During the 1950s, the record industry called New York-based Atlantic Records “The House That Ruth Built.” The many hits of R&B singer Ruth Brown were very important to the label’s early success. But Ruth Brown’s work cooled off commercially during the ‘60s, and there was a long stretch during the ‘70s where she threatened to fall off the radar altogether.

Brown was still making great records, and Sunset Blvd. will be releasing a new Secret Love compilation that gathers them on a two-CD set.

The first disc contains the entirety of Brown’s 1976 album Sugar Babe. Produced by the legendary Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams, it’s got backing tracks, horns, and strings, which were laid down in Muscle Shoals.

The second disc, combines material from two subsequent Brown albums done at Hollywood’s Gold Star Studios, including 1978’s You Don’t Know Me, which features pianist Lou Levy and Great American Songbook standards “Willow Weep For Me,” “Smile,” and “Skylark”. The following year’s Touch Me in the Morning expanded her combo, with Producer Herb Jeffries escorting Ruth into more contemporary directions for “Touch Me In The Morning,” “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me,” “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.”  

Taken together, these three “lost” albums present a new side of Ruth Brown’s artistry, showing she was capable of venturing in contemporary directions even after close to three decades of recording.

Even though Brown was less known in the 60s and 70s, fortunately things turned around for Ruth Brown when she became known as a star again during the ‘80s and beyond.