Shirley Brown

Shirley Brown (born January 6, 1947, West Memphis, Arkansas) is an American R&B singer, best known for her million-selling single "Woman to Woman", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.

Biography Brown was born in West Memphis, but was raised in Madison, Illinois, where she started singing in church at the age of nine. Early experience singing gospel gave her a powerful but expressive voice likened to that of Aretha Franklin. Albert King discovered her when she was aged 14, singing in the Harlem Club in Brooklyn, Illinois. Young Shirley went on the road with King for nine years. While King made sure she had a tutor, Brown often cut her classes to work with the band.

By 1972, Shirley was living in East St. Louis, Illinois, where she made her first record for the Abet label called, "I Ain't Gonna Tell" and "Love Built on a Strong Foundation". It would be Stax's final major hit record (the song was later covered by Barbara Mandrell in 1978 and became a top-five country hit).

A moderately successful debut album, Woman to Woman, was released by Stax on their Truth label, but by 1975, the company was struggling financially and also facing litigation. A follow-up single, "It Ain't No Fun" was only a moderate success, and Stax closed soon afterwards.

Her signing to Arista Records in 1977 resulted in the album Shirley Brown, produced by the former Stax owner Jim Stewart and writer-producer Bettye Crutcher, who provided most of the songs. These included "Blessed Is the Woman" which reached No. 14 R&B (#102 pop).

Brown continued to record for several labels after that, including Fantasy, on the re-formed Stax label, and Sound Town. She remains a popular live performer, mainly in southern states of the US, without having found the recording success of her earlier years.

Discography Albums

Singles Year Title Peak chart positions Album US R&B US Pop 1974 "Woman to Woman" 1 22 Woman to Woman 1975 "It Ain't No Fun" 32 94 1977 "Blessed Is the Woman (With a Man Like Mine)" 14 — Shirley Brown "I Need Somebody to Love Me" 50 — 1978 "I Can't Move No Mountains" 92 — 1979 "After a Night Like This" 73 — For the Real Feeling 1980 "You've Got to Like What You Do" 73 — 1984 "This Used to Be Your House" 70 — Intimate Storm "I Don't Play That" 68 — 1985 "Boyfriend" 69 — 1989 "Ain't Nothin' Like the Lovin' We Got" 46 — Fire & Ice 1995 "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" 80 — Diva of Soul "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Grammy Award history Grammy Award 1975 - Nominated for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Female