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Too bad she lies in a grave in Chesapeake Va., after being totaly screwed over by Atlantic Records. Rockin and Rythm is a solid hit cd. Full disclosure. I met this lady when her career had gone into the dump and she was supporting her offspring by a gaggle of part time jobs including driving a school bus in Portsmouth, Va. and singing in the basement lounge of a waterfront hotel. When I walked in I was the 4th person in the audience and she was kicking ass on the tunes while pounding the keys. This CD is Ruth Brown at her best.. She paved the way for many R and B female singers and with the help of Redd Foxx was able to make a big comeback. She also created a foundation whose purpose is to make sure no blues artist ever gets screwed as bad as Atlantic Records screwed her despite the fact they never would have exisited if it weren't for the multitude of Ruth Brown hits many of which are on this cd.
It was Ruth Brown's excellent autobiography "Miss Rhythm" that intrigued me to pick this compilation.At first it was obvious that collection of singles would eventually wound up sounding a bit same - succesful "singles" formula its a bit thin when it streches over 21 songs (as difference from carefully selected choice for LP which usualy varies in tempo) and all this great uptempo songs do sounds alike.Surprisingly enough,I found myself coming back to this CD quitte often and now I found interesting variety here - from the Brown's first single,melancholy ballad "So Long",exciting "Mama,He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (clearly inspiration for Little Richard's "Lucille") to gospel "I Can See Everybody's Baby" and my favourite track,sexy "I Dont Know" (strange enough she was in commercial twilight at the time of recording!) Brown was passionate and involved all the way through.Althought I still prefer her later-days albums - older Brown is excatly bad blues mama her father was afraid she would became one day - this is very good compilation.Guess what,after all my intial reservations,I am actually buying her double-CD Rhino anthology "Miss Rhythm and more" which has bigger selection and better variety of tempos ("Sentimental Journey" and "Ol' Man River").
If Rock and Roll would've stayed on the same course as the late Alan Freed envisioned, this lady would be called the Queen of Rock and Roll today. You see, Freed's original Rock and Roll didn't include the likes of Elvis and teen idols like Paul Anka and Frankie Avalon or Bobby Rydell. Instead it included artists who were the innovators of pure uncommercialized Rock and Roll. The Moonglows,Wynonie Harris,Little Richard,Hank Ballard and The Midnighters,Little Willie John, Louis Jordan,Johnny Ace,The Dominoes,Laverne Baker,Big Joe Turner,Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters,Roy Brown,and this lady Ruth Brown. One of the reviewers on this post says that this cd contains only 2 minor hits that Ruth had in her career.That is the most untrue statement I have ever heard concerning an artist.In fact, her 2 pop charters are the smallest hits she ever had and are 2 of the most unrecognizable amongst true Rock and Roll fans.Let's now get to and correct the facts. Between 1950 and 1955 Ruth scored 5 #1 hits on Billboards R&B charts. Yes I said R&B charts,they were just as important and significant back then as they are today. Although not labeled as such,these 5 #1 smashes were probably all million sellers for Ruth and Atlantic records. In fact Atlantic records used to be referred to as "The House That Ruth Built". Her biggest hit period-pop or r&b-or (otherwise) came in 1950 with "Teardrops From My Eyes". I have no doubt that this was probably a million selling 78. It was #1 for 11 weeks on Billboards R&B chart and stayed on the charts for 25 weeks total. Simply a massive-massive hit that year. Her second #1 hit is a registered million seller that came in April of 1952, the hit "5-10-15 Hours" was #1 for a full 7 weeks . The next #1 for Ruth came in February of 1953 and easily is her most recognized and trademark song,the classic "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" was #1 for 5 weeks. In August of 1954 came another #1 classic,the great ballad written by Chuck Willis for Ruth called "Oh What A Dream".The song was #1 for 8 weeks and in all likelihood sold a million discs. Keep in mind I'm just naming her #1's during these years,Ruth had many top 10's also during these years.Ruth Weston hit #1 again in October of 1954 with "Mambo Baby".It was #1 for 1 week and was on the charts for 3 months. Now to the small potatoes-Ruth's 2 pop charters are not-I repeat-are not her biggest hits or most recognizable hits. The songs 'Lucky Lips" and "This little Girl's Gone Rockin"were her only top 40 pop charters in her career and made it to #24 and #25 respectively on the pop charts in 1957 and 1958 but are a million miles away from being her biggest sellers or hits or even her most recognizable hits. I am so sorry so many people were not exposed to her massive hits and best work she recorded between 1950 and 1955,but such were the times. After the 50's came to a close,Ruth never scored another hit on the R&B charts during the soulful 60'S except for "Don't Deceive Me" at the beginning of the decade. But she did honor us with 2 top 10 classics before the 60's hastily ushered it's way in and that was 1959's #5 hit and classic "I Don't Know" and 1960's #10 classic "Don't Deceive Me". "I Don't Know" is her best late 50's song. So now I feel so much better now that I've corrected a few people. Ruth is the Queen of Rock and Roll and Wynonie Harris is The King of Rock and Roll and this cd needs to be in your collection especially if you dig Rock the way the late Alan Freed envisioned it.I'm venturing off now into amazon land to correct other folks. Keep Rockin and a Rollin'
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