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.
Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama he treats me badly
Makes me love him madly
Mama he takes my money
Mama he can't be trusted
He makes me so disgusted
All of my friends they don't understand
What's the matter with this man
I tell you mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama this man is lazy
Almost drives me crazy
Mama he makes me squeeze him
Still my squeezes don't please him
Mama my heart is aching
I believe it's breaking
I've stood all that I can stand
What's the matter with this man?
I tell you Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Ruth Brown’s song “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean” is about a man who treats his girlfriend badly, and the girlfriend is calling out to her mother for help. The repetition of the phrase “Mama he treats your daughter mean” reinforces the idea that the man is mistreating the girlfriend and that she is seeking help. The girlfriend also admits that despite being treated badly, she loves him madly, which suggests that she is willing to put up with his bad behavior.
The song also highlights the financial abuse that the man is inflicting upon the girlfriend. He takes her money and makes her call him “honey” which implies that he is using her for her money and is not treating her with the respect that she deserves. The girlfriend is also disgusted by the behavior of the man and is struggling to understand why she is still with him.
The line “Mama my heart is aching, I believe it’s breaking” suggests that the girlfriend is aware that she needs to leave the relationship but finds it difficult to do so. The line “What’s the matter with this man?” highlights her confusion as to why the man is treating her so badly. Overall, the song conveys the feelings of a woman who is stuck in a toxic relationship and is reaching out for help.
Line by Line Meaning
Mama he treats your daughter mean
The man treats me badly and disrespectfully, as if he has no concern for my feelings or wellbeing.
Mama he treats me badly
I am mistreated and disrespected by this man, causing me pain and distress.
Makes me love him madly
Despite his mistreatment, I still love him intensely.
Mama he takes my money
The man takes my money without my consent or return, causing me financial hardship.
Makes me call him honey
He manipulates me into calling him by affectionate names to make his mistreatment seem less hurtful.
Mama he can't be trusted
I can't rely on this man to be truthful or faithful to me.
He makes me so disgusted
His behavior and actions towards me are repulsive, causing me revulsion.
All of my friends they don't understand
My friends are unable to comprehend why I stay with this man despite the way he treats me.
What's the matter with this man
I question why he acts this way towards me and what could be causing his behavior.
Almost drives me crazy
His laziness and disregard for responsibility cause me immense frustration and stress.
Mama he makes me squeeze him
He pressures me to show physical affection towards him, despite my displeasure or discomfort.
Still my squeezes don't please him
No amount of physical affection seems to satisfy him, causing me further distress.
Mama my heart is aching
I am overcome with emotional pain and distress due to this man's mistreatment and behavior.
I've stood all that I can stand
I can no longer tolerate his mistreatment and disrespect towards me.
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
I have never encountered someone so cruel and disrespectful in my life.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Charlie Singleton, Herb Lance, Johnny Wallace
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Andrea Luque
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama he treats me badly
Makes me love him madly
Mama he takes my money
Makes me call him honey
Mama he can't be trusted
He makes me so disgusted
All of my friends they don't understand
What's the matter with this man
I tell you mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama this man is lazy
Almost drives me crazy
Mama he makes me squeeze him
Still my squeezes don't please him
Mama my heart is aching
I believe it's breaking
I've stood all that I can stand
What's the matter with this man?
I tell you Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Edward Gazzetti
Love it!
Eddy Nb
From 1952!
Andrea Luque
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama he treats me badly
Makes me love him madly
Mama he takes my money
Makes me call him honey
Mama he can't be trusted
He makes me so disgusted
All of my friends they don't understand
What's the matter with this man
I tell you mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Mama this man is lazy
Almost drives me crazy
Mama he makes me squeeze him
Still my squeezes don't please him
Mama my heart is aching
I believe it's breaking
I've stood all that I can stand
What's the matter with this man?
I tell you Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
Mama he treats your daughter mean
He's the meanest man I've ever seen
Kay Kay Nowlin
Queen of rock and roll
Jomhel Grafil
Old but gold
Matvall
HOW THE FUCK DID THEY CANCEL THIS SHIT
Ella
CallmeMat it was really high budget and the show didn't make enough money back to do a second season also I think Game of Thrones eats up a lot of their budgets every year so that doesn't help. Hopefully one day they revive this show cause it's just so good
Just another Face
I'm still heartbroken over it. Martin Scorsese, Rich Cohen, Terence Winter AND Mick Jagger come together to create this masterpiece of badassery and great music just to cancel it after one season? I don't get it.
60sjukebox
cus its too fuckin real
Tsedy Taye
Ohhhh, that's some good stuff 👌