My Precious Sonny Boy - Milton Brown, Brown, Milton
Swinging on the Garden Gate - Milton Brown, Brown, Milton
Four Five or Six Times - Milton Brown,
Get Along Cindy - Milton Brown, Traditional
Where Have You Been So Long Corrine - Milton Brown,
Girl of My Dreams - Milton Brown, Cvetkovski, Tony
Talking About You - Milton Brown, Brown, Milton
Loveland and You - Milton Brown,
Take It Slow and Easy - Milton Brown,
Sitting on Top of the World - Milton Brown, Chatmon, Lonnie
This Morning This Evening So Soon - Milton Brown, Nocera, Todd M.
Trinity Waltz [Instrumental] - Milton Brown,
Loveless Life - Milton Brown, Carr, Leon
Sweet Jennie Lee - Milton Brown, Donaldson, Walter
The Object of My Affection - Milton Brown,
I Love You - Milton Brown,
Pray for the Lights to Go Out - Milton Brown, Skidmore
Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet - Milton Brown, Murphy, Stanley
In el Rio Grande - Milton Brown,
A Good Man Is Hard to Find - Milton Brown, Sanders, Mark Danie
Down by the O-H-I-O - Milton Brown, Traditional
Track Listings (26) - Disc #2
St. Louis Blues - Milton Brown, Handy, W.C.
Brownie Special - Milton Brown, Davis, Jimmie
Copenhagen [Instrumental] - Milton Brown, Henderson, Walter
Chinatown My Chinatown - Milton Brown, Jerome, William
Wabash Blues - Milton Brown, Traditional
Some of These Days - Milton Brown, Brooks, Shelton
Who's Sorry Now - Milton Brown, Kalmar
Just a Dream - Milton Brown,
Cheesy Breeze [Instrumental] - Milton Brown,
Beautiful Texas - Milton Brown, O'Daniel, W. Lee
The House at the End of the Lane - Milton Brown,
In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree - Milton Brown, VanAlstyne, Egbert
Shine on Harvest Moon - Milton Brown, Bayes, Nora
Love in Bloom - Milton Brown,
My Mary - Milton Brown, Davis, Jimmie H.
You're Tired of Me - Milton Brown, Bryer, Lloyd
Wheezie Anna - Milton Brown,
One of Us Was Wrong - Milton Brown, Goering, Al
You Rascal You - Milton Brown, Traditional
Sweet Georgia Brown - Milton Brown, Bernie, Ben
You're Bound to Look Like a Monkey - Milton Brown,
Dark Town Strutters Ball - Milton Brown, Brooks, Shelton
Taking Off [Instrumental] - Milton Brown,
Black and White Rag [Instrumental] - Milton Brown,
Crafton Blues [Instrumental] - Milton Brown, Brower, Cecil
Little Betty Brown - Milton Brown, Kleiber, D.
Track Listings (27) - Disc #3
Going Up Bushy Fork [Instrumental] - Milton Brown,
Beale Street Mama - Milton Brown, Robinson, J. Russel
The Sheik of Araby - Milton Brown, Smith, Harry [2] Be
Mexicali Rose - Milton Brown, Stone, Helen
Somebody's Been Using That Thing - Milton Brown, Miller, Al [Blues]
Mama Don't Allow It - Milton Brown, Cahn, Sammy
I've Got the Blues for Mammy - Milton Brown, Dougherty, William
Texas Hambone Blues - Milton Brown, Jones, Wilbur
The Eyes of Texas - Milton Brown, Traditional
Easy Ridin' Papa - Milton Brown, Brown
Stay on the Right Side - Milton Brown, Bloom, Rube
If You Can't Get Five Take Two - Milton Brown,
Cielito Lindo (Beautiful Heaven) - Milton Brown,
The Waltz You Saved for Me - Milton Brown, Flindt
I Had Someone Before I Had You - Milton Brown,
Am I Blue - Milton Brown, Akst, Harry
Our Baby Boy - Milton Brown,
Under the Double Eagle - Milton Brown, Charles
Washington and Lee Swing - Milton Brown, Robbins, David [Bla
The Wheel on the Wagon Is Broken - Milton Brown,
Memphis Blues - Milton Brown, Handy, W.C.
Somebody Stole My Gal - Milton Brown, Wood, Leo
When I'm Gone Don't You Grieve - Milton Brown,
The Hesitation Blues - Milton Brown,
The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi - Milton Brown,
An Old Watermill by a Waterfall - Milton Brown,
Avalon - Milton Brown, Jolson, Al
Track Listings (27) - Disc #4
Sadie Green (The Vamp of New Orleans) - Milton Brown, Dunn, Johnny [Trump
Show Me the Way to Go Home - Milton Brown, King, Irving
The Yellow Rose of Texas - Milton Brown, Autry, Gene
The Roseland Melody - Milton Brown,
My Galveston Gal - Milton Brown,
Yes Sir - Milton Brown,
La Golondrina - Milton Brown, Serradel, Narciso
When I Take My Sugar to Tea - Milton Brown, Connor, Pierre
Song of the Wanderer - Milton Brown, Klein, John M.
Right or Wrong - Milton Brown, Biese, Paul
Chinese Honeymoon - Milton Brown, Caryll, Ivan
Alice Blue Gown - Milton Brown, McCarthy, Joseph [2
Fan It - Milton Brown, Jaxon, Frankie
Tired of the Same Thing All the Time - Milton Brown, Walsh, David R.
I'll String Along With You - Milton Brown, Dubin, Al
Goofus - Milton Brown, Harold, William
Ida Sweet as Apple Cider - Milton Brown, Leonard, Eddie
When It's Harvest Time Sweet Angeline - Milton Brown,
Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie - Milton Brown, Robinson, Carson J.
A Thousand Goodnights - Milton Brown, Donaldson
Keep a Knockin' - Milton Brown, Brown, Milton
Baby Keeps Stealin' - Milton Brown,
The Old Grey Mare - Milton Brown, Traditional
Bring It on Down to My House Honey [*] - Milton Brown,
High Geared Daddy [*] - Milton Brown, Davis, Jimmie H.
Honky Tonk Blues [*] - Milton Brown,
Louise Louise Blues [*] - Milton Brown, La Fayette, Simon R
With his Musical Brownies, Milton Brown was one of the first musicians to combine jazz, blues, & country music to come up with the exciting musical hybrid that was western swing. Milton Brown & his Musical Brown... more »ies will always remain the original source that informed this music, he was the true daddy of the genre. 106 slices of the man's art are on four CDs. Includes 60-page booklet. Proper. Standard jewel cases housed in a box. 2003.« less
With his Musical Brownies, Milton Brown was one of the first musicians to combine jazz, blues, & country music to come up with the exciting musical hybrid that was western swing. Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies will always remain the original source that informed this music, he was the true daddy of the genre. 106 slices of the man's art are on four CDs. Includes 60-page booklet. Proper. Standard jewel cases housed in a box. 2003.
Tony Thomas | SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA | 01/12/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I am a big fan and a kind of minor expert on Bob Wills Music. Milton Brown's Brownies were the first and one of the greatest Western Swing Bands of all time. Musically if you compare the work that Brown and his band did with the first string of Wills recordings which were contemporary with the last of Brown's records, the Brownies were better.
Bob Wills and Milton Brown were extremely close friends once they met in Fort Worth around 1929. They played and recorded together in one band with a variety of names until that band got the name Light Crust Doughboys because they were directly employed by The Burriss flour mill. In 1932, Milton and his brother Durwood left the Light Crust Doughboys because Burris Mills manager W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (who like the character of the same name in "O Brother" became governor of Texas, not Mississippi) did not allow members of the Doughboys to do side gigs. The Browns need the side gigs to help support older relatives, whereas Wills couldn't leave O'Daniel because he had gotten a number of relatives working in the flour mill who would have been fired if he had left O'Daniel.
Wills and Milton Brown remained close friends after Brown set up his own group. Unlike the Doughboys, the new band features a pianist, a stride and jazz pianist named Papa Calhoun. It also featured a great standup bass player who played jazz style, rather than the bowed bass style then played by string band bassists. The twin fiddle style that became standard in Western Swing was born with the musical brownies. Often overlooked by those who don't know Brown, was the great never equalled and completely original steel guitar work of Bobby Dunne.
The Brownies were a tighter band musically than the Playboys were at least until the late 30s when when the efforts of ace musician and arranger guitarist Eldon Shamblin, and Wills' ability to hire better musicians with more money and noteriety. The singing on these records by Brown sometimes harmonized by band members is extraordinary.
To be sure, Brown's style is more jazz-oriented than Wills band, smoother, and Brown's singing is closer to Black jazz, than the crooning that the great Tommy Duncan had with Wills. Brown is also very closely influenced by Hokum Jazz players like the Washboard Rhythm Kings, several of whose tunes Brown covered very closely.
However, you can see a lot of similarity in both bands, usually in material that Brown recorded earlier than Wills that both groups did that show rather common interests. You had the sense that these were two close pals who listened to records together and shared recordings of people that they liked together.
Two particular influences both groups had were the jazz singers and last of the minstrel stars Emment Miller whose version of Right or Wrong the Brownies recorded first, as well as in a number of songs done learned from the Mississippi Sheiks such as Corrina, Corrina and Sitting on Top of the World.
In these cases, while anyone with ears should love the versions Wills cut of those songs, the Brownies versions of the songs were more lively, swinging, and seem more original, whereas Will's versions especially of Sitting on Top of the World seem quite close to what the Sheiks did not just in his initial recording in the 1930s but on up to his last recording for Liberty in 1960s (with Vicki Carr singing backup and viola player from the Lawrence Welch band in the fiddle section!).
Brown is a lot of fun in a smoother, more sophisticated way than the early Wills.
One reason this collection is so cheap is that it is essentially a pirated version done from individual records, not masters, and those in contact with the heirs of Milton Brown have announced they plan to sue them over this.
A much better edition authorized by Brown's family and with better pictures, recordings from masters, and many other goodies with the full Brownies discography is available in 5-CD Box Set Milton Brown set on TEXAS ROSE RECORDS. Buy that."
Oh Daddy!
Linwood I. Greer | Richmond, VA USA | 02/17/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After years of stumbling upon various cuts by Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies in compilations, it's a real treat to have over 100 of them in one place. It's a delicious blend of country,jazz and hokum blues that will never go stale. Somebody's Been Usin' That Thing, indeed."
This is Western Swing
picaraza | San Francisco | 02/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"au contraire,
FAO the reviewer who claims that the Brownies are not western siwng.
Milton Brown and His Brownies were the best band of their time and Brown deserves to be recognized as the true "inventor" of western swing. He and Bob Wills performed together in the orginal Light Crust Doughboys-- Brown went out on his own and put together his great band and changed everything.
His untimely death was both a great loss and a gift as the members of his band went their separate ways and created their own excellent groups.
If you don't know anything about Western Swing, or are apt to claim that anything that doesn't sound like Bob Wills isn't western swing, I'd suggest you start with a compiliation or two. There are a few wonderful short compiliations of the Musical Brownies that are available for people short on cash. Origin Jazz Library offers a very good one.
If you want an introduction to a variety of western switg or just want to listen to some really good music, check out some of the great compiliations from the Origin Jazz Library, Proper, and, especially, Krazy Kat labels (best, most informative liner notes anywhere).
But for my money the best compilation is Fremeaux & Assoc. FA 032 Western Swing -- Texas 1928-1944. Not cheap. But IMHO, still the best introduction out there.
"
CD Milton Brown Daddy of Western Swing
Wantland Smith | 08/10/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Over 100 songs and great 32 page history of this forgotten icon of western swing. Brown was a great singer, covering a huge eclectic range from traditional blues to swing and pop. I was born the year after he died and grew up in So. Texas hearing many of these tunes. Terrific collection of SW US roots music."
Early Western swing.
P. Quilter | 03/12/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The music is fairly primitive and slightly stiff, but the transfers are decent. This album is recommended mainly for historical interest, for serious devotees of the genre."