Few singers have ever conveyed the troubles, heartache, and loneliness
of the blues with a softer, more elegant touch than Charles Brown, one of the most popular and influential pioneers of postwar blues on the West Coast. Brown had sophistication and education (including a college degree in chemistry and classical training on the piano) and never had to shout or growl; his smooth, urbane approach struck such a chord with listeners that his Aladdin recordings of “Trouble Blues” (1949) and “Black Nights” (1951) spent 15 and 14 weeks, respectively, as No. 1 records on the Billboard R&B charts — marks that still rank them among the most successful singles ever. Brown was born in Texas City, Texas, on Sept. 13, 1921, worked as a teacher and chemist before settling on a career in music after moving to Los Angeles. He first recorded as the vocalist and pianist with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, establishing himself with “Drifting Blues” (1946) and several other hits, including the first of the Christmas songs he would become widely known for, “Merry Christmas Baby” (1948). Brown came up with a second Yuletide standard, “Please Come Home for Christmas,” in 1960. Though he experienced some lean decades as an entertainer, he made his way as a gambler. Eventually he won a following among new blues audiences in the 1980s and ’90s, recording several albums and earning awards and honors for his historic achievements. Brown, an acknowledged influence on Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Bobby Bland, and many more, died on Jan. 21, 1999, in Oakland, California.
— Jim O’Neal
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