Ruth Brown’s Battle Royal

In fighting for one’s legal rights in the jungle that is the music business, it takes more than a good lawyer. It takes a dedicated lawyer with a background as a lifelong fan.

Such, it seems, is the lesson to be learned from the case of 60-year-old R&B; singer Ruth Brown vs. Atlantic Records. As a result of an action she triggered after years of effort, she recently received her first check in 28 years for royalties that Atlantic had claimed weren’t due her; moreover, the royalty status of many other R&B; veterans has been reexamined and other artists, or their estates, will receive payments.

Discussing the much publicized action during a recent stint at the Hollywood Roosevelt’s Cinegrill, Brown looked back at the days when she was Atlantic’s biggest star, with such hits as “Teardrops From My Eyes,” “5-10-15 Hours,” “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” virtually putting Atlantic Records on the map.

“I got about $69 a tune for those records,” she said, “against what was supposed to be a 5% royalty. But I saw very little in the way of royalties, because everything was being charged off against them--musicians, studio costs, arrangements, packaging, giveaway records.”

For Brown and many others, the result was a pattern of negative statements, informing the artists how much they owed Atlantic. Starting in 1969 they were, in effect, written off the books; the quarterly statements required in their contracts were no longer sent.

Meanwhile, Ruth Brown suffered. The R&B; peak days were past; if her albums were still selling all over the world she knew little about it. From 1964 to 1974 she was barely in show business, taking jobs (sometimes under a pseudonym) as a maid or driving a school bus.

“I started making an effort to find out what was going on with my royalties,” she said, “but over a long period four different lawyers took up my case, and every one of them finally said it wasn’t worth pursuing, because my account was in the red, and whatever decisions were made, Atlantic would be the beneficiary.

“Then in 1983 a friend introduced me to a man named Howell Begle. He said he was a great fan of mine, he first saw me when he was 11 years old and he had all my records. He showed me one of my records and I said, ‘Where did you get this?’ He told me a lot of them were from out of the country and he had to pay a good price for them.

“I told him I wasn’t getting a dime out of this. He said, ‘You can’t be serious.’ I assured him I was, and that I hadn’t received royalty checks since 1960. He gave me his card, and it wasn’t until then that I realized he was an attorney.”

And so the great paper chase began. To Begle, Ruth Brown was not simply a client but the idol of his teen years. “He worked so long and hard tracking everything down,” Brown said, “that the law firm where he worked wrote off $60,000 worth of legal time and he worked for me on a pro bono basis. I introduced him to Big Joe Turner, Sam & Dave, and other artists who will benefit from this in the long run--if they haven’t died.

“Joe Turner’s was a very sad case. Howell arranged for an episode about this whole royalty business to be shown on CBS in ‘West 57th St.,’ which Joe and I were on. Joe was very, very ill, on dialysis treatments, and it was heart-wrenching to hear him say, ‘I don’t want to work, I don’t feel like it, but I have to.’ Atlantic even billed both Joe and me for the mastering and re-editing of a R&B; blues album in 1985, though it was 25 years since we’d recorded for them.”

When this situation came to the attention of Ahmet Ertegun, who had founded Atlantic Records (now part of the vast Warner Communications conglomerate), he reacted to Begle’s complaint and had the bill canceled. Joe Turner died soon after; Ertegun paid the funeral expenses.

The more Begle looked into the bookkeeping practices, the clearer it became that the negative balances had to be recalculated. “They said I had an outstanding debt to them of some $30,000,” Brown says, “but Howell found this was incorrect, and my first check, after all the deductions, a couple of months ago, was for $21,000.”

The payment was based only on post-1970 reissues, since Atlantic states that records prior to that time are incomplete and such old accounts are beyond tracing. Atlantic has also committed itself to a major role, and possibly a $2-million contribution, in the launching of a Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which will distribute funds to performers who are down on their luck.

Other record companies are expected to join Atlantic in redressing the grievances of the past and helping to develop the R&B; Foundation as a viable entity.

Meanwhile, Ruth Brown’s career has bounced back on several levels during the years of Begle’s battle. She was seen recently in an acting role in the movie “Hairspray.” Her nightclub appearances are growing in number and fees. She has her own weekly syndicated radio show, “Harlem Hit Parade.”

Brown took part in the recent Atlantic Records 40th anniversary celebration at Madison Square Garden, but when it was aired on ABC last Sunday her two songs were on the cutting room floor. She hopes for better luck with a musical show that is scheduled to open on Broadway in October.

“I was part of this show, ‘Black and Blue,’ in Paris in 1985. It ran there for eight months and the reception was like nothing else in my life--10 or 12 curtain calls a night. It was Linda Hopkins, Sandra Reeves Phillips and myself.

“We were supposed to open in New York three months after we closed in Paris, but there were problems. Then we were set to rehearse here next month to open at the Pantages in Hollywood, but that was canceled. We still expect to go to Broadway, with Linda Hopkins, Carrie Smith and some great old-time hoofers and choreographers. It’s just music--no book--good songs and great dancing.”

Because of the sudden collapse of the Pantages deal she has to fill in some dates now, but the days of financial panic seem at last to be behind her.

“At last,” she says, “I can now pay the rent a few months ahead and take care of some bills, so that life is a little easier. I’m still not a rich woman, but at least I don’t jump when the telephone rings.”

ADDENDUM: Two of the artists omitted from “CD Jazz Library” (Calendar, June 12) have shown up in CDs acquired by the BBC label. They are “Bix Beiderbecke: Great Original Performances 1924-1930” (BBC CD 601), featuring the cornetist with his own group and with Frankie Trumbauer, Paul Whiteman and Hoagy Carmichael; and “Bessie Smith” (BBC CD 602), 15 classics by the blues empress, among them “Empty Bed Blues” and “Take Me for a Buggy Ride,” the latter at her final session in 1933. Both CDs have sound quality greatly enhanced from the original mono 78s. Distributed by Mobile Fidelity, 1260 Holm Road, Petaluma, Calif. 94952; (707) 778-0134.