Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505260043
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
R&B PIONEERS
Opening for Bonnie Raitt Sunday will be Charles Brown and Ruth Brown.
Charles Brown is credited with pioneering a softer, more sophisticated style
of blues in the 1940s that influenced such artists as Nat ``King'' Cole and
Ray Charles. He is best known for writing the songs ``Drifting Blues'' and
``Traveling Blues,'' ``Merry Christmas Baby'' and ``Please Come Home For
Christmas.'' Ruth Brown, who is unrelated to Charles, was born in Portsmouth
and was one of the top female R&B singers of the 1950s. Later, she was cast
in the television sitcom ``Hello Larry'' and the movie ``Hairspray.'' In
1989, she won a Tony Award for her role in the musical, ``Black and Blue,''
and soon afterward won a Grammy for her album, ``Blues on Broadway.''
by CNB