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Sam Brown (singer)

(Redirected fromSam Brown (musician))
This article is about the English female singer-songwriter. For the English male dance band singer, seeSam Browne (musician).

Samantha Brown(born 7 October 1964)[1]is an English singer, songwriter and musician.

Sam Brown
Brown singing into a microphone onstage
Brown (with drummerGilson Lavis) performing live withJools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra,2006
Background information
Birth nameSamantha Brown
Born(1964-10-07)7 October 1964(age 60)
Stratford, London,England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • bass guitar
  • ukulele
Years active1978–present
Labels
Websitemisssambrown

Brown is ablue-eyed soulandjazzsinger, andukuleleandpianoplayer. She came to prominence in the late 1980s as a solo artist and released eight singles that entered theUK Singles Chartduring the 1980s and 1990s. Her solo singles, sometimes dealing with lost love, include "Stop!","This Feeling","Can I Get a Witness","Kissing Gate","With a Little Love"and" Just Good Friends ". She worked as a session backing vocalist, working with artists such asGary Moore,George Harrison,Small Faces,Spandau Ballet,Adam Ant,Jon Lord(ofDeep Purple),Pink Floyd,David Gilmour,The Firm,DodgyandNick Cave.

Brown released her debut albumStop!in 1988 and in total has released sevenstudio albums,onelive album,oneEP,and threecompilation albums,as well as three albums as part of the groupHomespun.She developed serious problems with her singing voice in 2007 after which she stopped recording and singing live until 2023 when she released the albumNumber 8.

Early years

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Samantha Brown was born on 7 October 1964, inStratford,east London, England. She is the daughter of musicianJoe BrownandsessionsingerVicki Brown.[2]Brown's first work in the music industry was in 1978 aged 14, when she sang backing vocals on the final studio album by theSmall Faces,78 in the Shade.[2]She also worked as a backing vocalist with several other bands, includingSpandau Ballet,and with her mother on formerDeep PurplekeyboardistJon Lord's third solo albumBefore I Forget.[2]

Career

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Brown signed a recording contract withA&Min 1986.[1]Her most successful song with A&M was "Stop!",released as a single in 1988. She issued analbum of the same namethat same year.[1]Other singles taken from the album included "Walking Back to Me","This Feeling"and hercover versionof "Can I Get a Witness".The albumStop!has sold over two-and-a-half million copies worldwide,[2]doing particularly well in the UK and Australia. Brown's second studio album,April Moon(1990), included twohitsingles, "Kissing Gate"and"With a Little Love".[1]Three further singles were released from the album: "Mindworks","Once in Your Life "and" As One ".

Brown's third studio album,43 Minutes...,was made around the same time that her mother was dying from breast cancer.[2]A&M, Brown's record label at the time, were not satisfied with the album and wanted some potential hit singles recorded and added to the track listing.[2]Brown, unwilling to compromise and after a protracted legal battle, bought back the master recordings of the album and released them in 1992 on her own label Pod Music, a year after the death of her mother.[2]Few copies were initially released, but it was reissued in 2004.

Brown provided backing vocals forPink Floydon their 14th studio album,The Division Bell,released in 1994, and accompanied them on their tour to promote the release.[2]Her involvement was documented on the following year's Pink Floyd release,Pulse,in which she sang backing vocals and was the first lead vocalist on the song "The Great Gig in the Sky".In 1995, she had a minor chart hit with aduetwith fellow singer-songwriterFish,entitled "Just Good Friends". In 1997, Brown returned with her fourth studio albumBox,released via the independent record labelDemon Music Group.Tracks on this album included "Embrace the Darkness", "Whisper" and "I Forgive You" which was co-written withMaria McKee.McKee's version of the song originally appeared on her second album,You Gotta Sin to Get Saved.

In 2000, her fifth studio album,ReBoot,was released via another independent label, Mud Hut, as was the single "In Light of All That's Gone Before." In 2003, Brown formed the band Homespun withDave Rotheray.[1]The group has released three albums. Brown also released several solo recordings in this period, including anEP,Ukulele and Voice.[1]In 2004,Jon LordreleasedBeyond the Notes,for which she wrote almost all the lyrics.[3]In late 2006, she undertook an extensive UK tour as special guest of her father, Joe Brown. The shows also included appearances by her brother, Pete Brown.

In 2007, seven years after her last album, Brown releasedOf the Moment.She also returned to the Top 10 of theUK Albums Chartin October 2007, when "Valentine Moon" was included onJools Holland's hit albumBest of Friends.

That same year she developed problems with her singing voice, and for unknown reasons has not been able to sing consistently since. In an interview in 2013 she explained that "I can't get vocal cord closure and achieve the proper pitch simultaneously. It feels like there are some muscles that aren't working." After a cyst was found on her vocal cords, she had the cyst successfully removed, but problems with her voice persisted, leaving her unable to hold a note.[4]

Seeking alternative musical occupation, Brown started a ukulele club in 2010 and expanded to several clubs inOxfordshire,Dorset,Londonand online which have continued to thrive.[5][6][7]

In 2021 she released her only live album,Wednesday The Something of April,a recording of a one-woman show from 2004 featuring songs from across her career.[8] Brown's first studio album in fifteen years,Number 8,was released in January 2023. It was written and recorded with long-time collaborator Danny Schogger and makes use ofMelodynesoftware to help Brown's vocals.[8][9]

Backing and guest vocalist

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As well as her solo career, Brown has had a successful career as a backing vocalist and collaborator with other artists. She has worked with the bandBarclay James Harvest(1984),David Gilmour(David Gilmour in Concert) and Pink Floyd,Deep Purple(In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra),Jon Lord,The Firm,Gary Moore,George HarrisonandNick Cave.She has often appeared as a member ofJools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestraand achieved further prominence with her 2002 performance at theConcert for George,which was amemorial to George Harrisonon the first anniversary of his death,[10]where she sang "Horse to the Water".[11]This song is included in the film of the concert and in the 2018 digitalalbumrelease, but not on the original 2003 album. In 2002, she was a backing vocalist atBuckingham Palaceat theGolden Jubilee of Elizabeth II's concert,Party at the Palace.

In 2015, Brown started teaching backing vocals classes at theAcademy of Contemporary Music(ACM) inGuildford,Surrey, a school for rock and pop musicians.[12]

Personal life

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Brown has two children, born 1993 and 1995, with her ex-husband, producer and musician Robin Evans.[13]

On 16 June 1991, Brown's motherVicki Browndied aged 50 frombreast cancer.[14]

Album titles

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Taken in order of release, the initial letters of the titles of Brown's seven solo studio albums and one live album spell out her name:

  • Stop!
  • April Moon
  • (43)Minutes...
  • Box
  • ReBoot
  • Of the Moment
  • Wednesday the Something of April
  • Number 8

Brown said that she was unaware of the pattern until it was pointed out after the release ofReBootin 2000. Once it was brought to her attention she vowed to continue the trend, asking fans to submit suggestions for the next title beginning with 'O'.Of the Momentwas released in September 2007: its title was suggested by a fan via Brown's website.[15]

Discography

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Main article:Sam Brown discography

Studio albums

Live albums

  • Wednesday the Something of April(2021)

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdef"Mini-biography".NME.Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2009.
  2. ^abcdefghHarris, Craig (7 October 1964)."Sam Brown | Biography".AllMusic.Retrieved28 January2014.
  3. ^"Beyond the Notes – Jon Lord | Credits".AllMusic.Retrieved28 January2014.
  4. ^Pink Floyd backing vocalist Sam Brown Q&A,brain damage.co.uk,retrieved30 April2016
  5. ^Dent-Robinson, Nick (23 June 2012)."Sam Brown – Interview".Pennyblackmusic.Retrieved31 December2022.
  6. ^Mills, Robin (5 July 2021)."Robin Mills Met Sam Brown".Marshwood+.Dorset.Retrieved31 December2022.
  7. ^The Fabulous Ukulele Club,archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2021,retrieved1 January2022
  8. ^abBolwell, Richard (1 November 2022)."Sam Brown Completes S, A, M, B, R, O, W series as singer rediscovers her lost voice".MNPR Magazine.Retrieved31 December2022.
  9. ^Boulter, Lucy (13 December 2022)."Sam Brown: Finding Her Voice Again…".Music Republic.Retrieved31 December2022.
  10. ^Concert for George,Catalogue number: 0349702412
  11. ^Archived atGhostarchiveand theWayback Machine:"Sam Brown – Horse to the Water".23 June 2006.Retrieved28 January2014– via YouTube.
  12. ^"Sam Brown".Academy of Contemporary Music.Retrieved29 October2015.
  13. ^"Sam Brown Biography".Onecandle.co.uk.Retrieved28 January2014.
  14. ^Doc Rock."The Dead Rock Stars Club 1990 – 1991".Thedeadrockstarsclub.Retrieved31 January2014.
  15. ^"Name Sam Brown's Next Album".Onecandle.co.uk.Retrieved30 April2016.
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