Born Ruth Alston Weston on 30th January 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia, she attended I. C. Norcom High School, a historically black high school. 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. She was inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. 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, also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Brown at a Washington nightclub called Crystal Caverns and soon became her manager. Willis Conover, a Voice of America disc jockey, caught her act and recommended her to Atlantic Records bosses, Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Brown was unable to audition as planned though, because of a serious car accident that resulted in a nine-month hospital stay. In 1948, however, Ertegün and Abramson drove to Washington from New York City to hear her sing in the club. Although her repertoire was mostly popular ballads, Ertegün convinced her to switch to rhythm and blues. His productions for her, however, retained her pop style, with clean, fresh arrangements and the singing spot on the beat with little of the usual blues singer's embroidery.
In her first audition, in 1949, she sang "So Long", which became a hit. This was followed by "Teardrops from My Eyes" in 1950; written by Rudy Toombs, it was the first upbeat major hit for Ruth Brown, establishing her as an important figure in R&B. Recorded for Atlantic Records in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was on Billboard's List of number-one R&B hits (United States) for eleven weeks. The huge hit earned her the nickname "Miss Rhythm", and within a few months Ruth Brown became the acknowledged queen of R&B.
She followed up this hit with "I'll Wait for You" (1951), "I Know" (1951), "5-10-15 Hours" (1953), "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (1953), "Oh What a Dream" (1954), "Mambo Baby" (1954), and "Don't Deceive Me" (1960). She also became known as "Little Miss Rhythm" and "the girl with the teardrop in her voice". In all, she was on the R&B charts for 149 weeks from 1949 to 1955, with sixteen top-ten blues records including five number ones, and became Atlantic's most popular artist, earning Atlantic records the proper name of "The House that Ruth Built".
During the 1960s, Brown faded from public view to become a housewife and mother, and only returned to music in 1975 at the urging of Redd Foxx, followed by a series of comic acting gigs, including roles in the sitcom Hello, Larry and the John Waters film Hairspray as local DJ Motormouth Maybelle, as well as Broadway appearances in Amen Corner and Black and Blue, which earned her a Tony Award for her performance and a Grammy award for her album Blues on Broadway, featuring hits from the show.
Brown's fight for musicians' rights and royalties in 1987 led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. She was inducted as a Pioneer Award recipient in its first year, 1989. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as "The Queen Mother of the Blues".
She has become an iconic symbol to many black women for later generations, where she is also a favourite artist and inspiration for later blues artists such as Bonnie Raitt. Brown recorded and sang along with fellow rhythm and blues performer Charles Brown, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and toured with Raitt on Raitt's tour in the late 1990s, "Road Tested". Her 1995 autobiography, Miss Rhythm, won the Gleason Award for music journalism.
Brown died in a Las Vegas-area hospital on 17th November 2006, from complications following a heart attack and stroke she suffered after surgery in October 2006. A memorial concert for her was held on 22nd January 2007 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.
Can't Get Excited
Ruth Brown Lyrics
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Would take my life into a year ago
You say you'll love me again
I can't say what I cannot do
It's been too long without someone
How could you let me sink this far away from you
Now you're here, wondering why you can't get near
Can't get excited
There's a thousand things to do
I can't do anything with you
I can't get excited
Can't get excited
You can see me look right through
I don't feel like I used to do
I'm turning back the pages now
I've pleaded with you oh so many times
Trying just to make you see
Hoping I might be the one
So calm down love, it will be all right
The time to bring back love is not tonight
I never thought I'd have to say
That you should leave and go away
I can't get excited
Can't get excited
There's a thousand things to do
I can't do anything with you
I can't get excited
Can't get excited
You can see me look right through
I don't feel like I used to do
Not in love
Still not in love with you
Not in love
I'm still not in love with you
Not in love
Still not in love with you
Not in love
Tell me why you can't leave me lonely
Tell me why I'm taking a chance on you
Taking a chance you
I can't get excited
Can't get excited
There's a thousand things to do
I can't do anything with you
I can't get excited
Can't get excited
You can see me look right through
I don't feel like I used to do
In the song "Can't Get Excited," Ruth Brown is lamenting on the feeling of being unable to connect with a former lover despite their reconciliation. She expresses that every emotion she feels now is reminiscent of a year ago when they were together, and the thought of falling in love with them again terrifies her. Brown addresses her former partner, saying she doesn't know whether she'll be capable of loving them again. She admits that it has been too long since she's had someone in her life, but she can't understand how they allowed her to drift away so much. Finally, seeing that her former partner has come back to her, Brown asks why they can't get close to each other again.
Throughout the song, Brown's tone is melancholic, full of regret, and nostalgia. She acknowledges that there are still plenty of things she could be doing, but she can't seem to excite herself about doing them with her former partner. She seems to have deadened herself to the intense emotions that loving someone requires. She says, "I can't do anything with you," which implies that she is so disenchanted with the relationship and her former partner that she can't bring herself to try to revive it.
Overall, Ruth Brown's "Can't Get Excited" is a relatable reflection of a lost relationship. There is a sense of resignation, mixed with pockets of longing and sadness that many people can relate to. Brown's vocal inflections and the conviction in her words reflect a deep understanding of how we sometimes lose the ability to rekindle a past relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Every single feeling now
All of my emotions at this moment
Would take my life into a year ago
Would bring me back to where I was a year ago
You say you'll love me again
You claim to have feelings for me once more
I can't say what I cannot do
I can't promise something that I am incapable of
It's been too long without someone
I have been without companionship for too long
How could you let me sink this far away from you
I blame you for allowing me to become so distant from you
Now you're here, wondering why you can't get near
You are confused as to why we are not as close as we used to be
I can't get excited
I am unable to feel enthusiastic
Can't get excited
I cannot muster up any excitement
There's a thousand things to do
There are endless possibilities of things to do
I can't do anything with you
I am unable to do anything enjoyable with you
You can see me look right through
You can tell that I am not fully present
I don't feel like I used to do
I am not feeling the same way that I used to
I'm turning back the pages now
I am reminiscing about the past
I've pleaded with you oh so many times
I have begged you numerous times
Trying just to make you see
Attempting to make you understand
Hoping I might be the one
Desperately wanting to be chosen
So calm down love, it will be all right
Relax, everything will work out
The time to bring back love is not tonight
This is not the right time to rekindle our love
I never thought I'd have to say
I never anticipated having to express this sentiment
That you should leave and go away
That you need to exit from my life
Not in love
I am not in love
Still not in love with you
I still have not developed feelings of love for you
Tell me why you can't leave me lonely
Explain why you cannot let me be alone
Tell me why I'm taking a chance on you
Tell me why I am giving you another chance
Taking a chance you
Giving you another opportunity
Writer(s): S. BROWN
Contributed by Austin K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.