Ruth Brown - Secret Love (2025) [Official Digital Download]

Obscure 70s work from the great Ruth Brown – best known for her postwar R&B work on Atlantic Records, but heard here on two rare sets from the 70s! CD1 is billed as the "soul side", and features the album Brown Black & Beautiful – a record that takes off nicely from the newly sophisticated sound of Brown's similarly-titled album from a few years before – in a mode that's quite different than the Atlantic years, and which has Ruth singing in a beautifully mature style – taking on some real adult themes in her music! Instrumentation has a bit of electricity in the keyboards and bass – never too much so to sound too slick or modern – and Brown's vocals, while different, really come off nicely in the setting. Titles include "My Ol Bed", "I Love My Man", "I Want To Sleep With You", "Brown Sugar", "Ain't No Piece Of Cake", and "Stop Knocking". CD2 is billed as the "jazz side", and features the album You Don't Know Me – an obscure little set from Ruth Brown – cut during some of her lesser-known years, and handled as a batch of straight jazz tunes – a nice change from her sound in the early days! The set's got Ruth singing with a nice small combo that includes Lou Levy on piano – working in a relaxed west coast groove that's a bit like some of the Lorez Alexandria sides from LA from the same period – steeped in R&B, but presented in a jazz mode with a bit more decorum than on earlier records!

TRACKLIST

1. Ruth Brown - Brown Sugar
2. Ruth Brown - You're Gonna See A Lot More Of Me Leaving
3. Ruth Brown - My Old Bed
4. Ruth Brown - Old Fashioned Good Time Loving You
5. Ruth Brown - I Want To Sleep With You
6. Ruth Brown - Stop Knocking
7. Ruth Brown - Sugar Babe
8. Ruth Brown - On Your Way
9. Ruth Brown - I Love My Man
10. Ruth Brown - Seven Days
11. Ruth Brown - What Color Is Blue
12. Ruth Brown - Life Ain't No Piece of Cake
13. Ruth Brown - If I Were A Bell
14. Ruth Brown - Skylark
15. Ruth Brown - Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You
16. Ruth Brown - Miss Brown's Blues
17. Ruth Brown - Smile
18. Ruth Brown - Secret Love
19. Ruth Brown - You Don't Know Me
20. Ruth Brown - Almost Like Being In Love
21. Ruth Brown - Willow Weep For Me
22. Ruth Brown - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
23. Ruth Brown - What'll I Do
24. Ruth Brown - After The Lovin'
25. Ruth Brown - Touch Me In The Morning
26. Ruth Brown - Everybody's Talking
27. Ruth Brown - The Way You Look Tonight
28. Ruth Brown - The Best Thing That Ever Happened



Thanks to the Original customer.