Charles Brown (musician)

Tony Russell "Charles" Brown (September 13, 1922 – January 21, 1999) was an American blues singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced blues performance in the 1940s and 1950s. Between 1949 and 1952, Brown had seven Top 10 hits in the U.S. Billboard R&B chart.[2] His best-selling recordings included "Driftin' Blues" and "Merry Christmas Baby".[3]

Charles Brown
Brown in 1996
Background information
Birth nameTony Russell Brown[1]
Born(1922-09-13)September 13, 1922
Texas City, Texas, U.S.
DiedJanuary 21, 1999(1999-01-21) (aged 76)
Oakland, California
GenresWest Coast blues, Texas blues, soul blues
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsPiano, vocals
Years active1943–1999
LabelsAladdin, King, Ace, Bullseye Blues, Verve, 32 Jazz

Early life

Brown was born in Texas City, Texas. As a child he loved music and received classical music training on the piano.[4] He graduated from Central High School in Galveston, Texas, in 1939 and Prairie View A&M College in 1942 with a degree in chemistry. He then became a chemistry teacher at George Washington Carver High School in Baytown, Texas, a mustard gas worker at the Pine Bluff Arsenal at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and an apprentice electrician at a shipyard in Richmond, California, before settling in Los Angeles in 1943.[1]

Career

Early success with Johnny Moore

In Los Angeles, an influx of African Americans from the South during World War II created an integrated nightclub scene in which black performers tended to minimize the rougher blues elements of their style. The blues-club style of a light rhythm bass and right-hand tinkling of the piano and smooth vocals became popular, epitomized by the jazz piano of Nat King Cole. When Cole left Los Angeles to perform nationally, his place was taken by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, featuring Brown's gentle piano and vocals.[5]

The Three Blazers signed with Exclusive Records, and their 1945 recording of "Drifting Blues", with Brown on piano and vocals, stayed on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart for six months, putting Brown at the forefront of a musical evolution that changed American musical performance.[6] Brown led the group in a series of further hits for Aladdin over the next three years, including "New Orleans Blues" and the original version of "Merry Christmas Baby" (both in 1947) and "More Than You Know" (1948).[7] Brown's style dominated the influential Southern California club scene on Central Avenue, in Los Angeles, during that period. He influenced such performers as Floyd Dixon, Cecil Gant, Ivory Joe Hunter, Percy Mayfield, Johnny Ace and Ray Charles.[5]

Solo success

In the late 1940s, a rising demand for blues was driven by a growing audience among white teenagers in the South, which quickly spread north and west. Blues singers such as Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown were getting much of the attention, but what writer Charles Keil dubs "the postwar Texas clean-up movement in blues" was also beginning to have an influence, driven by blues artists such as T-Bone Walker, Amos Milburn and Brown. Their singing was lighter and more relaxed, and they worked with bands and combos that had saxophone sections and played from arrangements.[8]

Brown left the Three Blazers in 1948 and formed his own trio with Eddie Williams (bass) and Charles Norris (guitar). He signed with Aladdin Records and had immediate success with "Get Yourself Another Fool" and then had one of his biggest hits, "Trouble Blues", in 1949, which stayed at number one on the Billboard R&B chart for 15 weeks in the summer of that year. He followed with "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down", "Homesick Blues", and "My Baby's Gone", before having another R&B chart-topping hit with "Black Night", which stayed at number one for 14 weeks from March to June 1951.[7]

His final hit for several years was "Hard Times" in 1952. Brown's approach was too mellow to survive the transition to the harsher rhythms of rock and roll, despite his recording in Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio in 1956, and he faded from national attention.[4] Though he was unable to compete with the more aggressive sound that was increasing in popularity, he had a small, devoted audience, and his songs were covered by the likes of John Lee Hooker and Lowell Fulson.

His "Please Come Home for Christmas", a hit for King Records in 1960, remained seasonally popular.[3] "Please Come Home for Christmas" had sold over one million copies by 1968 and was awarded a gold disc in that year.[9]

In the 1960s Brown recorded two albums for Mainstream Records.

Later career

In the 1980s Brown made a series of appearances at the New York City nightclub Tramps. As a result of these appearances he signed a recording contract with Blue Side Records and recorded One More for the Road in three days. Blue Side Records closed soon after, but distribution of its records was picked up by Alligator Records. Soon after the success of One More for the Road, Bonnie Raitt helped usher in a comeback tour for Brown.[10]

He began a recording and performing career again, under the musical direction of the guitarist Danny Caron, to greater success than he had achieved since the 1950s. Other members of Charles's touring ensemble included Clifford Solomon on tenor saxophone, Ruth Davies on bass and Gaylord Birch on drums.[3] Several records received Grammy Award nominations. In the 1980s Brown toured widely as the opening act for Raitt.

Tributes and awards

Brown was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1996[11] and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.[12] He was a recipient of a 1997 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States.[13]

Brown was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album three times: in 1991 for All My Life, 1992 for Someone To Love and 1995 for Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues.[14] Between 1987 and 2005, he was nominated for seventeen Blues Music Awards (formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards) in multiple categories, with a win in the Blues Instrumentalist: Piano/Keyboard category in 1991, and wins in the Male Blues Vocalist category in 1993 and 1995.[11]

Death

Brown died of congestive heart failure in 1999 in Oakland, California,[15] and was interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California.[10]

Discography

Releases by Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers are located in that discography.

Aladdin releases (billed as the Charles Brown Trio, Charles Brown & His Band, Charles Brown & Band)
  • 3020 "Get Yourself Another Fool" (RR609) b/w "Ooh! Ooh! Sugar" (RR608), 1948, released 1949 (Billboard R&B chart #4)[7]
  • 3021 "A Long Time" (RR617) (Billboard R&B chart #9) b/w "It's Nothing" (RR612), 1949 (Billboard R&B chart #13)[7]
  • 3024 "Trouble Blues" (RR613) b/w "Honey Keep Your Mind on Me" (RR600), 1949 (Billboard R&B chart #1, 15 weeks)[7]
  • 3030 "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down" (RR611) b/w "Please Be Kind" (RR616), 1949 (Billboard R&B chart #4)[7]
  • 3039 "Homesick Blues" (RR603) b/w "Let's Have a Ball" (RR677), 1949 (billed as Charles Brown & His Smarties) (Billboard R&B chart #5)[7]
  • 3044 "Tormented" (RR673) b/w "Did You Ever Love a Woman" (RR679), 1949, released 1950
  • 3051 "My Baby's Gone" (RR1521) b/w "I Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" (RR604), 1950 (Billboard R&B chart #6)[7]
  • 3060 "Repentance Blues" (RR1522) b/w "I've Got That Old Feeling" (RR1529), 1950
  • 3066 "I've Made Up My Mind" (RR1528) b/w "Again" (RR1520), 1950
  • 3071 "Texas Blues" (RR1525) b/w "How High the Moon" (RR607), 1950
  • 3076 "Black Night" (RR1619) b/w "Once There Lived a Fool" (RR1623), 1950, released 1951 (Billboard R&B chart #1, 14 weeks)[7]
  • 3091 "I'll Always Be in Love with You" (RR1621) b/w "The Message" (RR1648), 1950, released 1951 (Billboard R&B chart #7)[7]
  • 3092 "Seven Long Days" (RR1620) b/w "Don't Fool with My Heart" (RR1527), 1950, released 1951 (Billboard R&B chart #2)[7]
  • 3116 "Hard Times" (RR1752) b/w "Tender Heart" (RR1750), 1951, released 1952 (Billboard R&B chart #7)[7]
  • 3120 "Still Water" (RR1751) b/w "My Last Affair" (RR602), 1951, released 1952
  • 3138 "Gee" (RR1523) b/w "Without Your Love (RR1531), 1950, released 1952
  • 3157 "Rollin' Like a Pebble in the Sand" (RR2018) b/w "Alley Batting" (RR674), 1952
  • 3163 "Evening Shadows" (RR2017) b/w "Moonrise" (RR1650), 1952
  • 3176 "Rising Sun" (RR2019) b/w "Take Me" (RR676), 1952, released 1953
  • 3191 "I Lost Everything" (UN2125) b/w "Lonesome Feeling" (UN2127), 1953
  • 3200 "Don't Leave Poor Me" (UN2126) b/w "All My Life" (RR1649), not released
  • 3209 "Cryin' and Driftin' Blues" (RR2212) b/w "P.S. I Love You" (RR2215), 1953 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
  • 3220 "Everybody's Got Troubles (RR2254) b/w "I Want to Fool Around with You" (RR2257), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
  • 3235 "Let's Walk" (RR2253) b/w "Cryin' Mercy" (RR2214), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
  • 3235 "Let's Walk" (RR2253) b/w "Blazer's Boogie" (111B) (re-release) 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
  • 3254 "My Silent Love (RR2255) b/w "Foolish" (RR601), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
  • 3272 "Honey Sipper" (RR2328) b/w "By the Bend of the River" (RR2329), 1954
  • 3284 "Nite After Nite" (RR2331) b/w "Walk with Me" (RR2332), 1954, released 1955
  • 3290 "Fool's Paradise" (CAP2486) b/w "Hot Lips and Seven Kisses (Mambo)" (CAP2484), 1955 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo)
  • 3296 "My Heart Is Mended" (CAP2483) b/w "Trees, Trees" (CAP2487), 1955 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo)
  • 3316 "Please Don't Drive Me Away" (CAP2489) b/w "One Minute to One" (CAP2488), 1955, released 1956 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo)
  • 3339 "I'll Always Be in Love with You" (NO2725) (re-recording) b/w "Soothe Me" (NO2726), 1956
  • 3342 "Confidential" (NO2754) b/w "Trouble Blues" (reissue), 1956
  • 3348 "Merry Christmas Baby" (NO2730) (re-recording) b/w "Black Night" (reissue), 1956
  • 3348 "Black Night" (reissue) b/w "Ooh! Ooh! Sugar" (reissue), 1957 (post-Christmas re-release)
  • 3366 "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" (NO2727) b/w "Please Believe Me" (NO2728), 1956, released 1957
  • 3422 "Hard Times" (reissue) b/w "Ooh! Ooh! Sugar" (reissue), 1958

Imperial releases (all Aladdin masters) (billed as Charles Brown)
  • 5830 "Fool's Paradise" (reissue) b/w "Lonesome Feeling" (reissue), 1962
  • 5902 "Merry Christmas Baby" (reissue) b/w "I Lost Everything" (reissue), 1962
  • 5905 "Drifting Blues" (reissue) b/w "Black Night" (reissue), 1963
  • 5961 "Please Don't Drive Me Away" (reissue) b/w "I'm Savin' My Love for You" (RR2330), 1963

East West (Atlantic subsidiary) release
  • 106 "When Did You Leave Heaven" (EW-2753) b/w "We've Got a Lot in Common" (EW-2755), 1957, released 1958

Ace releases
  • 561 "I Want to Go Home" (with Amos Milburn) (S-253) b/w "Educated Fool" (with Amos Milburn) (S-254), 1959
  • 599 "Sing My Blues Tonight" (S-843) b/w "Love's Like a River" (S-844), 1960

Teem (Ace subsidiary) release
  • 1008 "Merry Christmas Baby" (A-1113-63) b/w "Christmas Finds Me Oh So Sad (Please Come Home for Christmas)" (A-1114-63), 1961, released 1963

King releases
  • 5405 Charles Brown, "Please Come Home for Christmas" (K4912) b/w Amos Milburn, "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" (K4913), 1960
  • 5439 "Baby Oh Baby" (K4992) b/w "Angel Baby" (K4993), 1961
  • 5464 "I Wanna Go Back Home" (with Amos Milburn) (K10607) b/w "My Little Baby" (with Amos Milburn) (K10608), 1961
  • 5523 "This Fool Has Learned" (K10892) b/w "Butterfly" (K10893), 1961
  • 5530 "It's Christmas All Year Round" (K10897) b/w "Christmas in Heaven" (K10947), 1961
  • 5570 "Without a Friend" (K10983) b/w "If You Play with Cats" (K10984), 1961
  • 5722 "I'm Just a Drifter" (K11405) b/w "I Don't Want Your Rambling Letters" (K11406), 1963
  • 5726 "It's Christmas Time" (K10898) b/w "Christmas Finds Me Lonely Wanting You" (K10950), 1961, released 1963
  • 5731 "Christmas Questions" (K10954) b/w "Wrap Yourself in a Christmas Package" (K10956), 1961, released 1963
  • 5802 "If You Don't Believe I'm Crying (Take a Look at My Eyes)" (K11687) b/w "I Wanna Be Close" (K11689), 1964
  • 5825 "Lucky Dreamer" (K11688) b/w "Too Fine for Crying" (K11690), 1964
  • 5852 "Come Home" (K11691) b/w "Blow Out All the Candles (Happy Birthday to You)" (K11692), 1964
  • 5946 "Christmas Blues" (K10948) b/w "My Most Miserable Christmas" (K10955), 1961, released 1964
  • 5947 "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" (K10951) b/w "Bringing In a Brand New Year" (K10949), 1961, released 1964

Mainstream release
  • 607 "Pledging My Love" (R5KM-7389) b/w "Tomorrow Night" (R5KM-7390), 1965

Ace release
  • 775 "Please Come Home for Christmas" (92772-A) (reissue) b/w "Merry Christmas Baby" (92772-1B) (reissue), 1966

King releases
  • 6094 "Regardless" (K12330) b/w "The Plan" (K12331), 1967
  • 6192 "Hang On a Little Longer" (K12723) b/w "Black Night" (K12724) (re-recording), 1968
  • 6194 "Merry Christmas Baby" (K12725) (re-recording) b/w "Let's Make Every Day a Christmas Day" (K10946), 1968
  • 6420 "For the Good Times" (K14276) b/w "Lonesome and Driftin'" (K14277), 1973

Original LP and CD releases
  • 1952 Mood Music (Aladdin Records 702), 10" vinyl LP
  • 1956 Mood Music (Aladdin Records 809), 12" vinyl LP, listed for release on the back cover of early Aladdin albums but never issued
  • 1957 Drifting Blues (Score Records 4011), Aladdin subsidiary label
  • 1961 Sings Christmas Songs (King Records 775), reissued as Please Come Home for Christmas (King-Starday 5019)
  • 1962 Million Sellers (Imperial Records 9178), all Aladdin Records material
  • 1964 Boss of the Blues (Mainstream Records 6007), reissued as Since I Fell for You (Garland-DCC 26)
  • 1965 Ballads My Way (Mainstream Records 6035)
  • 1970 Charles Brown: Legend! (ABC-Bluesway Records 6039), reissued as MCA Special Products 22112
  • 1972 Driftin' Blues (Mainstream Records 368)
  • 1972 Blues 'n' Brown (Jewel Records 5006)
  • 1973 Great Rhythm & Blues Oldies, Volume 2: Charles Brown (Blues Spectrum [Johnny Otis's label] 1020), reissued as The Very Best of Charles Brown Featuring Shuggie Otis (Stardust-Cleopatra 881)
  • 1977 Merry Christmas Baby (Big Town Records 1003)
  • 1978 Music, Maestro, Please (Big Town Records 1005)
  • 1978 Charles Brown & Johnny Moore's Three Blazers: Sunny Road, recorded 1945–1960 (Route 66 Records KIX-5)
  • 1980 Charles Brown & Johnny Moore's Three Blazers: Race Track Blues, recorded 1945–1956 (Route 66 Records KIX-17)
  • 1980 I'm Gonna Push On! (Live at Mosebacke) (Stockholm Records RJ-200), live recording from Brown's 1979 tour of Sweden
  • 1986 One More for the Road (Blue Side Records 60007), reissued as Alligator Records 4771
  • 1986 Charles Brown (with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers): Let's Have a Ball, recorded 1945–1961 (Route 66 Records KIX-34)
  • 1989 Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (with Charles Brown): This Is One Time, Baby, recorded 1945–1949 (Jukebox Lil JB-1105)
  • 1989 Charles Brown & Johnny Moore's Three Blazers: Sail On Blues, recorded 1945–1947 (Jukebox Lil JB-1106)
  • 1990 All My Life (Bullseye Blues 9501)[16]
  • 1992 Blues and Other Love Songs (Muse 5466), reissued as Savoy Jazz 17295
  • 1992 Someone to Love (Bullseye Blues 9514)
  • 1994 Just a Lucky So and So (Bullseye Blues 9521)
  • 1994 These Blues (Gitanes-Verve 523022)
  • 1994 Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues (Bullseye Blues 9561)
  • 1995 Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz ... with Guest: Charles Brown (Jazz Alliance 12032)
  • 1996 Honey Dripper (Gitanes-Verve 529848)
  • 1998 So Goes Love (Verve 539967)
  • 1999 In a Grand Style (Bullseye Blues 9551)[17]

CD compilations and other releases of note
  • 1990 Hard Times & Cool Blues: Original Aladdin Masters (Sequel NEX-133)
  • 1991 The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon (Giant-Warner Bros. 24423)
  • 1992 Driftin' Blues: The Best of Charles Brown (Capitol-EMI 97989; reissued as Collectables 5631)
  • 1993 Boss of the Blues (Mainstream/Columbia-Sony 53624)
  • 1994 The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Charles Brown (Mosaic 153), five-CD box set
  • 1995 Snuff Dippin' Mama, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Night Train International 7017)
  • 1995 Walkin' in Circles, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Night Train International 7024)
  • 1996 The Chronological Charles Brown: 1944–1945, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Classics 894)
  • 1996 Drifting & Dreaming, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (all Modern Records material) (Ace CHD-589)
  • 1996 Sings the Blues (all Mainstream Records material) (Sony Music Special Products 26431)
  • 1997 Johns (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Varese Sarabande 5778)
  • 1997 The Cocktail Combos: Nat King Cole/Charles Brown/Floyd Dixon (Capitol-EMI 52042), three-CD set
  • 1998 The Chronological Charles Brown 1946, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Classics 971)
  • 1999 Blue Over You: The Ace Recordings (Westside WESM-610)
  • 2000 Charles Brown & Friends: Merry Christmas Baby (Fuel 2000/Varese Sarabande 61068)
  • 2000 The Chronological Charles Brown: 1946–1947, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Classics 1088)
  • 2001 The Chronological Charles Brown: 1947–1948, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Classics 1147)
  • 2002 The Chronological Charles Brown: 1948–1949 (Classics 1210)
  • 2003 The Chronological Charles Brown 1949-1951 (Classics 1272)
  • 2003 Charles Brown: The Classic Earliest Recordings, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (JSP Records 7707), five-CD box set
  • 2003 A Life in the Blues (Rounder Select 612074), CD with DVD
  • 2004 Alone at the Piano (Savoy Jazz 17326), previously unissued live radio broadcasts recorded 1989–1995
  • 2004 The Very Best of Charles Brown: Original King Recordings (Collectables 2891)
  • 2005 The Best of Charles Brown: West Coast Blues, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Blues Forever 6828)
  • 2007 Fuel Presents: An Introduction to Charles Brown (Fuel 2000/Varese Sarabande 61664)
  • 2007 Groovy, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Rev-Ola Records CRBAND-13)
  • 2012 The Cool Cool Blues of Charles Brown 1945–1961, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Jasmine 3030), two-CD set
  • 2019 The Singles Collection 1945-1952, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (with Charles Brown) (Acrobat ACTRCD-9079), three-CD set

Contributions

• 1989 Up and Jumpin Mark Hummel(Rockinitus)

• 1992 ‘’Feel Like Rockin ‘’ Mark Hummel (Flying Fish 70634)

• 1998 ‘’Lowdown To Uptown’’ Mark Hummel (Tone Cool/Rounder TC 1169)

  • 1997 Lost & Found Houston Person (32 Jazz), previously unreleased Muse album Sweet Slumber, recorded 1991
  • 1997 Straight Up with a Twist, Kitty Margolis (Mad-Kat)
  • 1999 Meet Me Where They Play the Blues, Maria Muldaur (Telarc)
  • 2010 Everyday Living, Hawkeye Herman (Blue Skunk Music)
gollark: I disagree with this paradox.
gollark: That's basically when it's most important even.
gollark: Fascinating. I don't think this excludes civility when discussing controversial stuff.
gollark: Civil is polite and *formal* now?
gollark: I don't know exactly what you're redacting, but it sounds like you're redefining "civil" wrong.

References
  1. "Brown, Tony Russell (Charles)". Handbook of Texas Online. Tshonline.org. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  2. Giles Oakley (1997). The Devil's Music. Da Capo Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-306-80743-5.
  3. Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. pp. 70–71. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  4. Dahl, Bill. "Biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 10 November 2015
  5. Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Rise of Rock and Roll (2nd ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 143–147, 316–317. ISBN 0-306-80683-5.
  6. "Charles Brown". Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2006.
  7. Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. pp. 48–49.
  8. Keil, Charles (1991) [1966]. Urban Blues. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-42960-1.
  9. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins. p. 83. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  10. "West Coast Artists – Charles Brown". History-of-rock.com. Retrieved November 6, 2006.
  11. "Award Winners and Nominees [search]". blues.org. The Blues Foundation. 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  12. "Charles Brown". Rockhall.com. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  13. "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1997". arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  14. "Artist: Charles Brown". Grammy.com. Recording Academy. 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  15. "The Dead Rock Stars Club 1998–1999". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  16. "Charles Brown, All My Life: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  17. "Charles Brown: Discography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
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