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.
That Train Don't Stop Here
Ruth Brown Lyrics
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I see my world has changed
The sun won't rise this mornin'
'Cause baby's gone away
Yesterday I could tell myself
That she'd be back for sure
But that train don't stop here
She used to go out with the girls
Every now and then
She always came home early
We'd jump in bed by ten
She'd tell me that she loved me
She would forevermore
But that train don't stop here
anymore
Nothin' changes faster than baby's
fickle mind
I know she' lovin' someone
Somewhere down the line
I know that she still has a key
I'm waiting by the door
But that train don't stop here
anymore
She ran out through the back door
Screamin' in the night
She said I was the devil
I didn't treat her right
The man down at the station
Said "That was her for sure"
Now that train don't stop here
anymore
Ruth Brown's song "That Train Don't Stop Here" portrays a story of a woman who's left by her significant other. The song is organized in verses and choruses with a rock n roll rhythm. The first stanza commences with Brown looking out of the window, claiming that her environment has changed drastically. She implies that the sun won't rise in the morning because her lover has left her. The verse's tone suggests that the lead singer is unhappy, lonely, and plagued by thoughts of whether her lover is ever coming back. In the second verse, Brown reminisces about her times with her lover. She would have a girl's night out, but after she got back home, she would get into bed with Brown. The singer would reaffirm their love, but now Brown recognizes that the train leading her lover to stretch her love elsewhere won't pass through her anymore.
The third verse opens with a socially aware thought- "Nothing changes faster than baby's fickle mind," implying that even though someone thinks they know someone, they may end up discovering that their lover wasn't as committed. Brown acknowledges that her lover is with someone else now, someone who stole her love, but she still waits with her lover's key by the door, hoping that the train stops for her. the verse creates a picture of Brown as someone who is still holding on. Finally, the last verse describes the agitated side of Brown's lover. The lover took off at night, screaming and accusing Brown of not treating her right. Brown goes to the station, hoping to catch one last glimpse of her lover boarding the train. In utter disappointment, Brown discovers that those trains aren't coming that way anymore.
Line by Line Meaning
Looking out my window
As I turn my gaze towards the window to look outside
I see my world has changed
The world that I perceive has undergone a transformation
The sun won't rise this mornin'
I don't feel the warmth of the sun's rays this morning
'Cause baby's gone away
My partner is no longer with me
Yesterday I could tell myself
Only yesterday I could console myself
That she'd be back for sure
That my partner would surely return to me
But that train don't stop here anymore
But now my partner will not be returning, like a train that no longer stops at this station
She used to go out with the girls
My partner used to go out with her female friends
Every now and then
Occasionally
She always came home early
She would always come home at a reasonable hour
We'd jump in bed by ten
We would promptly retire to bed before ten o'clock at night
She'd tell me that she loved me
She would express her affection towards me
She would forevermore
It seemed like she would do so indefinitely
But that train don't stop here anymore
However, that is no longer the case, just like a train that no longer stops at a particular station
Nothin' changes faster than baby's fickle mind
Nothing changes more quickly than the capricious mind of my partner
I know she' lovin' someone
I am aware that she is in love with someone else
Somewhere down the line
At some point in the future
I know that she still has a key
I know that my partner still has a key to our shared living space
I'm waiting by the door
I have stationed myself near the entrance in anticipation
But that train don't stop here anymore
However, my partner will not be returning, just like a train that no longer stops at this station
She ran out through the back door
My partner hastily left through the exit located at the rear of the building
Screamin' in the night
She was shrieking audibly during the nighttime
She said I was the devil
She accused me of being malevolent
I didn't treat her right
I did not treat my partner in a correct or moral manner
The man down at the station
The individual working at the train station
Said "That was her for sure"
Asserted that my partner had indeed departed via the train
Now that train don't stop here anymore
Consequently, the train that used to stop at this station, does so no longer
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: CESAR ROSAS, LEROY PRESTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind