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.
Daddy Daddy
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't mind if it's all night, Daddy
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy right or wrong
I'm gonna need you for a long time, Daddy
Gotta love me, Daddy
From now on
When you thrill me like you thrill me
With a toss that always fills me with love
Sho fine
In the morning when the clock strikes four
You're the lover that I'm going to depend on
to love me Daddy, never let me go
That's all I ask of you
I'll try to show you
How I need your two arms to hold me
When I'm lonely
So, tell me Daddy
are you going to thrill your baby
like I want you to
Love me Daddy for a long, long time
When you hug me and you kiss me
give me love that I'll be missing
I'll feel so good
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy hold me tight
Want to feel your tender arms all around me
Daddy, Daddy while the moon is bright
Sweet, gently, tight
Hold me in the morning
Hold me every night
Thrill me Daddy, thrill me
Till I scream with all my might
Ooh, long, long time
When you thrill me like you thrill me
with a touch that always fills me
with love so fine
Daddy, Daddy you're a real consternation
Daddy, Daddy you're a real sensation
Daddy, Daddy we're a great combination
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
The lyrics of Ruth Brown's Daddy Daddy express a deep need for paternal love and affection, even bordering on a romantic desire for her father figure. The repetition of "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" reinforces the singer's dependence on him, with a plea for him to love her "strong" and "right or wrong". The phrase "I'm gonna need you for a long time, Daddy" emphasizes her longing for a lasting relationship with him, as she seeks his unconditional love and acceptance.
The lyrics also suggest a physical desire, as she asks him to "thrill" her with his touch and hold her "tight" and "tender". She wants to feel his "two arms to hold me when I'm lonely" and to be held "every night". The song conveys a complex mix of emotions that could be interpreted as a symptom of a fatherless childhood or a dysfunctional relationship with her father.
Overall, the lyrics of Daddy Daddy convey an intense longing for love, affection, and attention from a father figure, suggesting a deep emotional need that is left unfulfilled.
Line by Line Meaning
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy love me strong
Father, father, father, show me strong affection so that I will feel loved and cared for
I don't mind if it's all night, Daddy
I do not have any issue if you show me affection all night, father
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy right or wrong
Father, father, father, I will need you by my side irrespective of whether you are wrong or right
I'm gonna need you for a long time, Daddy
I will require your support and love for a long time, father
Gotta love me, Daddy
You have to love me, father
From now on
Henceforth
That's whacha got to do
That is what you are supposed to do
When you thrill me like you thrill me
When you excite and delight me the way you do
With a toss that always fills me with love
With a gesture that continually fills me with love
Sho fine
Certainly wonderful
In the morning when the clock strikes four
Early in the morning when it is four o'clock
You're the lover that I'm going to depend on to love me Daddy, never let me go
You are the person I rely on to love me, father, and to never abandon me
That's all I ask of you
That is the only thing I want from you, father
I'll try to show you
I will make an effort to demonstrate to you
How I need your two arms to hold me
How I require both of your arms to embrace me
When I'm lonely
When I am feeling alone
So, tell me Daddy
Therefore, please tell me, father
are you going to thrill your baby
Will you thrill and enliven me, your child?
like I want you to
In the manner that I desire and expect from you
Love me Daddy for a long, long time
Love me, father, for an extended period
When you hug me and you kiss me
When you embrace and kiss me
give me love that I'll be missing
Provide me with affection that I will miss
I'll feel so good
I will experience immense pleasure
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy hold me tight
Father, father, father, embrace me firmly
Want to feel your tender arms all around me
I long to sense your gentle arms surrounding me
Daddy, Daddy while the moon is bright
Father, father, while the moon is shining
Sweet, gently, tight
Affectionate, kind, and firm
Hold me in the morning
Embrace me early in the morning
Hold me every night
Embrace me every night
Thrill me Daddy, thrill me
Enliven me, father, excite and delight me
Till I scream with all my might
Until I scream to the best of my capability
Ooh, long, long time
For an extended period
with a touch that always fills me
With a tactile gesture that continually fills me
Daddy, Daddy you're a real consternation
Father, father, you are perplexing and worrying
Daddy, Daddy you're a real sensation
Father, father, you are truly amazing
Daddy, Daddy we're a great combination
Father, father, we are an excellent duo
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Father, father, father
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Father, father, father
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Father, father, father
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Father, father, father
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Father, father, father
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy-doo
Father, father, father
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MICHAEL MARTIN BROWN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Reeree6947
I clicked dislike because in this version the very crucial piano part at the end of the song is missing! It's only a couple of seconds but the song is just not the same without it.
@BLUESANDSOULinfo
ok thank you for your comment, I will check the end of the song.
@Reeree6947
@@BLUESANDSOULinfo Thank you. If you get a chance, let me know if you agree with me about the piano part.