Biography

A family affair from Memphis, TN, consisting of siblings: Barbara (lead), Roberta, Betty, and Maurice Brown. Another brother, Richard, wrote some of the groups' material. They began singing gospel but decided to make a try at secular music with a recording on Wilmo Records entitled "You Belong to Her" b/w "Big Party" (January 1964). Wilmo leased the master to Stax Records, who reissued the recording March 1964. The record didn't do much, but Stax stayed faithful and released "In My Heart" b/w "Please Be Honest With Me" September 1964; it did a little better and was played in some cities outside of Memphis, but the slow, mundane Deannie Parker and Steve Cropper composition never broke out anywhere. Neither did the third and final Stax platter composed by Barbara, "I Don't Want Trouble" b/w "My Lover" (January 1965). A 1966 single on Cadet Records, "I Don't Want to Have to Wait" b/w "Plenty of Room," produced by Papa Don Schroeder, failed to ignite; ditto for a final single on XL Records "You Don't Love Me" b/w "If I Can't Run to You I'll Crawl to You." After a short try at secular success, the Browns' returned to their calling: singing the praises of the Lord. ~ Andrew Hamilton, Rovi