Charles Brown

Tony Russell "Charles" Brown (September 13, 1922 – January 21, 1999) was an American singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced nightclub style influenced West Coast blues in the 1940s and 1950s. Between 1949 and 1952, Brown had seven Top 10 hits in the U.S. Billboard R&B chart. His best-selling recordings included "Driftin' Blues" and "Merry Christmas Baby".

Birth and Death Data: Born Texas City (city in Galveston County, Texas), Died January 21, 1999 (Oakland (city and county seat of Alameda County, California, United States) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1946 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, vocalist, composer, songwriter

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 58 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor D6AB-1838 10-in. 2/22/1946 Drifting Memphis Jimmy Male vocal solo, with guitar, piano, and string bass composer  
Victor D9VB-2109 10-in. 7/26/1949 Driftin' blues Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) Male vocal solo, with instrumental quintet composer  
Exclusive EXC-1004 10-in. 1946-1949 Lost in the night Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano, composer  
Exclusive EXC-1005 10-in. 12/31/1948 You taught me to love (but not to forget) Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1006 10-in. 12/31/1948 Axis doom blues Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1007 10-in. 1945-1948 End o' war blues Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1008 10-in. 1945-1948 Johnny's boogie Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1023 10-in. 12/31/1948 C.o.d. Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1026 10-in. 12/31/1948 No greater love Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1032 10-in. 12/31/1949 Pasadena Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Oscar Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1033 10-in. 12/31/1948 With my heart in my hand Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Oscar Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1034 10-in. 12/31/1948 It ain't gonna be like that Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Oscar Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1042 10-in. 12/31/1949 Tonight I'm alone Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1060 10-in. 12/31/1948 Sunny road Charles Brown ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1061 10-in. 12/31/1948 Be fair with me Charles Brown ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1062 10-in. 12/31/1948 Was I to blame for falling in love without you Charles Brown ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1063 10-in. 12/31/1949 Huggin' bug Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Oscar Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1069 10-in. 12/31/1948 Bobby sox blues Charles Brown ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1070 10-in. 12/31/1949 Juke box Lil Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1071 10-in. 12/31/1949 Why is love like that Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1072 10-in. 12/31/1949 It's over Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Oscar Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1088 10-in. 12/31/1949 Changeable woman blues Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1089 10-in. 12/31/1948 I surrender dear Charles Brown ; Johnny Moore ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) ; Eddie Williams instrumentalist, piano  
Exclusive EXC-1090 10-in. 12/31/1948 Better watch what you do Charles Brown ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) songwriter, instrumentalist, piano, vocalist  
Exclusive EXC-1091 10-in. 12/31/1948 I love to make love to you Charles Brown ; Three Blazers (Johnny Moore) vocalist, instrumentalist, piano  
(Results 1-25 of 58 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Brown, Charles," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/355586.

Brown, Charles. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/355586.

"Brown, Charles." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/355586

External Sources

Wikipedia: Charles Brown

Discogs: Charles Brown

Allmusic: Charles Brown

Grove: Charles Brown

Britannica: Charles Brown

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Brown, Charles, 1922-1999 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n88617258

Wikidata: Charles Brown - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q706371

VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/86656654

MusicBrainz: Charles Brown - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/dbc9229a-6fb7-43b1-9763-df1e87112a93

Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/225204 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/225204

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