Charles Brown
Charles Mose Brown was a prominent American rhythm-and-blues singer and pianist born in Texas City, Texas. Raised by his grandparents after losing his parents at a young age, Brown developed a passion for music early on, taking piano lessons and performing in stage bands during his teenage years. He earned a degree in chemistry before pursuing a music career, which gained traction after he moved to Berkeley, California, where he began performing professionally. Brown joined Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, a group that achieved significant popularity in the 1940s, particularly with their hit "Drifting Blues."
Despite experiencing a decline in popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, Brown's career saw a revival in the late 1970s, leading to successful performances in nightclubs and festivals throughout the 1990s. He is celebrated for his unique style, which combined slow ballads with blues influences, setting a standard for future rhythm-and-blues artists. Brown's legacy continues through posthumous releases of his work, which introduced him to new audiences and solidified his place as a significant figure in the music world before his death in 1999.
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Subject Terms
Charles Brown
Singer
- Born: September 13, 1922
- Birthplace: Texas City, Texas
- Died: January 21, 1999
- Place of death: Oakland, California
Combining the blues vocal styles of his time with his own inclination toward singing ballads, Brown became the originator of the blues ballad. His talent and musical insight brought him to a peak of popularity among post-World War II audiences.
Early Life
Charles Mose Brown was born in Texas City, Texas, a small town halfway between Houston and Galveston. His mother died in his infancy, and his father was an itinerant cotton picker who died when Brown was six, leaving Brown to be raised by grandparents. Encouraged by his grandmother to learn the piano, Brown took formal lessons into his teenage years, gaining some musical encouragement from a chemistry teacher who put him in a stage band.
Brown attended college, graduating with a degree in chemistry, and subsequently worked in that industry. He later moved to Berkeley, California, where he won an amateur talent night by playing an Earl Hines song and Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.” He received an offer of a seat in the hosting theater’s pit orchestra, and another offer from a band soon followed.
After he moved to Los Angeles during World War II, Brown got his big break in show business. Guitarist Johnny Moore and bassist Eddie Williams, who had seen Brown in a theater orchestra, contacted him with a job offer. Moore and Williams needed a singer; although he had no singing experience, Brown auditioned and won the job. The trio grew to a quartet with the inclusion of Moore’s brother Oscar, also on guitar. The group won a competition for a Hollywood club date, and with this gig, Brown’s musical career began in earnest.
Life’s Work
The band performed under the name Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers from its debut in 1944 until the fall of 1948. The Blazers proved to be impressively popular with Los Angeles audiences, on recordings, and in nightclubs. After the band’s first release, it was signed by Aladdin Records, a prominent rhythm-and-blues record label. Shortly after signing with Aladdin, the Blazers recorded “Drifting Blues,” a song that became popular in rhythm-and-blues markets nationwide in early 1946. Fresh off the success of “Drifting Blues,” the Blazers went to New York, where the manager of the famed Apollo Theater refused to book an act he thought had no audience. The Blazers took a job at a club around the corner and lured away so many audience members from the Apollo that the latter’s manager approached them within a week with a good offer.
For most of the next three years, the Blazers toured the United States, their nightclub appearances interspersed with frequent recording sessions. Their recording contracts were typically for a stated number of pieces, and this allowed them to move to other labels after fulfilling their obligations. In late 1946, for the label Exclusive, they recorded “Merry Christmas Baby,” a song that would be associated with Brown for the rest of his life.
Throughout this period, the Blazers kept touring. Brown became increasingly displeased with the fact that, although he as the singer was the star of the show, Moore’s name was on the marquee. Many fans even thought Brown was named Moore. Eventually Moore, under whose name the box office receipts were held, tried to shortchange the others. Brown quit, taking Williams with him.
Like many rhythm-and-blues artists of the era, Brown saw his popularity slowly decline during the 1950’s and the 1960’s. During the 1970’s, he gave up music altogether, eventually working as a window washer and janitor. In 1979, his musical fortunes improved with a club date in New York, and in 1989, Bonnie Raitt asked Brown to join her tour. Throughout the 1990’s, Brown became a fixture in nightclubs and festivals around the world. Brown died January 21, 1999, in Oakland, California.
Significance
With his innovative mixing of slow and tender ballads with blues sensibilities, Brown set a standard by which rhythm-and-blues singers measured themselves for decades to come. By providing an alternative to the shouting style of blues singing so popular during the 1940’s, Brown’s style was a model for popular singers that remained valid into the first decade of the twenty-first century. Posthumous reissues of his recordings bolstered his reputation as a brilliant blues balladeer, and he continued to win new fans.
Bibliography
Aykroyd, Dan, and Ben Manilla. “Charles Brown.” In Elwood’s Blues: Interviews with the Blues Legends and Stars. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2004. Ignoring the Blues Brothers character Aykroyd insists on using here, the interview with Brown is extensive and informative.
Deffaa, Chip. “Charles Brown.” In Blue Rhythms: Six Lives in Rhythm and Blues. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996. Contains excellent information on Brown’s hit records and his struggles in his later years.
Tosches, Nick. Unsung Heroes of Rock ’n’ Roll: The Birth of Rock in the Wild Years Before Elvis. New York: Da Capo Press, 1999. An amusing survey of rhythm-and-blues stars of the era with an informative and insightful section on Brown. Focuses on Brown’s faltering fortunes during the 1950’s.