Catherine Brown, known as Kitty Brown (October 1899 – after 1990), was an American

classic female blues Classic female blues was an early form of blues music, popular in the 1920s. An amalgam of traditional folk blues and urban theater music, the style is also known as vaudeville blues. Classic blues were performed by female singers accompanied by ...

singer. She sometimes used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s Bessie Williams (she was not the only performer to use this name), Jane White, Dixie Gray, Rosa Green, and Mazie Leroy. Brown was active as a recording artist from 1923 to the mid-1930s. Songs she recorded include "I Wanna Jazz Some More" and "

It's De-Lovely "It's De-Lovely" is one of Cole Porter's hit songs, originally appearing in his 1936 musical, ''Red Hot and Blue''. It was introduced by Ethel Merman and Bob Hope. The song was later used in the musical ''Anything Goes'', first appearing in the An ...

". Little is known of her life outside music.

Career

Brown was born in 1899 in New York. Most of her recordings were made in 1923 and 1924. In the 1930s she recorded one track with Les Brown's Band of Renown, a version of the

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

song "

". The title of her 1924 track "I Wanna Jazz Some More" is misleading. The word ''jazz'' was used as a euphemism for bodily fluid, not as a reference to the musical form. In the manner of the time, several of Brown's songs contained

sexual innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

, but not all her tracks were similarly slanted. Her debut session produced the songs "Evil Blues" and "Mean Eyes (Too Late Blues)". The former track had the notation "accompanied by Rickett Stars", almost certainly another stage name. Her main musical partner was the

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

LeRoy Morton, who also acted as manager for

Clara Smith Clara Smith (March 13, 1894 – February 2, 1935) was an American classic female blues singer, billed as the "Queen of the Moaners", although she had a lighter and sweeter voice than many of her contemporaries. Clara Smith was not related to ...

. Brown and Morton recorded "He's Never Gonna Throw Me Down" and "Keep On Going" for

Okeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

. One of her later recording pseudonyms, Mazie Leroy, may have a connection with her association with Morton. As was becoming more common then, much of Brown's material came from the music-publishing arm of her record label. At a later session she recorded "Family Skeleton Blues", one of her more beguiling records. Among her accompanists was

James "Bubber" Miley James Wesley "Bubber" Miley (April 3, 1903 – May 20, 1932) was an American early jazz trumpet and cornet player, specializing in the use of the plunger mute. Early life (1903–1923) Miley was born in Aiken, South Carolina, United States, ...

. It is likely that contractual agreements with

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

s caused her to record with other companies under assumed names, some of which are difficult to verify. The amount of recording she undertook under various other names probably exceeds her output under her own name. Verification of recordings she made as Bessie Williams is difficult, as several other singers used that name. However, Brown has been identified as the singer on several records released on the

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label, for which she was billed as Williams. Most of her known work is contained on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

''Female Blues Singers, Vol. 3: B/C (1923–1928)'', issued by

Document Records Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Bl ...

in 1997. Allmusic.com. Her recordings include the songs "Evil Blues", "Mean Eyes (Too Late Blues)", "Deceitful Blues", "I Don't Let No One Man Worry Me", "He's Never Gonna Throw Me Down", "Keep On Going", "Family Skeleton Blues", "I Wanna Jazz Some More", and "One of These Days". According to the researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc, she was living in a

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Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in 1990. The date of her death is unknown.

References

External links

78rpm discography for Okeh Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Kitty 1899 births Singers from New York City Year of death missing Place of death missing African-American women singers American blues singers Classic female blues singers Okeh Records artists