Maxine Brown

Biography

Maxine Ella Brown (born August 18, 1939) is an American soul and R&B singer.

Background and career

Maxine Brown began singing as a child, performing with two New York City-based gospel groups called the Angelairs and the Royaltones when she was a teenager. In 1960, she signed with the small Nomar record label, who released the deep soul ballad "All in My Mind" (which was written by Brown) late in the year. The single became a hit, climbing to number two on the US Billboard R&B chart (number 19 pop), and it was quickly followed by "Funny", which peaked at number three on the R&B chart and number 25 on the Hot 100
Brown was poised to become a star and moved to the bigger ABC-Paramount in 1962. She left the label after an unsuccessful year recording several non-chart singles for the label, and signed to the New York-based uptown soul label, Wand Records, a Scepter Records subsidiary, in 1963.
Brown recorded a string of sizable hits for Wand over the next three years. Among these were the Carole King/Gerry Goffin songs "Oh No Not My Baby", which reached number 24 on the pop chart in 1964, and "It's Gonna Be Alright", which peaked at number 26 on the R&B chart the following year. She also recorded duets with label-mate Chuck Jackson, including a reworked version of an Alvin Robinson hit, "Something You Got×Something You Got2003 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 28 tracks1Oh No, Not My Baby2:362Something You Got2:513All in My Mind2:344Funny2:315It’s Gonna Be All Right2:336Coming Back to You3:027One in a Million2:588Ask Me3:349Yesterday’s Kisses2:2910The Secret of Livin’2:5211I Cry Alone2:3412Soul Serenade2:4413Anything for a Laugh2:4414If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody2:1215Think of Me2:4116Baby Cakes2:2917Love That Man2:3618I Don’t Need You No More2:2419Oh Lord, What Are You Doing to Me3:1720You Upset My Soul2:3121Anything You Do Is Alright2:4222Since I Found You2:5523Gotta Find a Way2:5324Listen to My Heart2:2125I Wonder What My Baby’s Doing Tonight2:2626I Don’t Need Anything2:4027Put Yourself in My Place2:1228Don’t Go2:51", which climbed to number 10 on the R&B chart. However, the company turned its focus to other bigger-selling acts, especially Dionne Warwick.
All backing vocals for Brown's records were performed by Cissy Houston and the Sweet Inspirations (the same group that backed Elvis Presley), plus emerging writer-producers Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Hoping to increase the line of hits for Brown and her singing partner, Chuck Jackson, Ashford and Simpson took their song catalog to Scepter Records looking for a deal. When they were turned down, the couple approached Berry Gordy at Motown Records who immediately hired them. Songs that were penned for Brown and Jackson became blockbuster hits for Ray Charles, such as "Let's Go Get Stoned" (co-written by Jo Armstead), as well as Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
In 1969, Brown left Wand Records for Commonwealth United, where she recorded two singles, the first "We'll Cry Together×We'll Cry Together1969 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1We'll Cry Together2:352Johnny's Coming Home2:103Piece of My Heart2:474I Can't Get Along Without You2:355See and Don't See2:356Darling, Be Home Soon2:407You're the Reason I'm Living2:388Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime)3:209Reason to Believe3:45" reached number 10 in the Billboard R&B chart and also made the lower reaches of the Hot 100. A spell with Avco Records followed, but her later recordings generally met with little commercial success.

Hit singles

Note
no R&B charts published during these chart runs

Albums

Maxine Brown – 1961
The Fabulous Sound of Maxine Brown – 1962
Maxine Brown, Irma Thomas & Ronnie Dickerson – 1964
Spotlight on Maxine Brown – 1964
Maxine Brown's Greatest Hits [LP] – 1967
Out of Sight - 1968
We'll Cry Together – 1969, No. 195 US
Blue Ribbon Country, Vol. 1 – 1975
One in a Million – 1984
Like Never Before – 1985
Oh No Not My Baby: The Best of Maxine Brown – 1990