Cover illustration made with an AI image tool, chosen and framed by the editor.
A playlist for…
Ruth Brown, Miss Rhythm
The singles that made Atlantic "the house that Ruth built," year by year, plus two from her Grammy-winning 1989 album. About an hour.
- Length
- 59 min
- Tracks
- 20
- Energy
- Lively
- Vocals
- With vocals
Songs with singing.
Listen on SpotifyPublished October 29, 2026
Atlantic Records got a nickname out of Ruth Brown: “the house that Ruth built.” This playlist follows the singles behind it, year by year, from the song she sang at her first audition in 1949 to “Don’t Deceive Me” in 1959, and then jumps ahead thirty years.
All five of her R&B No. 1s are here. “Teardrops from My Eyes” held the top of Billboard’s R&B chart for 11 weeks in 1950 and earned her the name Miss Rhythm. “5-10-15 Hours,” “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” “Oh What a Dream” and “Mambo Baby” followed. Between them are more of her chart singles, one B-side (“Somebody Touched Me,” the flip of “Mambo Baby”), a duet with Clyde McPhatter, and “Lucky Lips,” the Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller song that gave her a pop hit in 1957.
The last two tracks come from Blues on Broadway, released on Fantasy in 1989. By then Brown had taken up a different fight: in 1987 she pushed for musicians’ rights and royalties, and that push led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1988. In 1989 she won a Tony Award for Black and Blue, and Blues on Broadway won her a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance, female. “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll Keep Sittin’ on It” is the Andy Razaf number she also sang in that show.
She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and died in 2006. Start at the top and let it run.
Tracklist
Side A
- 01So LongRuth Brown2:41
She sang this at her first Atlantic audition, in 1949, and it became a hit. She had signed with the label from a hospital bed. [source]
- 02Teardrops from My EyesRuth Brown2:51
Billboard’s R&B No. 1 for 11 weeks. It’s the record that earned her the name Miss Rhythm. [source]
- 03I'll Wait for YouRuth Brown2:37
- 04I KnowRuth Brown · Single Version2:49
- 055-10-15 HoursRuth Brown3:12
- 06Daddy DaddyRuth Brown2:51
- 07(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter MeanRuth Brown2:53
- 08Wild Wild Young MenRuth Brown2:32
- 09Oh What a DreamRuth Brown2:53
- 10Mambo BabyRuth Brown2:41
One of her five R&B No. 1s, with “Teardrops from My Eyes,” “5-10-15 Hours,” “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean” and “Oh What a Dream,” all on this playlist. Track 11, “Somebody Touched Me,” was its B-side. [source]
Side B
- 11Somebody Touched MeRuth Brown2:28
- 12Love Has Joined Us TogetherRuth Brown with Clyde McPhatter2:58
- 13It's Love Baby (24 Hours of the Day)Ruth Brown2:44
- 14As Long as I'm MovingRuth Brown2:45
- 15Lucky LipsRuth Brown2:06
Written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, recorded in 1957, and her first pop hit. [source]
- 16This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'Ruth Brown1:48
- 17I Don't KnowRuth Brown2:54
- 18Don't Deceive MeRuth Brown · Single Version2:15
- 19If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' on ItRuth Brown5:22
From Blues on Broadway, the 1989 album that won her a Grammy for best jazz vocal performance, female. She also sang this Andy Razaf number on Broadway in Black and Blue. [source 1] [source 2]
- 20Nobody Knows You When You're Down and OutRuth Brown5:36
Total59 min
At a glance
- How long is the “Ruth Brown, Miss Rhythm” playlist?
- 59 minutes, 20 tracks, played in the order listed.
- Does it have singing?
- Songs with singing.
- Where can I listen to it?
- On Spotify, as a public playlist. Anyone can see the tracklist there, and playing it needs the Spotify app or web player.
- Who made it?
- It was picked, put in order and listened through by the editor at A Playlist For…. Software did not choose the songs.