Search - Ruth Brown :: Ruth Brown - Miss Rhythm (Greatest Hits and More)

The Young Ruth Brown

S. Brown | Bainbridge Island, WA USA | 03/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard Ruth Brown's Wild Wild Young Men on a local blues show. I bought the CD to get that song. I listened to samples of the rest of the CD and thought it would be nice in my collection. Wow was I pleasantly surprised. I think just about every song on both CD's is a winner. I like Ruth's new stuff, she still can belt it out. The energy and quality of her "young" voice of the fifties really sends me. If you like the post war era and roots of rock and roll then this is I believe a good choice to add to your collection. As for me I love the slight naughtiness in songs of this period. I could name them all but a few good examples on this CD would be... Lucky Lips, This Girl's Gone Rockin', Love Contest, 5-10-15 Hours and of course Wild Wild Young Men. I am certainly not learned like many other reviewers, I just like this one and play it alot. Like they used to say "it's got a great beat and you can certainly dance to it.""

Atlantic - The House That Ruth Built

S. Brown | 09/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Once fired from Lucky Millinder's band, it was the great Duke Ellington who recommended her to Herb Abramson and his fledgling Atlantic Records in 1949. Good thing, too, because it was Ruth Brown who put Atlantic on the map, make no mistake.



She did that with 24 R&B hit singles from 1949 to 1960, five of which crossed over to the Billboard Pop charts. In this 2-CD set you get all but four, which is kind of disappointing when you see that they include four previously unreleased tracks [Hey Pretty Baby, Don't Cry, The Shrine Of St. Cecilia, and It's All For You].



The missing hits are: Mend Your Ways, the flipside of Wild Wild Young Men, which reached # 7 R&B in July 1953; Bye Bye Young Men [# 13 R&B in January 1955 - but they DO include the uncharted B-side, Ever Since My Baby's Been Gone]; Sweet Baby Of Mine [# 10 R&B in May 1956]; and Jack O'Diamonds [# 23 R&B/# 96 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in July 1959, but again they DO include the uncharted flipside, I Can't Hear A Word You Say]. For that reason, as a completist collector, I had to reluctantly deduct one star in my assessment. I simply do not understand this all-too-repeated practice by CD producers.



What is here, however, more than adequately illustrates why, in 1956, a dee-jay Cash Box poll found her to be "the most programmed female vocalist in the R&B field." An Alan Freed favourite, her other cross-over hits besides Jack O'Diamonds were Lucky Lips [# 6 R&B/# 25 Top 100 in 1957], This Little Girl's Gone Rockin' [# 7 R&B/# 24 Top 100 in 1958], I Don't Know [# 5 R&B/# 64 Hot 100 in late 1959], and Don't Deceive Me [# 10 R&B# 62 Hot 100 in 1960 and her last with Atlantic].



In 1962 Ruth was back on the pop charts with the Philips label when the old Faye Adams hit, Shake A Hand, made it to # 97, and a re-make of Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean) just made the Top 100 at # 99 backed by The Milestone Singers. These remain two of the hardest-to-find Ruth Brown hits.



The accompanying booklet includes a session record showing the musicians who participated in each selection, and when each was recorded, as well as six pages of background information written in 1989 by Chip Deffaa, then the Jazz/blues critic for The New York Post. There are, however, no other photos of Miss Rhythm.



One final note. I notice that my copy of this set has a different picture of Ruth on the cover - a head shot that looks like someone cropped it with a rusty razor blade. Clearly the same CD set judging from the songs listed, the one advertised above has a much more appealing photograph of this great R&B songstress who, unlike some members, was justifiably inducted into the R&R Hall Of Fame in 1993, and the Blues Hall Of Fame in 2002.



Highly recommended in spite of the missing Atlantic hits."

LUCKY LIPS

J. Hoffman | dover, pa. United States | 03/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Finally i found a great song from a great artist ! May her sweet sound live on forever !!"