MAXINE BROWN

Maxine Brown's “uptown soul” sound produced four top ten Rhythm & Blues hits in the early to mid 1960s.

She was born in Kingstree, South Carolina, on August 18, 1939, and moved to New York City at age seven. As a child, she sang with a gospel group called the Angelairs. In her teens, Brown joined another gospel act, the Royaltones. By 1960, she had turned to secular music and signed with the tiny Nomar label. Her debut release was the ballad “All In My Mind,” which Brown wrote. It became a solid smash, hitting #2 on the R&B chart and #19 pop in early 1961. The follow-up, “Funny,” also did well. This prompted Brown’s 1962 move to ABC-Paramount, with whom she spent a single, disappointing, year.

In 1963, she signed with Wand Records, a division of Scepter (whose artist roster included the Shirelles, Dionne Warwick, and the Kingsmen of “Louie, Louie” fame). Brown stayed with Wand for six years and enjoyed a series of charted singles, the biggest of which was the Carole King/Gerry Goffin song, “Oh No! Not My Baby.”

The background singers on Maxine Brown’s recordings included Dee Dee Warwick (sister of Dionne Warwick), the Sweet Inspirations featuring Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston), and the future Motown songwriting team of Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson.  Brown also recorded several hit duets with her labelmate, Chuck Jackson.

Despite Brown’s success, Scepter/Wand had increasingly turned its focus toward pop acts like B.J. Thomas. Consequently, Brown left the company and signed with Epic, for whom she recorded two singles and an LP. By 1969, she was on Commonwealth United, reaching #15 R&B and #73 pop with “We’ll Cry Together.” Brown later recorded, without success, for the Philadelphia-based Avco label (home of the Stylistics). In the early ‘70s, she performed in the Broadway musical, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope. Brown also delivered a cabaret performance at New York’s Seafood Playhouse.

In the early ‘80s, she toured Europe and appeared on Dutch TV. In 1985, the UK-based reissue label, Kent, discovered several unreleased masters of Brown’s in the Scepter/Wand vaults and immediately put them out. In 1991, she received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s prestigious Pioneer Award.

Maxine Brown was still active as recently as 2019.

Charted singles:

“All In My Mind” (1961) R&B #2, Pop #19
“Funny” (1961) R&B #3, Pop #25
“After All We’ve Been Through” (1961) Pop #102
“I Got a Funny Kind of Feeling” (1962) Pop #104
“My Time for Cryin’” (1962) Pop #98
“Ask Me” (1963) Pop #75
“Coming Back to You” (1963) R&B #34, Pop #99
“Oh No! Not My Baby” (1964) R&B #2, Pop #24
“It’s Gonna Be Alright” (1965) R&B #26, Pop #56
“Something You Got” (duet with Chuck Jackson, 1965) R&B #10, Pop #55
“One Step at a Time” (1965) Pop #55
“Can’t Let You Out of My Sight” (duet with Chuck Jackson, 1965) Pop #91
“I Need You So” (duet with Chuck Jackson, 1965) Pop #98
“If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody” (1965) Pop #63
“I’m Satisfied” (duet with Chuck Jackson, 1966) Pop #112
“I Don’t Need Anything” (1966) Pop #129
“Hold On! I’m Coming” (duet with Chuck Jackson, 1967) R&B #20, Pop #91
“Daddy’s Home” (duet with Chuck Jackson, 1967) R&B #46, Pop #91
“We’ll Cry Together” (1969) R&B #15, Pop #73
“I Can’t Get Along Without You” (1970) R&B #44