Link to the Show / Show NotesOn this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with the late Ruth Brown. They called Atlantic Records "the house that Ruth built" during the 1950s, and they weren't referring to the Sultan of Swat. 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 and 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. Brown got her start in the 1940s and influenced an entire generation of singers including Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard and Bonnie Raitt. Her hits include "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" and "Teardrops From My Eyes." Later, she appeared ...
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