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.
Milky White Way
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh Lord some of these days
I'm gonna walk that milky white way
Some of these days well well well well
I'm gonna walk up and take my stand
Gonna join that Christian band
I'm gonna walk on that milky white way
Oh Lord, some of these days
I'm gonna tell my mother howdy, howdy,
Howdy when I get home
Yes, I'm gonna tell my mother howdy,
When I get home well well well well
I'm gonna shake my mother's hand
I will shake her hands that day
That's when we walk on the milky white way
On some of these days
I'm gonna meet god the father and god the son
Yes, I'm gonna meet god the father and god the son
Well well well well
I'm gonna sit down and tell Him my troubles
About the world that I just came from
That's when we walk on the milky white way
Oh Lord, on some of these days
The song "Milky White Way" is a spiritual gospel song that is primarily about the desire to attain salvation and walk the path of righteousness in accordance with the Christian religion. The song begins with the singer expressing their desire to walk on the "milky white way," which is a metaphor for the path of righteousness and the journey towards salvation. They declare their intention to join the Christian band and stand with their fellow Christians.
In the next verse, the singer speaks about their longing to reunite with their mother and shake her hand. The act of shaking hands represents a warm welcome and reunion, indicating that the singer has been away for some time. The mention of the mother also signifies the importance of familial bonds and the hope for a reunion with loved ones in the afterlife.
The final verse speaks of the desire to meet God the Father and God the Son and express their troubles and grievances about the world they have just come from. This expresses the singer's hopes for redemption and a resolution of difficulties faced in life. The overarching theme of the song appears to be the desire for salvation and reunion with loved ones in heaven.
Line by Line Meaning
Yes I'm gonna walk on the milky white way
I will walk on the path of righteousness and salvation
Oh Lord some of these days
In the near future, I will embark on this spiritual journey
I'm gonna walk that milky white way
I am determined to reach Heaven
Some of these days well well well well
At an unspecified but soon-to-come time
I'm gonna walk up and take my stand
I will stand up for my faith without hesitation
Gonna join that Christian band
I will unite with other believers in Christ
I'm gonna walk on that milky white way
I will follow the path of righteousness
Oh Lord, some of these days
In the not-so-distant future, I will embark on this journey with faith and hope
I'm gonna tell my mother howdy, howdy,
I plan to joyously greet my mother upon my arrival to Heaven
Howdy when I get home
I will greet her with open arms upon my arrival in Heaven
Yes, I'm gonna tell my mother howdy,
I am determined to reunite with my mother in the afterlife
When I get home well well well well
Upon my arrival to Heaven
I'm gonna shake my mother's hand
I will embrace my mother lovingly
I will shake her hands that day
I will reunite with my mother in a joyous embrace on that day
That's when we walk on the milky white way
We will journey together down the path of righteousness and salvation
On some of these days
In the near future, we will be reunited in the afterlife
I'm gonna meet god the father and god the son
I will encounter the divine beings of God the Father and the Son in the afterlife
Well well well well
An expression of excitement and anticipation for this future encounter
I'm gonna sit down and tell Him my troubles
I will seek comfort in pouring out my worldly troubles to Him
About the world that I just came from
I will share my experiences on Earth with Him
That's when we walk on the milky white way
This encounter with God will take place as we journey down the path of righteousness
Oh Lord, on some of these days
In the near future, I will have this meeting with God on my journey to salvation
Writer(s): Margie Singleton, Ruth Brown, Jerry Kennedy
Contributed by Nicholas I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.