Ruth Brown was an Atlantic miracle.
Ruth Brown, a.k.a. "Miss Rhythm," died at 78 on Nov. 17, but not before churning out an arsenal of hits for Atlantic Records that earned her her well-deserved moniker.
Brown was initally inspired by songstresses Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington, but brought her own elegiac sound to songs like "Teardrops In My Eyes" (a hit in 1950) and rockers like "5-10-15 Hours" and "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (Little Richard cites her trademark squeals as an influence in his own music). Her charisma and showmanship was truly one-of-a-kind; few can turn on a dime from a rollicking number and do a torch song with equal aplomb and total believability. Maybe that's why Atlantic Records in the '50s was called "the house that Ruth built."
She also worked tirelessly to force record companies to pay royalities to artists that they had never seen and was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
After a three-week coma following surgery, Brown died in Las Vegas.
No doubt a bevy of young people will be discovering her only now -- but better late than never.
