadays.
We have paid a price to sing this music.
Unfortunately, the young generation, who I believe have their own place in the sun like I had mine; but I wish it was possible there were other ways to have them understand this music was here before they came, and the reason that it was here.
I was trying to do Billie Holiday, because she was the voice to be heard at that time.
There are stories that people don't want to talk about that brought this music through.
If you are speaking about my own songs, I would think so because we were talking about that particular era and I was singing one of my songs that I recorded 50 years ago.
When I got through, Duke Ellington stood up and started the applause.