Sings Christmas Songs, The New York Rock and Soul, In a Grand Style, A Winter Romance, Christmas Hymns and Carols
Tony Russell "Charles" Brown (September 13, 1922 – January 21, 1999) was an American blues singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced blues performance in the 1940s and 1950s. He had several hit recordings, including "Driftin' Blues" and "Merry Christmas Baby".
In Los Angeles, an influx of African Americans from the South during World War II created an integrated nightclub scene in which black performers tended to minimize the rougher blues elements of their style. The blues-club style of a light rhythm bass and right-hand tinkling of the piano and smooth vocals became popular, epitomized by the jazz piano of Nat King Cole. When Cole left Los Angeles to perform nationally, his place was taken by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, featuring Brown's gentle piano and vocals.
The Three Blazers signed with Exclusive Records, and their 1945 recording of "Drifting Blues", with Brown on piano and vocals, stayed on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart for six months, putting Brown at the forefront of a musical evolution that changed American musical performance. Brown led the group in a series of further hits for Aladdin over the next three years, including "New Orleans Blues" and the original version of "Merry Christmas Baby" (both in 1947) and "More Than You Know" (1948). Brown's style dominated the influential Southern California club scene on Central Avenue, in Los Angeles, during that period. He influenced such performers as Floyd Dixon, Cecil Gant, Ivory Joe Hunter, Percy Mayfield, Johnny Ace and Ray Charles.
Solo success
In the late 1940s, a rising demand for blues was driven by a growing audience among white teenagers in the South, which quickly spread north and west. Blues singers such as Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown were getting much of the attention, but what writer Charles Keil dubs "the postwar Texas clean-up movement in blues" was also beginning to have an influence, driven by blues artists such as T-Bone Walker, Amos Milburn and Brown. Their singing was lighter and more relaxed, and they worked with bands and combos that had saxophone sections and played from arrangements.
Brown left the Three Blazers in 1948 and formed his own trio with Eddie Williams (bass) and Charles Norris (guitar). He signed with Aladdin Records and had immediate success with "Get Yourself Another Fool" and then had one of his biggest hits, "Trouble Blues", in 1949, which stayed at number one on the Billboard R&B chart for 15 weeks in the summer of that year. He followed with "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down", "Homesick Blues", and "My Baby's Gone", before having another R&B chart-topping hit with "Black Night", which stayed at number one for 14 weeks from March to June 1951.
His final hit for several years was "Hard Times" in 1952. Brown's approach was too mellow to survive the transition to the harsher rhythms of rock and roll, despite his recording in Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio in 1956, and he faded from national attention. Though he was unable to compete with the more aggressive sound that was increasing in popularity, he had a small, devoted audience, and his songs were covered by the likes of John Lee Hooker and Lowell Fulson.
His "Please Come Home for Christmas", a hit for King Records in 1960, remained seasonally popular. "Please Come Home for Christmas" had sold over one million copies by 1968 and was awarded a gold disc in that year.
In the 1960s Brown recorded two albums for Mainstream Records.
Later career
In the 1980s Brown made a series of appearances at the New York City nightclub Tramps. As a result of these appearances he signed a recording contract with Blue Side Records and recorded One More for the Road in three days. Blue Side Records closed soon after, but distribution of its records was picked up by Alligator Records. Soon after the success of One More for the Road, Bonnie Raitt helped usher in a comeback tour for Brown.
He began a recording and performing career again, under the musical direction of the guitarist Danny Caron, to greater success than he had achieved since the 1950s. Other members of Charles's touring ensemble included Clifford Solomon on tenor saxophone, Ruth Davies on bass and Gaylord Birch on drums. Several records received Grammy Award nominations. In the 1980s Brown toured widely as the opening act for Raitt.
3176 "Rising Sun" (RR2019) b/w "Take Me" (RR676), 1952, released 1953
3191 "I Lost Everything" (UN2125) b/w "Lonesome Feeling" (UN2127), 1953
3200 "Don't Leave Poor Me" (UN2126) b/w "All My Life" (RR1649), not released
3209 "Cryin' and Driftin' Blues" (RR2212) b/w "P.S. I Love You" (RR2215), 1953 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
3220 "Everybody's Got Troubles (RR2254) b/w "I Want to Fool Around with You" (RR2257), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
3235 "Let's Walk" (RR2253) b/w "Cryin' Mercy" (RR2214), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
3235 "Let's Walk" (RR2253) b/w "Blazer's Boogie" (111B) (re-release) 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
3254 "My Silent Love (RR2255) b/w "Foolish" (RR601), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)
3272 "Honey Sipper" (RR2328) b/w "By the Bend of the River" (RR2329), 1954
3284 "Nite After Nite" (RR2331) b/w "Walk with Me" (RR2332), 1954, released 1955
3290 "Fool's Paradise" (CAP2486) b/w "Hot Lips and Seven Kisses (Mambo)" (CAP2484), 1955 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo)
3296 "My Heart Is Mended" (CAP2483) b/w "Trees, Trees" (CAP2487), 1955 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo)
3316 "Please Don't Drive Me Away" (CAP2489) b/w "One Minute to One" (CAP2488), 1955, released 1956 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo)
3339 "I'll Always Be in Love with You" (NO2725) (re-recording) b/w "Soothe Me" (NO2726), 1956
5464 "I Wanna Go Back Home" (with Amos Milburn) (K10607) b/w "My Little Baby" (with Amos Milburn) (K10608), 1961
5523 "This Fool Has Learned" (K10892) b/w "Butterfly" (K10893), 1961
5530 "It's Christmas All Year Round" (K10897) b/w "Christmas in Heaven" (K10947), 1961
5570 "Without a Friend" (K10983) b/w "If You Play with Cats" (K10984), 1961
5722 "I'm Just a Drifter" (K11405) b/w "I Don't Want Your Rambling Letters" (K11406), 1963
5726 "It's Christmas Time" (K10898) b/w "Christmas Finds Me Lonely Wanting You" (K10950), 1961, released 1963
5731 "Christmas Questions" (K10954) b/w "Wrap Yourself in a Christmas Package" (K10956), 1961, released 1963
5802 "If You Don't Believe I'm Crying (Take a Look at My Eyes)" (K11687) b/w "I Wanna Be Close" (K11689), 1964
5825 "Lucky Dreamer" (K11688) b/w "Too Fine for Crying" (K11690), 1964
5852 "Come Home" (K11691) b/w "Blow Out All the Candles (Happy Birthday to You)" (K11692), 1964
5946 "Christmas Blues" (K10948) b/w "My Most Miserable Christmas" (K10955), 1961, released 1964
5947 "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" (K10951) b/w "Bringing In a Brand New Year" (K10949), 1961, released 1964
Mainstream release
607 "Pledging My Love" (R5KM-7389) b/w "Tomorrow Night" (R5KM-7390), 1965
Ace release
775 "Please Come Home for Christmas" (92772-A) (reissue) b/w "Merry Christmas Baby" (92772-1B) (reissue), 1966
King releases
6094 "Regardless" (K12330) b/w "The Plan" (K12331), 1967
6192 "Hang On a Little Longer" (K12723) b/w "Black Night" (K12724) (re-recording), 1968
6194 "Merry Christmas Baby" (K12725) (re-recording) b/w "Let's Make Every Day a Christmas Day" (K10946), 1968
6420 "For the Good Times" (K14276) b/w "Lonesome and Driftin'" (K14277), 1973
Original LP and CD releases
1952 Mood Music (Aladdin Records 702), 10" vinyl LP
1956 Mood Music (Aladdin Records 809), 12" vinyl LP, listed for release on the back cover of early Aladdin albums but never issued
1957 Drifting Blues (Score Records 4011), Aladdin subsidiary label
1961 Sings Christmas Songs (King Records 775), reissued as Please Come Home for Christmas (King-Starday 5019)
1962 Million Sellers (Imperial Records 9178), all Aladdin Records material
1964 Boss of the Blues (Mainstream Records 6007), reissued as Since I Fell for You (Garland-DCC 26)
1965 Ballads My Way (Mainstream Records 6035)
1970 Charles Brown: Legend! (ABC-Bluesway Records 6039), reissued as MCA Special Products 22112
1972 Driftin' Blues (Mainstream Records 368)
1972 Blues 'n' Brown (Jewel Records 5006)
1973 Great Rhythm & Blues Oldies, Volume 2: Charles Brown (Blues Spectrum [Johnny Otis's label] 1020), reissued as The Very Best of Charles Brown Featuring Shuggie Otis (Stardust-Cleopatra 881)
1977 Merry Christmas Baby (Big Town Records 1003)
1978 Music, Maestro, Please (Big Town Records 1005)
1978 Charles Brown & Johnny Moore's Three Blazers: Sunny Road, recorded 1945–1960 (Route 66 Records KIX-5)
1980 Charles Brown & Johnny Moore's Three Blazers: Race Track Blues, recorded 1945–1956 (Route 66 Records KIX-17)
1980 I'm Gonna Push On! (Live at Mosebacke) (Stockholm Records RJ-200), live recording from Brown's 1979 tour of Sweden
1986 One More for the Road (Blue Side Records 60007), reissued as Alligator Records 4771
1986 Charles Brown (w/Johnny Moore's Three Blazers): Let's Have a Ball, recorded 1945–1961 (Route 66 Records KIX-34)
1989 Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (with Charles Brown): This Is One Time, Baby, recorded 1945–1949 (Jukebox Lil JB-1105)
1989 Charles Brown & Johnny Moore's Three Blazers: Sail On Blues, recorded 1945–1947 (Jukebox Lil JB-1106)
1990 All My Life (Bullseye Blues 9501)
1992 Blues and Other Love Songs (Muse 5466), reissued as Savoy Jazz 17295
1992 Someone to Love (Bullseye Blues 9514)
1994 Just a Lucky So and So (Bullseye Blues 9521)
1994 These Blues (Gitanes-Verve 523022)
1994 Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues (Bullseye Blues 9561)
1995 Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz ... with Guest: Charles Brown (Jazz Alliance 12032)
1996 Honey Dripper (Gitanes-Verve 529848)
1998 So Goes Love (Verve 539967)
1999 In a Grand Style (Bullseye Blues 9551)
CD compilations and other releases of note
1990 Hard Times & Cool Blues: Original Aladdin Masters (Sequel NEX-133)
1991 The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon (Giant-Warner Bros. 24423)
1992 Driftin' Blues: The Best of Charles Brown (Capitol-EMI 97989; reissued as Collectables 5631)
1993 Boss of the Blues (Mainstream/Columbia-Sony 53624)
1994 The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Charles Brown (Mosaic 153), five-CD box set
1995 Snuff Dippin' Mama, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Night Train International 7017)
1995 Walkin' in Circles, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Night Train International 7024)
1996 The Chronological Charles Brown: 1944–1945, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (Classics 894)
1996 Drifting & Dreaming, with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (all Modern Records material) (Ace CHD-589)
1996 Sings the Blues (all Mainstream Records material) (Sony Music Special Products 26431)