Buster Brown (blues musician)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buster Brown (born August 15, 1911 in Cordele , Georgia , † January 31, 1976 in New York ) was an American blues and R&B singer and harmonica player, whose harmonica playing is based on the style of Sonny Terry . The best known is his hit "Fannie Mae".

He played in local clubs and made some non-commercial recordings in the 1930s and 1940s; so his appearance at the folk festival at Fort Valley State Teachers College was recorded for the Folk Music Archives of the Library of Congress . In 1956 he moved to New York, where he was discovered by Bobby Robinson, the boss of Fire Records .

In 1959, when he was nearly 50, he recorded "Fannie Mae," a number that put him at # 38 on the US Top 40 and # 1 on the R&B charts. The follow-up single, a cover of Louis Jordan's "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" did not make it into the R&B charts, he only succeeded in doing that again with "Sugar Babe" (# 19). A subsequent recording of "Crawlin 'Kingsnake" for Checker Records in Chicago, however, no longer reached the charts.

Buster Brown is also the co-writer of "Doctor Brown," a song that Fleetwood Mac covered on their 1968 album Mr.Wonderful .

Discography

  • 1961 The New King of the Blues - Collectables Records
  • 1962 Get Down with Buster Brown - Souflec
  • 1974 Something to Say - Mushroom Records
  • 1976 Raise a Ruckus Tonight - Relic Record Productions
  • 1990 The New King of the Blues - Collectables Records
  • 1994 Raise a Ruckus Tonight - Relic
  • 1996 Good News - Charly Records
  • 2000 The Very Best of Buster Brown - Collectables Records
  • 2005 Something to Say Aztec Music
  • 2015 I'm Going But I'll Be Back 1959-1962 - Jasmine Records

Cover versions of "Fannie Mae"

Booker T. & the MG's (1960s), The Righteous Brothers (1964), Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes (1976), The Holmes Brothers (1996), Max Merritt & the Meteors (1997), Robert Charles (1999), Jaco Pastorius (2001), Mel Brown & the Homewreckers (2001), Big Time Sarah (2001), Coco Montoya (2010)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b All Music Guide biography of Bill Dahl
  2. ↑ For the positions in the R&B charts see Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits . New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 65
  3. ↑ The record reached number 81 in the pop charts, see Whitburn, Joel: "Top Pop Singles 1955-1993". Menomonee Falls / Wisconsin: Record Research, 1994, p. 71
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2003): Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 (1st ed.). Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc., p. 84. ISBN 0-89820-155-1 .
  5. ↑ http://www.soundunwound.com Buster Brown discography
  6. ↑ All Music Guide Credits Buster Brown
personal data
SURNAME Brown, buster
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues singer and harmonica player
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Cordele , Georgia , USA
DATE OF DEATH January 31, 1976
Place of death New York , NY , USA