Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, he was named after his father Oscar Brown, Sr., a successful attorney and real estate broker. His singing debut was on the radio show Secret City at the age of 15. Brown attended Englewood High School in Chicago, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Lincoln University but did not obtain a degree. He also served a stint in the U.S. Army.
Brown's father had intended for him to follow in his footsteps and become a practicing lawyer. While he did help his father at his practice, he ventured off into other careers, such as advertising and serving in the army in the mid-1950s and writing songs. When Mahalia Jackson recorded one of his songs, he began to focus on a career in music. His first major contribution to a recorded work was a collaboration with Max Roach, We Insist!, which was an early record celebrating the black freedom movement in the United States. Columbia Records signed Brown as a solo artist, who was by now in his mid-thirties and married with five children.
In 1960, Brown released his first LP, Sin & Soul, recorded from June 20 to October 23, 1960. Printed on the cover of the album were personal reviews by well-known celebrities and jazz musicians of the time, including Steve Allen, Lorraine Hansberry, Nat Hentoff, Dorothy Killgallen, Max Roach and Nina Simone (Simone would later cover his "Work Song" and Steve Allen would later hire him for his Jazz Scene USA television program). The album is regarded as a "true classic" for openly tackling the experiences of African-Americans with songs such as "Bid 'Em In" and "Afro Blue".
Sin & Soul is also significant because Brown took several popular jazz instrumentals and combined them with self-penned lyrics on songs like "Dat Dere", "Afro Blue" and "Work Song". This began a trend that would continue with several other major jazz vocalists. Jon Hendricks, for example, three years later composed lyrics for the Mongo Santamaría song "Yeh Yeh" (later a hit for Georgie Fame). Bob Dorough similarly composed lyrics for Mel Tormé's version of "Comin' Home Baby!" and musicians Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson would also go on to compose lyrics for Cannonball Adderley's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (the music composed by Joe Zawinul, Adderley's pianist) for Marlena Shaw. Several of the tracks from Sin & Soul were embraced by the 1960s Mod movement, such as "Humdrum Blues", "Work Song" and "Watermelon Man".
Sin & Soul was followed by Between Heaven and Hell (1962). The success of Sin & Soul meant that much more money was spent on production and Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns were bought in to handle the arrangements.
However, Brown was soon to fall down the pecking order at Columbia following a rearrangement of the management at the company. His third album was notable for the lack of any self-composed songs, and Columbia was having a hard time packaging Brown as an artist. They were unsure whether he was suited to middle-of-the-road/easy listening nightclubs or alternatively should be presented as a jazz artist.
He was given much more creative freedom for his fourth album, Tells It Like It Is (1963) and he was back to his creative best, composing songs such as "The Snake", which became a Northern Soul classic when it was covered by Al Wilson, and has featured on several adverts. Despite this return to form, and having been told by the new head of Columbia that he was high on the company's priorities, his contract at Columbia was not renewed.
He attempted to mount a major musical stage show in New York City called Kicks & Co. in 1961. Host Dave Garroway turned over an entire broadcast of the Today show to Brown to perform numbers from the show and try to raise the necessary funds to launch it on the stage. Kicks & Co. is set on an all-African-American college campus in the American South during the early days of attempted desegregation. The character Mr. Kicks is an emissary of Satan, sent to try to derail these efforts in which the play's protagonist, Ernest Black, has become involved.
This was the first of several theatrical endeavors by Brown, and like all of them, the public was not won over sufficiently to allow financial success, despite acclaim by some critics. His longest-running relative success, thanks to the participation of Muhammad Ali, was Big-Time Buck White. Another notable musical show, Joy, saw two incarnations (in 1966 and 1969) and again addressed social issues. Appearing with Brown were his wife, Jean Pace, and the Brazilian singer/accordionist Sivuca. RCA released the original cast recording around 1970; it is long out of print.
In 1962, he worked on the Westinghouse syndicated television program, Jazz Scene USA, produced by Steve Allen. Brown was he show's presenter and it featured a new musical guest each week.
Brown's son, Oscar "BoBo" Brown III, was an instrumental musician who tragically died in a car crash. His daughter, Maggie Brown, is a singer, songwriter, actress, educator and mom of three. Along with Africa Brown, these three out of seven children carry out his legacy in singing and acting. His other four childre are, David "Napoleon" Brown, Jone Brown, Donna Brown Kane, a mom of two, a grandmom of three and an educator, and Iantha Brown
He founded The Oscar Brown, Jr. H.I.P. Legacy Foundation to carry on his humanitarian work.
Brown died in Chicago, from complications of osteomyelitis in May 2005, aged 78.
Brown's lyrics and original compositions have been performed by a variety of other artists. "Somebody Buy Me a Drink", a track from Sin & Soul, was covered by David Johansen and the Harry Smiths on their eponymous first album. Pianist Wynton Kelly recorded "Strongman" with his trio in the late 1950s. Nina Simone popularized Brown's lyrics to "Work Song" and "Afro Blue," as well as his song "Bid 'Em In." Brown's "Afro Blue" lyrics have since been performed by numerous contemporary jazz vocalists, including Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Lizz Wright. Vocalist Karrin Allyson has cited Brown as a particular inspiration, and has performed his compositions on several of her albums. Brown was scheduled to contribute new lyrics to Allyson's 2006 album, Footprints, but died before the project was complete; Allyson instead recorded Brown's songs "A Tree and Me" and "But I Was Cool" as a tribute. Brown's work has also been the focus of full-length tribute albums by lesser-known jazz artists, including cabaret singer Linda Kosut and Brown's own daughter, Maggie Brown.
Afro-Blue
Oscar Brown Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I HEAR A HAND STROKE ON A DRUM,
SHADES OF DELIGHT;
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
ELEGANT BOY,
BEAUTIFUL GIRL,
DELICATE WHIRL,
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
TWO YOUNG LOVERS ARE FACE TO FACE,
WITH UNDULATING GRACE,
THEY GENTLY SWAY,
THEN SLIP AWAY
TO SOME SECLUDED PLACE.
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
WHISPERING TREES
ECHO THEIR SIGHS,
PASSIONATE PLEAS,
TENDER REPLIES,
SHADES OF DELIGHT;
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
LOVERS ON FLIGHT,
UPWARD THEY GLIDE,
BURST AT THE HEIGHT,
SLOLY SUBSIDE,
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
AND MY SLUMBERING FANTASY ASSUMES REALITY
UNTIL IT SEEMS IT`S NOT A DREAM,
THE TWO ARE YOU AND ME.
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
COCOA HUE,
RICH AS A NIGHT,
AFRO BLUE.
The lyrics of "Afro-Blue" by Oscar Brown Jr. express a profound longing and yearning for a dreamland that the singer's soul comes from. The steady drumbeat serves as a call to a mystical realm that is realistically unattainable, yet one that can be imagined and felt through the beauty of the music. The singer is immersed in a world of shades of joy and delight, where the color of cocoa is as rich and complex as the night.
The song then takes a turn towards depicting the fantasy of two young lovers, face to face, swaying with undulating grace, and eventually, slipping away to a secluded place where they can be alone with each other. The imagery of whispering trees echoing their passionate pleas and tender replies heightens the palpable intensity of the moment. As the lovers take flight and ascend to great heights, they eventually slowly subside, leaving behind a lingering essence of the shades of delight, cocoa hue, and rich night that comprise the Afro-Blue.
Line by Line Meaning
DREAM OF A LAND MY SOUL IS FROM,
I envision a place my spirit originates from
I HEAR A HAND STROKE ON A DRUM,
The sound of percussion echoes in my ears
SHADES OF DELIGHT;
Pleasures in different hues
COCOA HUE,
A color similar to that of the popular chocolaty drink
RICH AS A NIGHT,
As abundant and satisfying as the dark skies
AFRO BLUE.
A cool, jazzy tune that puts a melodious end to the imagined scene
ELEGANT BOY,
A classy young man
BEAUTIFUL GIRL,
A gorgeous lady
DANCING FOR JOY,
Dancing because of the intense delight experienced
DELICATE WHIRL,
A graceful spin
TWO YOUNG LOVERS ARE FACE TO FACE,
Two lovebirds standing opposite one another
WITH UNDULATING GRACE,
In a smooth, flowing manner
THEY GENTLY SWAY,
Rocking softly from side to side
THEN SLIP AWAY
They sneak off
TO SOME SECLUDED PLACE.
To a hidden spot where they can be alone
WHISPERING TREES
Trees rustling quietly
ECHO THEIR SIGHS,
The wind carries the sound of their deep breaths
PASSIONATE PLEAS,
Intense requests full of desire
TENDER REPLIES,
Gentle, loving responses
LOVERS ON FLIGHT,
Romantic partners ascending
UPWARD THEY GLIDE,
Ascending gradually
BURST AT THE HEIGHT,
Reaching a peak and exploding with intensity
SLOLY SUBSIDE,
Coming down gradually
AND MY SLUMBERING FANTASY ASSUMES REALITY
My dreamlike state becomes actuality
UNTIL IT SEEMS IT`S NOT A DREAM,
It appears so real that it's no longer a dream
THE TWO ARE YOU AND ME.
In my daydream, we're the loving pair
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
Various, enjoyable tones
COCOA HUE,
A shade resembling cocoa
RICH AS A NIGHT,
As full and gratifying as the darkening sky
AFRO BLUE.
A smooth, jazzy tune bidding the daydream farewell
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
Different varieties of pleasure
COCOA HUE,
A color similar to that of cocoa
RICH AS A NIGHT,
As lush and pleasing as a nightfall
AFRO BLUE.
A serene, melodious closing note to the imagined paradise
SHADES OF DELIGHT,
Multiple, colorful forms of delight
COCOA HUE,
A hue comparable to that of cocoa
RICH AS A NIGHT,
As abundant and satisfying as the evening sky
AFRO BLUE.
A jazzy, captivating ending
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CARLIN AMERICA INC
Written by: Mongo Santamaria
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind