Charles Brown’s music ushered in a revolution in the American music scene. When he first released his soft-toned soulful blues music in the 1940s, he had no idea that it would birth a new genre inside the already-existing rock and roll era. From his beginnings as a pianist in a trio band, he has gone on to release multiple chart-topping solo and trio albums on various labels. His interest in music began in childhood and grew throughout his youth, while he worked and quit several jobs. Although the blues-style music, combined with light rhythmic piano and smooth vocals, gained popularity during its early years, Charles Brown added his own unique touch through his mournful voice, which had hints of polished and sophisticated tones often referred to as ‘nightclub blues’ or ‘cocktail blues.’ Despite being a Texas resident, his seasonal-themed songs won him fame and success on the West Coast, in addition to his regular R&B tracks reaching the music charts. His pupils and future performers, like as Cecil Gant, Amos Milburn, Percy Mayfield, Ray Charles, and Floyd Dixon, adopted his approach in South California. His jazz-inflected tone was great for late-night establishments.
Childhood and Adolescence
Tony Russell Brown, sometimes known as Charles Brown, was born on September 13, 1922, in Texas City, Texas, and graduated from Galveston’s Central High School in 1939. In 1942, he graduated from Prairie View A&M College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry.
Career of Charles Brown
He became a chemistry teacher at George Washington Carver High School in Baytown after graduating.
After a brief stint as a mustard gas worker at Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas, he moved on to work as an apprentice electrician in a shipyard in Richmond, California.
He quit his work and traveled to Los Angeles in 1943 to pursue a career in music, which he had been interested in since childhood. As a vocalist and pianist, he joined the ‘Three Blazers’ band, which included guitarist Johnny Moore and bassist Eddie Williams.
The Three Blazers rose to prominence after Nat King Cole’s group left to focus on national tours, and the Three Blazers began their blues-club style performances. The band began recording on a variety of labels until finding success with Driftin’ Blues in 1945. Brown left the Three Blazers in 1948 to start his own three, the Charles Brown Trio, after providing different R&B hits over the next two years.
Trouble Blues, Black Night, Get Yourself Another Fool, and Hard Times were all chart smashes in the early 1950s while he was working for Eddie Mesner’s Aladdin Records.
Despite the fact that his mellow blues voice couldn’t keep up with the rising rock and roll rhythms in the 1950s, he continued to record singles for Aladdin, Jewel, King, and Imperial.
Except for his 1960 hit Please Come Home for Christmas, his occasional recordings did not keep him in the national spotlight during the 1960s and 1970s, and he faded away with the passage of time.
In the late 1980s, he recorded One More for the Road for Blue Side Records, which went out of business after a while and was re-released and distributed by Alligator Records.
With Bonnie Raitt included him on her tour and reintroducing him and the blues magic to a new audience, his career graph began to rise again. He began making hit albums for several labels, beginning with Bullseye Blues’ classic All My Life in 1990.
His later stage performances, with guitarist Danny Caron, were more popular than his earlier ones. Clifford Solomon on tenor saxophone, Ruth Davies on bass, and Gaylord Birch on drums were among the members of his traveling band. Along with Ruth Brown, he was featured in the PBS documentary That Rhythm…Those Blues.
Major Projects of Charles Brown
With Driftin’ Blues for Philo Records, he became a well-known blues singer. The song stayed on the Billboard R&B charts for 23 weeks, peaking at number two. From 1946 to 1948, the Three Blazers released a string of R&B singles, including New Orleans Blues, Sunny Road, So Long, and More Than You Know. Merry Christmas Baby and Please Come Home to Christmas, two of his Christmas classics, gained in popularity with each passing season, with the latter selling one million copies by 1968 and remained on the charts for the next ten years.
Achievements & Awards
For his albums, he has received a number of Grammy Award nominations.
He received the W.C. Handy Blues Award in 1991. (now Blues Music Awards).
In 1997, the National Endowment for the Arts presented him with the National Heritage Fellowship at a White House event. After his death in 1999, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Personal History and Legacy
He died of congestive heart failure on January 21, 1999, in Oakland, California, at the age of 76. Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California, is where he was laid to rest.
Estimated Net Worth
Charles is one of the wealthiest boxers and one of the most popular. Charles Brown’s net worth is estimated to be at $3 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.