Piney Brown

Life and career

Columbus Perry was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. He was raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and joined his own family's gospel singing group. He relocated to Baltimore in 1940 and made his recording debut as Piney Brown for Miracle Records in 1947. Only one side was ever released from the four that were recorded, when "That's Right, Little Girl" appeared on Esquire Records in the UK several years later. Perry took the stage name Piney Brown from that of a 1930s Kansas City club owner, who had been immortalized in Big Joe Turner's "Piney Brown Blues", from 1940.

A February 7, 1948, Chicago Defender item said that Piney Brown was beginning a package tour the next month. His tenure with Miracle was short-lived and he moved the same year to Apollo Records in New York, cutting several sides in 1948, including the single release of "Morning Blues" b/w "Gloomy Monday Blues". Sittin' In With Records was his next recording home, where Brown met his long-time friend Ed Wiley, Jr.. Brown's single release of "Have Mercy" b/w "Kokimo" (1952) saw them working together for the first time. Short-term, largely fruitless, stints followed with Par (1952) and Atlas Records (1954).

However, in 1953 he recorded "Ooh You Bring Out The Wolf In Me" b/w "Don't Pass My By" on Jubilee Records; plus "Walk-A-Block-And-Fall" b/w "Whispering Blue" for King Records. Although none of his releases made the national charts, Brown sold well locally and was a top performing attraction who toured the country on a regular basis. He performed with young guitarist Albert Collins in the early 1950s. In the music polls in the Pittsburgh Courier, Brown was regularly nominated as the 'top blues artist'. He performed as a duo with Billy Brooks, which included time at the Club DeLisa in Chicago, which led in 1957 to them both recording for Duke Records. In 1959, Brown recorded "Sugar In My Tea (Cream In My Coffee)" b/w "My Love" for Mad Records, a label set up by Tommy "Madman" Jones, two years earlier.

In the early 1960s, Brown returned to Birmingham to look after his mother, although he continued to tour more locally. By 1969, he was signed to Sound Stage 7, and released a couple of singles, including "One Of These Days (You're Gonna Want Me)" b/w "Nashville Wimmin" (1970). Brown co-wrote the song "Popcorn" with James Brown, and performed on package tours with Ted Taylor, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley.

In 2000, after 48 years apart musically, Brown and Wiley reunited to perform at the Blues Estafette, in Utrecht, Netherlands. In 2004, Brown's debut album, My Task was issued. His last album, One of These Days was also issued by Bonedog Records of McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 2006, and Brown supported its release by playing some local gigs.

On February 5, 2009, Brown died at the age of 87 in Dayton, Ohio, his home since 1963.

Confusion

Songwriting credits for Rosco Gordon's "Just a Little Bit" sometimes include Piney Brown, although the exact authorship is unclear.

He is not to be confused with another Piney Brown, the unrelated manager of the Sunset nightclub in Kansas City in the 1930s. Big Joe Turner wrote "Piney Brown Blues" in that man's honor and sang it throughout his entire career.