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.
Shine On
Ruth Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I see it in your eyes. In your eyes.
Same old moves for a new romance.
I could use the same old lies, but I'll sing,
Shine on, just, shine on!
Close your eyes and they'll all be gone.
They can scream and shout that they've been sold out,
But it paid for the cloud that we're dancing on.
With your smile just as bright as the sun.
'Cause they're all just slaves to the gods they made
But you and I just shone.
Just shone.
And when silence greets my last goodbye,
The words I need are in your eyes, and I'll sing.
Shine On, just, shine on!
Close your eyes and they'll all be gone.
They can scream and shout that they've been sold out,
But it paid for the cloud that we're dancing on.
So shine on. Just shine on!
With your smile just as bright as the sun.
'Cause they're all just slaves to the gods they made,
But you and I just shone.
Just shone.
The lyrics to Ruth Brown's song Shine On can be interpreted in a couple of ways. At face value, it seems like a song about a longing, somewhat cynical love that two people have for each other. The lyrics suggest that they've been at this dance before and the moves are the same, but they'll make it work this time with a little bit of lies and a whole lot of shining on. The singer is acknowledging that they're surrounded by people who are all slaves to something, but when they shine, it's just them. They'll keep shining bright until the rest of the world fades away. However, the song can also be interpreted as a song about perseverance and perseverance in the face of adversity.
The repeated refrain of "Shine On" could be seen as a message to keep going and to keep shining despite the difficulties. The fact that the singer sings "they can scream and shout that they've been sold out, but it paid for the cloud that we're dancing on" suggests that there is some sense of victory in the face of conflict. Despite being told that they've been sold out, the singer is able to dance on a cloud as if nothing happened. The final verse reinforces this idea that even if everything else fades away, the love between two people endures.
Line by Line Meaning
Are they calling for our last dance?
Do you think this is our final moment together?
I see it in your eyes. In your eyes.
I can sense your emotions through your eyes.
Same old moves for a new romance.
People tend to repeat the same actions in different relationships.
I could use the same old lies, but I'll sing,
I could deceive you with the usual lies, but I prefer to sing.
Shine on, just, shine on!
Keep shining, never give up.
Close your eyes and they'll all be gone.
Ignore the distractions around you by closing your eyes.
They can scream and shout that they've been sold out,
Others may feel betrayed, but they're getting what they paid for.
But it paid for the cloud that we're dancing on.
Their betrayal helped create the romantic ambiance we're in right now.
With your smile just as bright as the sun.
Your smile is radiant and captivating.
'Cause they're all just slaves to the gods they made
People are all obsessed with the things they created in their lives.
But you and I just shone.
We stood out amongst the rest.
And when silence greets my last goodbye,
When I pass away and it's peaceful.
The words I need are in your eyes, and I'll sing.
I'll find my final solace in the love I see in your eyes and sing.
Shine On, just, shine on!
Keep shining, never give up.
Close your eyes and they'll all be gone.
Ignore the distractions around you by closing your eyes.
They can scream and shout that they've been sold out,
Others may feel betrayed, but they're getting what they paid for.
But it paid for the cloud that we're dancing on.
Their betrayal helped create the romantic ambiance we're in right now.
So shine on. Just shine on!
Keep shining, never give up.
With your smile just as bright as the sun.
Your smile is radiant and captivating.
'Cause they're all just slaves to the gods they made,
People are all obsessed with the things they created in their lives.
But you and I just shone.
We stood out amongst the rest.
Writer(s): Jason Ingram, Carlos Whittaker
Contributed by Hannah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.