Ruth Brown was born in 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Her father directed a local church choir, giving her an early taste of song. Inspired to pursue a career in music by then-popular artists Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington, Ruth ran away from home with trumpeter Jimmy Brown in 1945. Oh to be 17 and ready to rock! After an introduction to the folks at Atlantic Records in 1948, Ruth had her first hit in '49 with "So Long". She had a string of hits after that, spending plenty of time on the charts.
From Wikipedia:
In all, she was on the R&B charts for 149 weeks from 1949 to 1955, with 16 top 10 blues records including 5 number ones, and became Atlantic's most popular artist, earning Atlantic records the proper name of "The House that Ruth Built".
Today's single dropped in 1958, and made it to #24 on Billboard's pop chart. Written by Bobby Darin and Mann Curtis, it seems like an attempt to get a piece of the exploding Rock market. Ruth's pop sensibilities keep the song from rocking out too hard, but the result is defintely a fun tune. How to define the genre is tough - Rockabilly from the Pop R&B perspective? Give it a listen and tell me what you think.
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