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.
I'll Wait for You
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I feel so blue
And though my heart is grieving
I'll wait for you
I'm writing you a letter
'Cause our love's so true
Although I'm sad and lonely
When the moon was high
And the lights were low
That's the time when you and I
Said our love would grow
If you ever get the notion
You'll miss me too
Make it in a hurry
I'll wait for you
'Round 'bout the midnight
I miss you so
So baby, won't you do right
I'll wait for you
You need my arms around you
To hold you tight
I'll give you all my lovin'
Both day and night
When the moon is high
And the lights are low
That's the time when you and I
Know our love will grow
If you ever get the notion
You'll miss me too
Just make it in a hurry
I'll wait for you
Ruth Brown's "I'll Wait for You" is a love ballad that explores the theme of staying faithful and hopeful in love despite feeling sad and lonely without the beloved. The song begins with the singer expressing the blue feeling that comes with the evening. However, she goes on to affirm her commitment to wait for her lover, despite her heartache. In the second verse, the singer reveals that she is writing a letter to her beloved to reaffirm their love, and she is willing to wait for as long as it takes to be reunited.
As the song progresses, she reminisces about the moments they shared under the high-moon and the low-lights, and the promises they made to each other. The singer ends the song by urging her lover to return to her quickly if he ever misses her, and she will wait for him. The song highlights the universal theme of love and loyalty, and how it is sustained even when one is going through a difficult period.
Line by Line Meaning
Along about the evening
In the evening, when I'm alone with my thoughts
I feel so blue
I'm sad and down
And though my heart is grieving
Even though I'm hurting inside
I'll wait for you
I'll be patient until we can be together
I'm writing you a letter
I'm expressing my love through words
'Cause our love's so true
Because our love is real and pure
Although I'm sad and lonely
Even though I'm feeling alone and unhappy
I'll wait for you
I'll be faithful and hopeful
When the moon was high
During the night when the moon is visible
And the lights were low
When it's dark and quiet
That's the time when you and I
That's the time we've spent together
Said our love would grow
Talked about how our love will continue to develop
If you ever get the notion
If you ever feel the desire
You'll miss me too
You will feel the same longing for me
Make it in a hurry
Act on your emotions quickly
I'll wait for you
I'll be waiting for you to come back to me
'Round 'bout the midnight
Late at night
I miss you so
I'm longing for you
So baby, won't you do right
Please do the right thing and come back to me
I'll wait for you
I'll remain committed to us
You need my arms around you
You require my comforting embrace
To hold you tight
To make you feel secure and loved
I'll give you all my lovin'
I'll provide you with unconditional love
Both day and night
24/7, whenever you need it
When the moon is high
At night, when the moon is bright
And the lights are low
In a peaceful and quiet setting
That's the time when you and I
That's the moment we share together
Know our love will grow
We're certain that our love will continue to flourish
If you ever get the notion
If you ever feel the desire
You'll miss me too
You will feel the same longing for me
Just make it in a hurry
Act on your emotions quickly
I'll wait for you
I'll remain committed to us
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOSHUA SOUDER, SHANE ALLEN MINOR, SHANNON BROWN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind