Biography
Oscar Brown, Jr., a vocalist, poet, and activist grounded in jazz, refused easy stylistic labels across his varied and extended career. He anticipated the political awareness that later defined soul, funk, and hip-hop, channeling his drive for social progress through creative work and public office, which produced two notable though unsuccessful campaigns. Born on Chicago’s South Side on October 10, 1926, he was the son of a prosperous attorney and property broker who expected his eldest child to inherit the family firm. Brown instead pursued writing and performance, becoming a frequent guest by age 15 on Studs Terkel’s radio program Secret City. After skipping two grades, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin at 16, yet soon left academia for broadcasting. In 1944 he was chosen to host Negro Newsfront, the country’s first Black news radio program, and was later called “America’s first Negro newscaster.” He stepped away from the show in 1948 to seek a seat in the Illinois state legislature on the Progressive Party ticket. The bid failed, and he spent the rest of the decade contributing to writer/producer Richard Durham’s Black Radio Days series before completing a two-year term in the U.S. Army.
Although a registered Communist, Brown launched an unsuccessful 1952 bid for the U.S. Congress under the Republican banner, adopting that affiliation only to secure ballot placement. He left the Communist Party in 1956, stating he was “just too Black to be red.” Singing and songwriting stayed secondary pursuits until 1958, when Brown attended the premiere of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. There he met Hansberry’s husband, New York music publisher Robert Nemiroff, whose connection soon secured Brown a Columbia recording contract. In 1960 he joined Max Roach for the drummer’s pointed Civil Rights album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, then issued his own debut, Sin & Soul. Developed after a long run at the Village Vanguard, the LP paired Brown’s socially pointed lyrics with jazz instrumentals such as Nat Adderley’s “Work Song” and Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue.” His lullaby “Brown Baby,” written for his infant son, later became a modern standard recorded by Mahalia Jackson and Lena Horne.
The success of Sin & Soul elevated Brown to prominence. After supplying lyrics for Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” he rejoined Hansberry and Nemiroff on the stage musical Kicks & Co., which earned him an unprecedented two-hour appearance on NBC’s Today Show. The show closed after previews at Chicago’s McCormick Place in 1961. Brown reworked portions into a solo vehicle and toured the U.S. and Europe in 1962, pausing to host the television series Jazz Scene USA. During the production he met singer/dancer Jean Pace, who became his wife. Through concerts and albums such as 1963’s Tells It Like It Is! and 1965’s Mr. Oscar Brown, Jr. Goes to Washington, he maintained an explicit focus on social and political themes, rejecting the notion that mainstream listeners rejected such material. With Pace he created and directed theater pieces featuring teenagers from Chicago’s low-income areas; their best-known collaboration, 1967’s Opportunity Please Knock, was mounted with the Blackstone Rangers youth gang. The couple’s work with disadvantaged youth also brought a 1968 request from Gary, Indiana mayor Richard Hatcher to lead a summer arts program that introduced the Jackson 5 and actor/singer Avery Brooks.
After moving to San Francisco in 1969, Brown and Pace adapted the stage comedy Big Time Buck White into a musical that reached Broadway with Muhammad Ali in the lead role. Brown spent much of the 1970s as an artist-in-residence at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Hunter College in New York City, and Malcolm X College in Chicago. Following a seven-year recording hiatus, he released Where Are You? in 1972 and then two Atlantic albums: Brother Where Are You? in 1973 and Fresh in 1975. That same year he appeared in the revived Evolution of the Blues and starred in the Chicago television special Oscar Brown Is Back in Town, which received two local Emmy Awards. He later hosted the 1980 PBS series From Jump Street: The Story of Black Music and acted in network programs including Brewster Place and Roc. His first album in twenty years, Then and Now, appeared on Weasel Disc in 1995. In 2001 he was the subject of the documentary Music Is My Life, Politics My Mistress. Brown died of complications from a blood infection on May 29, 2005.
Although a registered Communist, Brown launched an unsuccessful 1952 bid for the U.S. Congress under the Republican banner, adopting that affiliation only to secure ballot placement. He left the Communist Party in 1956, stating he was “just too Black to be red.” Singing and songwriting stayed secondary pursuits until 1958, when Brown attended the premiere of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. There he met Hansberry’s husband, New York music publisher Robert Nemiroff, whose connection soon secured Brown a Columbia recording contract. In 1960 he joined Max Roach for the drummer’s pointed Civil Rights album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, then issued his own debut, Sin & Soul. Developed after a long run at the Village Vanguard, the LP paired Brown’s socially pointed lyrics with jazz instrumentals such as Nat Adderley’s “Work Song” and Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue.” His lullaby “Brown Baby,” written for his infant son, later became a modern standard recorded by Mahalia Jackson and Lena Horne.
The success of Sin & Soul elevated Brown to prominence. After supplying lyrics for Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” he rejoined Hansberry and Nemiroff on the stage musical Kicks & Co., which earned him an unprecedented two-hour appearance on NBC’s Today Show. The show closed after previews at Chicago’s McCormick Place in 1961. Brown reworked portions into a solo vehicle and toured the U.S. and Europe in 1962, pausing to host the television series Jazz Scene USA. During the production he met singer/dancer Jean Pace, who became his wife. Through concerts and albums such as 1963’s Tells It Like It Is! and 1965’s Mr. Oscar Brown, Jr. Goes to Washington, he maintained an explicit focus on social and political themes, rejecting the notion that mainstream listeners rejected such material. With Pace he created and directed theater pieces featuring teenagers from Chicago’s low-income areas; their best-known collaboration, 1967’s Opportunity Please Knock, was mounted with the Blackstone Rangers youth gang. The couple’s work with disadvantaged youth also brought a 1968 request from Gary, Indiana mayor Richard Hatcher to lead a summer arts program that introduced the Jackson 5 and actor/singer Avery Brooks.
After moving to San Francisco in 1969, Brown and Pace adapted the stage comedy Big Time Buck White into a musical that reached Broadway with Muhammad Ali in the lead role. Brown spent much of the 1970s as an artist-in-residence at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Hunter College in New York City, and Malcolm X College in Chicago. Following a seven-year recording hiatus, he released Where Are You? in 1972 and then two Atlantic albums: Brother Where Are You? in 1973 and Fresh in 1975. That same year he appeared in the revived Evolution of the Blues and starred in the Chicago television special Oscar Brown Is Back in Town, which received two local Emmy Awards. He later hosted the 1980 PBS series From Jump Street: The Story of Black Music and acted in network programs including Brewster Place and Roc. His first album in twenty years, Then and Now, appeared on Weasel Disc in 1995. In 2001 he was the subject of the documentary Music Is My Life, Politics My Mistress. Brown died of complications from a blood infection on May 29, 2005.
Albums
