ABSTRACT
Singer Ruth Brown (1928-2006), whose title of “Miss Rhythm” signified her importance to the growing R&B field in the early 1950s, was one of the first artists to bring prominence to the inde - pendent label Atlantic Records. As she discusses in these excerpts from her 1996 autobiography, black artists like herself were at a decided disadvantage in the 1950s. Not only were they limited in their access to channels of distribution, such as radio and television, but their very songs were often duplicated virtually note for note by white singers, whose versions were then promoted in wider marketplaces, and for greater sales. The flood of cover versions that floated between rhythm and blues, rock ’n’ roll, and pop in the 1950s proved to be a point of serious contention for black singers like her and LaVern Baker (1929-1997), who as Brown mentions, formally complained of the inequality that she faced competing with white cover singers like Georgia Gibbs.1 On one bitter occasion, Baker even went so far as to name Gibbs as the recipient of her flight insurance, reasoning that if any tragedy were to befall her, Gibbs would be without a source of further revenue. For all the deep resentment and pain that singers like Brown and Baker felt, at the same time Brown acknowledges that she did not view all covers as unwanted encroachments. As long as the recording “contributed” to the song, it was welcome.
