RUTH BROWN, MISS RHYTHM

A vocalista Ruth Brown, que nasceu com o nome Ruth Weston, nasceu no 12 de janeiro de 1928 em Portsmouth,Virginia. Ela começou a cantar na igreja que frequentava desde criança, onde seu pai era o diretor de música. Suas maiores influências foram de Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan e Dinah Washington.

Muitos anos antes de Aretha Franklin ser coroada a "Rainha do Soul", Ruth reinou como a primeira "Rainha do Rhythm and Blues". Seu estilo era incomun, atrevido e com grande apelo popular e se tornou uma das cantoras mais influentes de sua época.



A carreira de Ruth se estendeu por seis décadas: primeiramente como uma brilhante cantora de blues conhecida como "a garota com uma lágrima na voz" e depois, após um periodo de ostracismo, como a personificação de uma mulher negra indomável, com os pés fincados no chão.

Ruth faleceu em novembro de 2006.



Ruth canta o blues com B.B. King.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfuQ4ZF0nF4


Vocalist Ruth Brown was born Ruth West, on January 12th, 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Ruth began to sing at the local AME church where her father was the choir diretor. Her influences were Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington.


Years before Aretha Franklin was crowned Queen of Soul, Ruth Brown, reigned as the Original Queen of R&B. She achieved a distinct style, sassy and streetwise, which made her one of the more influential singers of her era.





Ms. Brown sustained a career for six decades: first as a bright, bluesy singer who was called “the girl with a tear in her voice” and then, after some lean years, as the embodiment of an earthy, indomitable black woman. She had a life of hard work, hard luck, determination, audacity and style. Sometimes it was said that R&B stood as much for Ruth Brown as it did for rhythm and blues.



Once, on the way to New York City, she was seriously injured in an automobile accident and hospitalized for most of a year; her legs, which were smashed, would be painful for the rest of her life. She stood on crutches in 1949 to record her first session for Atlantic Records, and the bluesy ballad “So Long” became a hit.




Throughout the 1950s, Ruth Brown churned out dozens of R&B hits, including her million-selling “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” “5-10-15 Hours,” “Mambo Baby,” and “Teardrops From My Eyes.” Brown's two dozen hit records helped Atlantic Records secure its footing in the record industry, a track record for which the label was referred to as 'the House That Ruth Built'. She later crossed over into rock'n'roll with “Lucky Lips” and “This Little Girl's Gone Rockin',” a song she co-wrote with Bobby Darin.




Ruth Brown remains, along with giants like Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Amos Milburn and Wynonie Harris as one of the undisputed architects of Rhythm & Blues. Her impressive credits include several million-selling hits, induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame (1993), a 1989 Grammy, 2 WC Handy Awards, a Tony Award (Black and Blue-1989), the Ralph Gleason Award for Music Journalism (1996 autobiography Miss Rhythm) and Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 2002 Ruth Brown was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame.
Ruth Brown, “Miss Rhythm,” suffered a heart attack in October 2006 and never recovered, passing on November 17, 2006.

Reference - Wikipédia
Traducão de Humberto Amorim