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.
You And The Night And The Music
Ruth Brown Lyrics
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Fill me with flaming desire
Setting my being completely on fire
You and the night and the music
Thrill me but will we be one
After the night and the music are done?
Until the pale light of dawning and daylight
Morning may come without warning
And take away the stars
If we must live for the moment
Love till the moment is through
After the night and the music die
Will I have you
Until the pale light of dawning and daylight
Our hearts will be throbbing guitars
Morning may come without warning
And take away the stars
You and the night and the music
You and the night
You
and the music make for a potent combination in Ruth Brown's song "You And The Night And The Music." The singer is filled with "flaming desire," their being alight with passion, thanks to the blend of the "night" and the "music." The song's verses describe the height of romantic attraction, physical and emotional, the sort that sets hearts throbbing like guitars. However, the chorus introduces an element of uncertainty - the singer wonders if they will be "one" after the night and the music are done.
The song's lyrics convey a sense of urgency, a need to seize the moment and love fully until the end, despite the possibility of morning light and the stars fading away. While the singer is lost in the passion of the moment, they are also aware of their fragile nature, and they wonder whether their connection with their lover will continue beyond the instant awe they are both feeling in the present moment. The lyrics suggest a desire for a deeper, more meaningful connection that transcends the sensual.
Line by Line Meaning
You and the night and the music
The combination of you, the night, and the music ignites a strong desire within me.
Fill me with flaming desire
The feeling of being with you on this night with this music is intense and passionate.
Setting my being completely on fire
Being with you, immersed in the music and atmosphere has set me on fire and I am fully engulfed in this moment.
Thrill me but will we be one
The excitement of this moment is thrilling, but I wonder if it will bring us closer together or drive us apart.
After the night and the music are done?
I am curious if our connection will remain after this moment has passed and the night and music are over.
Until the pale light of dawning and daylight
Our passion and connection will continue until the sun begins to rise and the day begins.
Our hearts will be throbbing guitars
Our hearts are beating in sync, like the strings of a guitar, fueled by the energy of this moment.
Morning may come without warning
Daylight may arrive suddenly and abruptly, signaling the end of this passionate moment.
And take away the stars
The daylight will steal away the magic of the night, and the stars will literally be hidden from view.
If we must live for the moment
We must embrace this moment fully, knowing it may pass quickly and not last forever.
Love till the moment is through
We must continue to love and be fully present in this moment, until it is over.
After the night and the music die
Once the night and music have come to an end and the energy has dissipated.
Will I have you
I am unsure if our connection will remain after the night and music end, if I will still have you by my side.
You and the night and the music
You and the night, with this captivating music, have created a moment of intense affinity and desire for me.
You and the night
It is the combination of you with the night, with its enchanting energy, that has created this powerful connection.
Lyrics © Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ARTHUR SCHWARTZ, HOWARD DIETZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind