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.
Salty Papa Blues
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He treats me like the rest
I said I've got a man
Treats me like the rest
He gets me so worried
I don't know where I'm at
Papa why you so salty
I said papa why you so salty
Why do you bring me down?
There's no complaint
When my other man comes around
When I give you all my lovin'
You say I wear you out
When I give you none at all
You say you can't do without
I ain't aghast with you
You need a different line
Go get a fortune telling woman
Who knows how to read your mind
In Ruth Brown's song "Salty Papa Blues," she is lamenting about her man who isn't treating her well. She starts off by saying that she has a man, but he treats her like all the rest which is to say, not very well. He makes her worried and confused about where they stand. Then, she questions her man and asks him why he has to be so salty and bring her down. She wonders why he can't be more agreeable like her other man who doesn't cause any issues. Despite trying to please her man by giving him all her love, he still complains and says that she wears him out. On the other hand, when she gives him no love, he says he can't do without her. Ruth comes to the conclusion that he needs a different kind of woman who can read his mind and knows exactly what he wants.
The lyrics in "Salty Papa Blues" reflect the concerns and issues that women faced during the 1950s when Ruth Brown wrote the song. During this time, women were expected to be subservient to their husbands and conform to traditional gender roles. The lyrics in this song show that women were not always happy with their role and were actively looking for change. Additionally, the title of the song comes from the phrase "salty dog," which was a slang term for a man who was untrustworthy or unreliable. This further emphasizes the fact that the man in the song is not treating Ruth with the respect she deserves.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a man
I am in a committed relationship
He treats me like the rest
My man does not treat me any differently than other men
I said I've got a man
I want to make it clear that I am not single
Treats me like the rest
He treats me no better than he treats other women
He gets me so worried
His behavior causes me to feel anxious and uncertain
I don't know where I'm at
I am unsure about the status of our relationship
Papa why you so salty
Father figure, why are you acting bitter and angry towards me?
Why do you bring me down?
Why are you discouraging me?
There's no complaint
When I spend time with another man, you do not have a problem with it
When my other man comes around
Another man is in my life
When I give you all my lovin'
When I am affectionate towards you
You say I wear you out
You complain that I am being too much for you to handle
When I give you none at all
When I show you no affection
You say you can't do without
You complain that you cannot live without me
I ain't aghast with you
I am not surprised by your behavior
You need a different line
You need to change your behavior and attitude towards me
Go get a fortune telling woman
Seek guidance from someone else who can better understand your needs
Who knows how to read your mind
Find someone who can understand you on a deeper level
Writer(s): Feather Leonard Geoffrey, Hampton Lionel
Contributed by Aria K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Omega
One of the most memorable shows I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to a lot.) A few months before she died, at Viva Las Vegas, two songs in when she realized everyone in the ballroom was singing along and knew her lyrics, she teared up and proceeded to sing her heart out. What a voice!
nompumelelo Lembede
this song Thou this lady can sing a true princess and i love her facial expressions
Stephen Dreher
Great stuff, BJ. Thanks.