Ruth Brown (1928–2006) was a U.S. rhythm and blues singer and actress, note… Read Full Bio ↴Ruth Brown (1928–2006) was a U.S. rhythm and blues singer and actress, noted for bringing a popular music style to rhythm and blues in a series of hit songs for fledgling Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes", and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean".

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.

Fine and Mellow
Ruth Brown Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

My man don't love me
Treats me oh, so mean
My man don't he love me
Treats me awful mean
He's the lowest man
That I've ever see

He wears high drape pants

Stripes are really yellow
He wears high drape pants
Stripes area really yellow
But when he starts in to love me
He's so fine and mellow

Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long
Love will make you drink and gamble
Make you stay out all night long
Love will make you do things
That you know is wrong

But if you treat me right, baby
I'll stay home every day
If you treat me right, baby
I'll stay home every day
But you're so mean to me, baby
I know you're gonna drive me away

Love is just like a faucet
It turns off and on
Love is like a faucet
It turns off and on

Sometimes when you think it's on, baby
It has turned off and gone

Overall Meaning

In Ruth Brown's song "Fine and Mellow," she sings about a man who mistreats her and doesn't show her any love or kindness. The lyrics express her frustration with her man and the pain that she feels every day as she endures his cruelty. She sings about his appearance, describing him as wearing high drape pants with really yellow stripes. However, despite his poor treatment towards her, she acknowledges that he has a sweet side when he shows her love. When he starts to love her, he's fine and mellow. The song conveys the idea that love has transformative powers, but it can also lead one down the wrong path.

The verses about love acting like a faucet that turns on and off reinforces the idea that Ruth is feeling unsure about whether her man loves her at all. When she sings that love will make you drink and gamble and stay out all night long, she is admitting that it can have negative consequences as well. However, she seems to believe that if her man simply treated her well, she would stay home every day and be pleased with him.

Overall, "Fine and Mellow" is a song that speaks to many people who have been in a similar situation to Ruth Brown's character, feeling unloved and unworthy of love. However, it also speaks of hope that things could potentially improve if her man starts treating her with respect and love.

Line by Line Meaning

My man don't love me
I feel unloved by my partner

Treats me oh, so mean
My partner treats me cruelly

My man don't he love me
My partner doesn't love me

Treats me awful mean
My partner treats me terribly

He's the lowest man
My partner is the worst person I've ever met

That I've ever see
From my experience, he's the worst person ever

He wears high drape pants
He wears baggy pants

Stripes are really yellow
The stripes on his pants are very bright yellow

But when he starts in to love me
Despite his negative traits, when he shows me affection

He's so fine and mellow
It feels wonderful

Love will make you drink and gamble
Love can lead you to drinking and gambling