Tony Russell "Charles" Brown (September 13, 1922 – January 21, 1999) was an American singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced nightclub style influenced

West Coast blues West Coast blues is a type of blues music influenced by jazz and jump blues, with strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players who relocated to California in the 1940s. West Coast blues also ...

in the 1940s and 1950s. Between 1949 and 1952, Brown had seven Top 10 hits in the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

. His best-selling recordings included "

Driftin' Blues "Driftin' Blues" or "Drifting Blues" is a blues standard, recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1945. The song is a slow blues and features Charles Brown's smooth, soulful vocals and piano. It was one of the biggest blues hits of the 1940s ...

" and "

Merry Christmas Baby "Merry Christmas Baby" is an Rhythm and blues, R&B Christmas standard credited to Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, Johnny Moore. In 1947, Johnny Moore's Three Blazers recorded the tune, featuring vocals and piano by Charles Brown (mus ...

Early life

Brown was born in

Texas City, Texas Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and pe ...

. As a child he loved music and received

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

training on the piano.Dahl, Bill. "Biography". Allmusic.com
Retrieved 10 November 2015 He graduated from Central High School in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

, in 1939 and

Prairie View A&M College Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant univers ...

in 1942 with a degree in chemistry. He then became a chemistry teacher at George Washington Carver High School in

Baytown, Texas Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of t ...

, a

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...

worker at the

Pine Bluff Arsenal The Pine Bluff Arsenal is a United States Army installation in Jefferson County, Arkansas, about eight miles northwest of Pine Bluff and thirty miles southeast of Little Rock. Pine Bluff Arsenal is one of nine Army installations in the United ...

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...

, and an apprentice electrician at a shipyard in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

, before settling in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1943.

Career

Early success with Johnny Moore

In Los Angeles, an influx of African Americans from the South during World War II created an integrated nightclub scene in which black performers tended to minimize the rougher blues elements of their style. The blues-club style of a light rhythm bass and right-hand tinkling of the piano and smooth vocals became popular, epitomized by the jazz piano of

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

. When Cole left Los Angeles to perform nationally, his place was taken by

Johnny Moore's Three Blazers Johnny Moore's Three Blazers was a popular American vocal group in the 1940s and 1950s. The original members were: *Johnny Moore (John Dudley Moore, October 20, 1906, Austin, Texas – January 6, 1969, Los Angeles, California); * Charles ...

, featuring Brown's gentle piano and vocals. The Three Blazers signed with

Exclusive Records Exclusive Records was a record label established by Leon René, which existed from 1944 to 1950. History Exclusive Records was established by Leon René in Los Angeles in 1944 and ceased operations in January 1950. Buddy Baker was the music dire ...

, and their 1945 recording of "Drifting Blues", with Brown on piano and vocals, stayed on the U.S. ''

'' R&B chart for six months, putting Brown at the forefront of a musical evolution that changed American musical performance. Brown led the group in a series of further hits for Aladdin over the next three years, including "New Orleans Blues" and the original version of "Merry Christmas Baby" (both in 1947) and "More Than You Know" (1948). Brown's style dominated the influential

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

club scene on Central Avenue, in Los Angeles, during that period. He influenced such performers as

Floyd Dixon Floyd Dixon (February 8, 1929 – July 26, 2006) was an American rhythm-and-blues pianist and singer. Life and career Dixon was born in Marshall, Texas. Some sources give his birth name as Jay Riggins, Jr., although Dixon himself stated that F ...

Cecil Gant Cecil Gant (April 4, 1913 – February 4, 1951) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist, whose recordings of both ballads and "fiery piano rockers" were successful in the mid- and late 1940s, and influenced the early development of ...

Ivory Joe Hunter Ivory Joe Hunter (October 10, 1914 – November 8, 1974) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer, songwriter, and pianist. After a series of hits on the US R&B chart starting in the mid-1940s, he became more widely known for his hit recording ...

Percy Mayfield Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song ...

Johnny Ace John Marshall Alexander Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid 1950s. Alexander died of an accidental self-inflicted gunsh ...

and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Solo success

In the late 1940s, a rising demand for blues was driven by a growing audience among white teenagers in the South, which quickly spread north and west. Blues singers such as

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

Wynonie Harris Wynonie Harris (August 24, 1915 – June 14, 1969) was an American blues shouter and rhythm-and-blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952. Harris is attributed by ma ...

and Roy Brown were getting much of the attention, but what writer Charles Keil dubs "the postwar Texas clean-up movement in blues" was also beginning to have an influence, driven by blues artists such as

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Roll ...

Amos Milburn Joseph Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Houston, Texas, and died there 52 years later. One commentator noted, "Milburn excel ...

and Brown. Their singing was lighter and more relaxed, and they worked with bands and combos that had saxophone sections and played from arrangements. Brown left the Three Blazers in 1948 and formed his own trio with Eddie Williams (bass) and Charles Norris (guitar). He signed with

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Aladdin was known for jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock mus ...

and had immediate success with "Get Yourself Another Fool" and then had one of his biggest hits, "

Trouble Blues "Trouble Blues" is a 1949 single by The Charles Brown Trio. The single was the most successful of the trio's career and peaked at number one on the R&B chart for fifteen weeks. At fifteen weeks on the R&B Best Sellers chart, "Trouble Blues" was ...

", in 1949, which stayed at number one on the ''

'' R&B chart for 15 weeks in the summer of that year. He followed with "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down", "Homesick Blues", and "My Baby's Gone", before having another R&B chart-topping hit with "

Black Night "Black Night" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple, first released as a single in June 1970 and later included on the 25th Anniversary version of their 1970 album, ''Deep Purple in Rock''. It became a hit following its release, pe ...

", which stayed at number one for 14 weeks from March to June 1951. His final hit for several years was "Hard Times" in 1951. Brown's approach was too mellow to survive the transition to the harsher rhythms of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, despite his recording in

Cosimo Matassa Cosimo Vincent Matassa (April 13, 1926 – September 11, 2014) was an American recording engineer and studio owner, responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings. Life and career Matassa was born in New Orleans in 1926.Komorowsk ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

studio in 1956, and he faded from national attention. Though he was unable to compete with the more aggressive sound that was increasing in popularity, he had a small, devoted audience, and his songs were covered by the likes of

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

and

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most imp ...

. His "

Please Come Home for Christmas "Please Come Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song, written in 1960 and released the same year by American blues singer and pianist Charles Brown. Hitting the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in December 1961, the tune, which Brown co-wrote with G ...

", a hit for King Records in 1960, remained seasonally popular. "Please Come Home for Christmas" had sold over one million copies by 1968 and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in that year. In the 1960s Brown recorded two albums for Mainstream Records.

Later career

In the 1980s Brown made a series of appearances at the New York City nightclub Tramps. As a result of these appearances he signed a recording contract with Blue Side Records and recorded '' One More for the Road'' in three days. Blue Side Records closed soon after, but distribution of its records was picked up by Alligator Records. Soon after the success of ''One More for the Road'',

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

helped usher in a comeback tour for Brown. He began a recording and performing career again, under the musical direction of the guitarist Danny Caron, to greater success than he had achieved since the 1950s. Other members of Charles's touring ensemble included Clifford Solomon on tenor saxophone, Ruth Davies on bass and

Gaylord Birch Gaylord G. Birch (March 10, 1946 – April 14, 1996) was a drummer for the bands Santana, Graham Central Station, Cold Blood, Pointer Sisters & Herbie Hancock. History Birch was the drummer for the Pointer Sisters during 1974 and perfor ...

on drums. Several records received

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations. In the 1980s Brown toured widely as the opening act for Raitt.

Tributes and awards

Brown was inducted into the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum located at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1 ...

in 1996 and was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

in 1999. He was a recipient of a 1997

National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's h ...

awarded by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States. Brown was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Traditional Blues Performance and was twice awarded to individual tracks rather than albums. The award w ...

three times: in 1991 for ''All My Life'', 1992 for ''Someone To Love'' and 1995 for ''Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues''. Between 1987 and 2005, he was nominated for seventeen

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

s (formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards) in multiple categories, with a win in the Blues Instrumentalist: Piano/Keyboard category in 1991, and wins in the Male Blues Vocalist category in 1993 and 1995.

Death

Brown died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

in 1999 in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and was interred at

Inglewood Park Cemetery Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Avenue in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there. History The proposed est ...

, in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

Discography

Releases by Brown with

are located in that discography.

As leader

* ''Drifting Blues'' (Score, 1957) * ''Sings Christmas Songs'' (King, 1961) * ''The Great Charles Brown That Will Grip Your Heart'' (King, 1963) * ''Boss of the Blues'' (Mainstream, 1964) * ''Ballads My Way'' (Mainstream, 1965) * ''Legend!'' (Bluesway, 1970) * ''Blues 'n' Brown'' (Jewel, 1972) * ''Great Rhythm & Blues Oldies Vol. 2 Charles Brown Blues'' (Spectrum, 1974) * ''Merry Christmas Baby'' (Big Town, 1977) * ''Music, Maestro, Please'' (Big Town, 1978) * ''Please Come Home for Christmas'' (Gusto, 1978) * '' One More for the Road'' (Blue Side, 1986) * ''All My Life'' (Bullseye Blues, 1990) * ''Someone to Love'' (Bullseye Blues, 1992) * ''Blues and Other Love Songs'' (Muse, 1992) * ''These Blues'' (Gitanes/Verve, 1994) * ''Just a Lucky So and So'' (Bullseye Blues, 1994) * ''Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues'' (Bullseye Blues, 1994) * ''Live'' (Charly Blues, 1995) * ''Honey Dripper'' (Gitanes/Verve, 1996) * ''So Goes Love'' (Verve, 1998) * ''In a Grand Style'' (Bullseye Blues, 1999)

Aladdin releases

*3020 "Get Yourself Another Fool" (RR609) b/w "Ooh! Ooh! Sugar" (RR608), 1948, released 1949 (''

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

#4) *3021 "A Long Time" (RR617) (''Billboard'' R&B chart #9) b/w "It's Nothing" (RR612), 1949 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #13) *3024 "Trouble Blues" (RR613) b/w "Honey Keep Your Mind on Me" (RR600), 1949 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #1, 15 weeks) *3030 "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down" (RR611) b/w "Please Be Kind" (RR616), 1949 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #4) *3039 "Homesick Blues" (RR603) b/w "Let's Have a Ball" (RR677), 1949 (billed as Charles Brown & His Smarties) (''Billboard'' R&B chart #5) *3044 "Tormented" (RR673) b/w "Did You Ever Love a Woman" (RR679), 1949, released 1950 *3051 "My Baby's Gone" (RR1521) b/w "I Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" (RR604), 1950 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #6) *3060 "Repentance Blues" (RR1522) b/w "I've Got That Old Feeling" (RR1529), 1950 *3066 "I've Made Up My Mind" (RR1528) b/w "Again" (RR1520), 1950 *3071 "Texas Blues" (RR1525) b/w "How High the Moon" (RR607), 1950 *3076 "Black Night" (RR1619) b/w "Once There Lived a Fool" (RR1623), 1950, released 1951 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #1, 14 weeks) *3091 "I'll Always Be in Love with You" (RR1621) b/w "The Message" (RR1648), 1950, released 1951 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #7) *3092 "Seven Long Days" (RR1620) b/w "Don't Fool with My Heart" (RR1527), 1950, released 1951 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #2) *3116 "Hard Times" (RR1752) b/w "Tender Heart" (RR1750), 1951, released 1952 (''Billboard'' R&B chart #7) *3120 "Still Water" (RR1751) b/w "My Last Affair" (RR602), 1951, released 1952 *3138 "Gee" (RR1523) b/w "Without Your Love (RR1531), 1950, released 1952 *3157 "Rollin' Like a Pebble in the Sand" (RR2018) b/w "Alley Batting" (RR674), 1952 *3163 "Evening Shadows" (RR2017) b/w "Moonrise" (RR1650), 1952 *3176 "Rising Sun" (RR2019) b/w "Take Me" (RR676), 1952, released 1953 *3191 "I Lost Everything" (UN2125) b/w "Lonesome Feeling" (UN2127), 1953 *3200 "Don't Leave Poor Me" (UN2126) b/w "All My Life" (RR1649), not released *3209 "Cryin' and Driftin' Blues" (RR2212) b/w "P.S. I Love You" (RR2215), 1953 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) *3220 "Everybody's Got Troubles (RR2254) b/w "I Want to Fool Around with You" (RR2257), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) *3235 "Let's Walk" (RR2253) b/w "Cryin' Mercy" (RR2214), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) *3235 "Let's Walk" (RR2253) b/w "Blazer's Boogie" (111B) (re-release) 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) *3254 "My Silent Love (RR2255) b/w "Foolish" (RR601), 1953, released 1954 (billed as Charles Brown with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers) *3272 "Honey Sipper" (RR2328) b/w "By the Bend of the River" (RR2329), 1954 *3284 "Nite After Nite" (RR2331) b/w "Walk with Me" (RR2332), 1954, released 1955 *3290 "Fool's Paradise" (CAP2486) b/w "Hot Lips and Seven Kisses (Mambo)" (CAP2484), 1955 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo) *3296 "My Heart Is Mended" (CAP2483) b/w "Trees, Trees" (CAP2487), 1955 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo) *3316 "Please Don't Drive Me Away" (CAP2489) b/w "One Minute to One" (CAP2488), 1955, released 1956 (billed as Charles Brown with Ernie Freeman's Combo) *3339 "I'll Always Be in Love with You" (NO2725) (re-recording) b/w "Soothe Me" (NO2726), 1956 *3342 "Confidential" (NO2754) b/w "Trouble Blues" (reissue), 1956 *3348 "Merry Christmas Baby" (NO2730) (re-recording) b/w "Black Night" (reissue), 1956 *3348 "Black Night" (reissue) b/w "Ooh! Ooh! Sugar" (reissue), 1957 (post-Christmas re-release) *3366 "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" (NO2727) b/w "Please Believe Me" (NO2728), 1956, released 1957 *3422 "Hard Times" (reissue) b/w "Ooh! Ooh! Sugar" (reissue), 1958

Imperial releases

*5830 "Fool's Paradise" (reissue) b/w "Lonesome Feeling" (reissue), 1962 *5902 "Merry Christmas Baby" (reissue) b/w "I Lost Everything" (reissue), 1962 *5905 "Drifting Blues" (reissue) b/w "Black Night" (reissue), 1963 *5961 "Please Don't Drive Me Away" (reissue) b/w "I'm Savin' My Love for You" (RR2330), 1963

East West (Atlantic subsidiary) release

*106 "When Did You Leave Heaven" (EW-2753) b/w "We've Got a Lot in Common" (EW-2755), 1957, released 1958

Ace releases

*561 "I Want to Go Home" (with

) (S-253) b/w "Educated Fool" (with Amos Milburn) (S-254), 1959 *599 "Sing My Blues Tonight" (S-843) b/w "Love's Like a River" (S-844), 1960

Teem (Ace subsidiary) release

*1008 "Merry Christmas Baby" (A-1113-63) b/w "Christmas Finds Me Oh So Sad (Please Come Home for Christmas)" (A-1114-63), 1961, released 1963

King releases

*5405 Charles Brown, "Please Come Home for Christmas" (K4912) b/w Amos Milburn, "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" (K4913), 1960 *5439 "Baby Oh Baby" (K4992) b/w "Angel Baby" (K4993), 1961 *5464 "I Wanna Go Back Home" (with Amos Milburn) (K10607) b/w "My Little Baby" (with Amos Milburn) (K10608), 1961 *5523 "This Fool Has Learned" (K10892) b/w "Butterfly" (K10893), 1961 *5530 "It's Christmas All Year Round" (K10897) b/w "Christmas in Heaven" (K10947), 1961 *5570 "Without a Friend" (K10983) b/w "If You Play with Cats" (K10984), 1961 *5722 "I'm Just a Drifter" (K11405) b/w "I Don't Want Your Rambling Letters" (K11406), 1963 *5726 "It's Christmas Time" (K10898) b/w "Christmas Finds Me Lonely Wanting You" (K10950), 1961, released 1963 *5731 "Christmas Questions" (K10954) b/w "Wrap Yourself in a Christmas Package" (K10956), 1961, released 1963 *5802 "If You Don't Believe I'm Crying (Take a Look at My Eyes)" (K11687) b/w "I Wanna Be Close" (K11689), 1964 *5825 "Lucky Dreamer" (K11688) b/w "Too Fine for Crying" (K11690), 1964 *5852 "Come Home" (K11691) b/w "Blow Out All the Candles (Happy Birthday to You)" (K11692), 1964 *5946 "Christmas Blues" (K10948) b/w "My Most Miserable Christmas" (K10955), 1961, released 1964 *5947 "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" (K10951) b/w "Bringing In a Brand New Year" (K10949), 1961, released 1964

Mainstream release

*607 "Pledging My Love" () b/w "Tomorrow Night" (), 1965

Ace release

*775 "Please Come Home for Christmas" (92772-A) (reissue) b/w "Merry Christmas Baby" (92772-1B) (reissue), 1966

King releases

*6094 "Regardless" (K12330) b/w "The Plan" (K12331), 1967 *6192 "Hang On a Little Longer" (K12723) b/w "Black Night" (K12724) (re-recording), 1968 *6194 "Merry Christmas Baby" (K12725) (re-recording) b/w "Let's Make Every Day a Christmas Day" (K10946), 1968 *6420 "For the Good Times" (K14276) b/w "Lonesome and Driftin'" (K14277), 1973

References

External links

Biography on Allmusic A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Charles 1922 births 1999 deaths People from Texas City, Texas American blues pianists American male pianists American blues singers National Heritage Fellowship winners King Records artists Imperial Records artists Muse Records artists Modern Records artists Kent Records artists Jewel Records artists Ace Records (United States) artists ABC Records artists Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Urban blues musicians West Coast blues musicians People from Galveston, Texas Singers from Texas Prairie View A&M University alumni 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male singers Aladdin Records artists African-American pianists The New York Rock and Soul Revue members