Ruth Brown was an amazing, pioneering woman. 'Discovered' at Washington D.C.'s Crystal Caverns (alter the Bohemian Caverns) she was a major rhythm and blues star with Atlantic Records which became known in part as The House That Ruth Built. While she had many hots for Atlantic, after her hit-making days were over she revived her career on Broadway as well as a big band vocalist with the Thad Jones-Mel Louis Orchestra (now The Vanguard Orchestra. She was never strictly a blues singer as that was too narrow to describe her artistry, although the focus of her later day recordings was the blues.
We start this short playlist with one of Ruth's big hits for Atlantic, "Hey Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean," this was a live recording with the Paul Williams Band.
Next up is a performance from the musical "Black and Brown Revue," "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Sit On It."
Often overlooked is Ruth's recording with the great Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. Here she sings with them in 1969, "I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts of Town."
Here is Ruth with the title track of her album, "A Good Day For The Blues."
We close with a duet with B.B. King, "Ain't Nobody's Business."
This was a review I wrote back in 2004 that likely appeared in the DC Blues Society’s newsletter.
While Pinetop Perkins has recorded a number of albums, one limitation has been the fact that he has a small core of songs that he repeatedly records. While his performances are solid, one does wish to get some fresh material. M.C. Records has just issued a new Pinetop Perkins, Ladies Man which avoids some of these problems by having Pinetop record accompanying some blues women including Deborah Coleman, Susan Tedeschi, Madiline Peyroux, Ruth Brown, Marcia Ball, Angela Strehli, Ann Rabson and Odetta. I believe this was recorded around the time of the 2003 Handy Award shows which enabled these recordings to take place. Pinetop's renditions of Leroy Carr's How Long Blues and Wilbert Harrison's hit Kansas City, don't break new ground but are typically pleasant performances amiably sung. It certainly nice to hear Susan Tedeschi sing Ivory Joe Hunter's ballad Since I Met You Baby with nice accompaniment, while Odetta gives us a strong rendition of Trouble in Mind with Ruth Brown's revival of her old friend, Big Joe Turner's Chains of Love, to which she embellishes with her own sassy self.
I was not familiar with Madeleine Peyroux who sings the delightful vaudeville-styled He's Got Me Goin'. Deborah Coleman sings Meanest Woman, credited to Muddy Waters but really Tommy Johnson's classic Maggie Campbell Blues. Marcia Ball duets on piano with Pinetop on Pinetop's New Boogie Woogie while I believe Ann Rabson shares the piano on a lovely Careless Love. Angela Strehli salutes the pianist with Hey Mr. Pinetop Perkins, a song that takes at its premise Pinetop's tall story of having written Pinetop's Boogie Woogie, which was recorded by the legendary Clarence 'Pinetop' Smith in the twenties when Joe Willie Perkins was a wee boy. It may have been a signature number for him, leading him to be identified for the song, but it was not his song. However, the nonsensical lyrics did prevent me from enjoying her performance.
This was a varied and enjoyable release that is distinguished from much of Pinetop’s recordings.
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