Ruth Brown

With her second album for Atlantic, Ruth Brown turned up the heat on her influences from the Forties and Fifties and edged closer to what would become rock’n’roll. Brown’s style had grown from a variety of sources, and here you can witness her push big band swing (“Wild Wild Young Men,” “Teardrops From My Eyes”), mainstream pop vocals (“Old Man River,” “Sentimental Journey”), blues (“5-10-15 Hours,” “It’s Love Baby”), and even latin (“Daddy Daddy,” “Mambo Baby”) to bigger, brassier places than had ever before been attempted. As with so many recordings from Atlantic during this period, one can hear jazz, doo-wop, and blues coalescing to form something new; even Little Richard is presaged in Brown’s trademark vocal yelps. However, with this album it becomes harder to view rock’n’roll as an impending innovation. “Lucky Lips,” “As Long As I’m Moving,” and Brown’s signature “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” make it clear that she was already there.