Ruth Brown

Ruth Brown (b. Ruth Weston, January 30, 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia) is a singer known for a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records.

Ruth Brown's father was a dockhand who directed the local church choir, but the

Ruth Brown (b. Ruth Weston, January 30, 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia) is a singer known for a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records.

Ruth Brown's father was a dockhand who directed the local church choir, but the young Ruth showed more of an interest in singing at USO shows and nightclubs. In 1945, Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with a trumpeter, Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs. She then spent a month with Lucky Millinder's orchestra, but was fired after she brought drinks to the band for free, and was left stranded in Washington, D.C.. Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway's sister, arranged a gig for Brown at a Washington nightclub called Crystal Caverns and soon became her manager. Willis Conover, a local DJ, caught her act and recommended her to Atlantic Records bosses, Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Brown was unable to audition as planned though, because of a serious car accident that resulted in a nine-month hospital visit. In 1948, however, Ertegun and Abramson drove to Washington from New York City to hear her sing in the club. Although her repertoire was mostly popular ballads, Ertegun convinced her to switch to urban blues.