Sunday Morning Music

[Snookie]

Ruth Brown passed away earlier in the week. She was one of the truly great R&B singers of 1950s. Her success was largely responsible for establishing Atlantic Records (it used to be known to as "the house that Ruth built"). She started on the jazz circuit working with Cab Calloway's sister. She enjoyed enormous chart success but saw little or none of the money. She gave up performing in the late 50s to raise a family only returning to the stage in the mid 70s as a comedy act. On the back of her stage act she appeared in a couple of movies (Hairspray is the best known), worked on broadway and ended up winning a Tony. In the late 80s she managed to win back the royalties she was owed, part of which she used to form the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In the early 90s she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as "The Queen of the Blues". She last toured in the late 90s with Bonnie Raitt who idolised her. I heard a great story that Raitt was absolutely mortified having Ruth Brown open for her. She just felt it was wrong. More than once Raitt appeared as the opening act.

You can hear a selection of tracks here. These come from a really interesting blog that ties together post-punk, calypso, gypsy, carribean, latin and brass band music to create something truly wonderful. You can read it here.

 

I've become a big fan of Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez recently. Chip is a one-time professional golfer and successful gambler who managed to also write some truly stunning songs. In between come third in the world black jack championships and being banned from every casino in Atlantic City for card counting, he also wrote Wild Thing , Angel of the Morning and Try Just A Little Bit Harder.

In 2001 he was in a record store in Austin, saw Carrie Rodriguez perform and decided they had to work together. The odd thing is she was playing violin at the time and hadnt yet started to sing. What's strange about that is that she was one of the most sensuously beautiful voices I have ever heard. You can get a copy of one of the three albums they have recorded together here.