01	Good Day for the Blues						04:36
	02	Can't Stand a Broke Man						04:47
	03	Never Let Me Go						04:35
	04	Hangin' by a Shoestring						03:13
	05	H.B.'s Funky Fable						08:06
	06	A Lover is Forever						04:43
	07	Ice Water in Your Veins						03:36
	08	True						04:34
	09	Cabbage Head						06:08
	10	The Richest One						07:58
	11	Be Good to me Tonight						03:49
	12	I Believe I Can Fly						04:25

Good Day for the Blues
Date of Release Mar 2, 1999

At age 70, Ruth Brown was still in full command of her powers when she cut this beaut of an album in 1998. Fueled by an all-star band featuring Duke Robillard on guitar and New Orleans session stalwarts like James Singleton on bass, keyboardist Davell Crawford, alto saxophonist Ray Moore and a core group that also serves as her touring group, this record was cut live with all the musicians (including a full horn section) playing at once with no overdubs, a throwback to her recording modus operandi at Atlantic back in the 1950s. The songs are first rate, featuring new compositions from soul tunesmith Dan Penn ("Can't Stand a Broke Man," "Be Good to Me Tonight"), torchy ballads ("Never Let Me Go," "A Lover Is Forever," "The Richest One," "I Believe I Can Fly" and "True"), riotous spoken word fables ("Cabbage Head" and "H.B.'s Funky Fable"), and solid rhythm numbers ("Hangin' by a Shoestring," "Ice Water in Your Veins"), all expertly played and sung. Far from being on the downhill side of things, Brown demonstrated that there was still plenty of gas left in the tank when she cut this one. - Cub Koda

1. Good Day for the Blues (Lindsey/Rector) - 4:36
2. Can't Stand a Broke Man (Lindsey/Penn/Whitsett) - 4:47
3. Never Let Me Go (Scott) - 4:35
4. Hangin' by a Shoestring (Barnett/Street) - 3:13
5. H.B.'s Funky Fable (Brown) - 8:06
6. A Lover Is Forever (Goodman/Knobloch) - 4:43
7. Ice Water in Your Veins (Otis) - 3:36
8. True (Gayten) - 4:34
9. Cabbage Head (Traditional) - 6:08
10. The Richest One (Carter) - 7:58
11. Be Good to Me Tonight (Lindsey/Penn/Whitsett) - 3:49
12. I Believe I Can Fly (Kelly) - 4:22

Duke Robillard - Guitar
Ruth Brown - Vocals
Bill Easley - Flute, Arranger, Sax (Tenor)
Scott Billington - Producer, Liner Notes
Bobby Forrester - Piano, Organ (Hammond)
Victor Goines - Clarinet, Arranger, Sax (Baritone)
Ray Moore - Sax (Alto)
Wardell Quezergue - Arranger
Steve Reynolds - Engineer, Mixing
James Singleton - Bass
Akira Tana - Drums
John Touchy - Trombone
Davell Crawford - Piano, Organ (Hammond)
Charlie Miller - Trumpet
Tom Coyne - Mastering
Shonna Valeska - Photography
Moore Moscowitz - Design

1999 CD Bullseye Blues 619613
1999 CS Bullseye Blues 619613



Ruth Brown
AKA born: Ruth Weston
Born Jan 12, 1928 in Portsmouth, VA

They called Atlantic Records "the house that Ruth built" during the 1950s, and they weren't referring to the Sultan of Swat. Ruth Brown's regal hitmaking reign from 1949 to the close of the '50s helped tremendously to establish the New York label's predominance in the R&B field. Later, the business all but forgot her - she was forced to toil as domestic help for a time - but she returned to the top, her status as a postwar R&B pioneer (and tireless advocate for the rights and royalties of her peers) recognized worldwide.
Young Ruth Weston was inspired initially by jazz chanteuses Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington. She ran away from her Portsmouth home in 1945 to hit the road with trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married. A month with bandleader Lucky Millinder's orchestra in 1947 ended abruptly in Washington, D.C., when she was canned for delivering a round of drinks to members of the band. Cab Calloway's sister Blanche gave Ruth a gig at her Crystal Caverns nightclub and assumed a managerial role in the young singer's life. DJ Willis Conover dug Brown's act and recommended her to Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, bosses of a fledgling imprint named Atlantic.

Unfortunately, Brown's debut session for the firm was delayed by a nine-month hospital stay caused by a serious auto accident en route to New York that badly injured her leg. When she finally made it to her first date in May of 1949, she made up for lost time by waxing the torch ballad "So Long" (backed by guitarist Eddie Condon's band), which proved to be her first hit.

Brown's seductive vocal delivery shone incandescently on her Atlantic smashes "Teardrops in My Eyes" (an R&B chart-topper for 11 weeks in 1950), "I'll Wait for You" and "I Know" in 1951, 1952's "5-10-15 Hours" (another number-one rocker), the seminal "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" in 1953, and a tender Chuck Willis-penned "Oh What a Dream" and the timely "Mambo Baby" the next year. Along the way, Frankie Laine tagged her "Miss Rhythm" during an engagement in Philly. Brown belted a series of her hits on the groundbreaking TV program Showtime at the Apollo in 1955, exhibiting delicious comic timing while trading sly one-liners with MC Willie Bryant (ironically, ex-husband Jimmy Brown was a member of the show's house band).

After an even two-dozen R&B chart appearances for Atlantic that ended in 1960 with "Don't Deceive Me" (many of them featuring hell-raising tenor sax solos by Willis "Gator" Jackson, who many mistakenly believed to be Brown's husband), Brown faded from view. After raising her two sons and working a nine-to-five job, Brown began to rebuild her musical career in the mid-'70s. Her comedic sense served her well during a TV sitcom stint co-starring with McLean Stevenson in Hello, Larry, in a meaty role in director John Waters' 1985 sock-hop satire film Hairspray, and during her 1989 Broadway starring turn in Black and Blue (which won her a Tony Award).

There were more records for Fantasy in the '80s and '90s (notably 1991's jumping Fine and Mellow), and a lengthy tenure as host of National Public Radio's "Harlem Hit Parade" and "BluesStage." Brown's nine-year ordeal to recoup her share of royalties from all those Atlantic platters led to the formation of the nonprofit Rhythm & Blues Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping others in the same frustrating situation.

Factor in all those time-consuming activities, and it's a wonder Ruth Brown has time to sing anymore. But she does (quite royally, too), her pipes mellowed but not frayed by the ensuing decades that have seen her rise to stardom not once, but twice. - Bill Dahl


1956 Ruth Brown Sings Favorites Atlantic
1957 Ruth Brown Atlantic
1959 Late Date With Ruth Brown Atlantic
1962 Along Comes Ruth Philips
1962 Gospel Time Polygram
1964 Ruth Brown '65 Mainstream
1968 Fine Brown Frame Koch
1969 Black Is Brown and Brown Is Beautiful DCC
197 You Don't Know Me Dobre
1980 Takin' Care of Business Stockholm
1988 Have a Good Time [live] Fantasy
1989 Blues on Broadway Fantasy
1990 Brown, Black & Beautiful Ichiban
1991 Fine and Mellow Fantasy
1993 Songs of My Life Fantasy
1996 Live in London Jazz House
1997 R+B = Ruth Brown Bullseye Blues
1999 Good Day for the Blues Bullseye Blues
Help a Good Girl Go Bad DCC
Touch Me in the Morning