Rabbit Brown
Richard "Rabbit" Brown was an American blues guitarist and composer. His music has been characterized as a mixture of blues, pop songs, and original topical ballads. He recorded six sides for Victor Records on March 11, 1927, one of which, "James Alley", is included in the 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music and has been covered by Bob Dylan, among others.
The rock critic Greil Marcus has called Brown's recording of "James Alley" "the greatest recording ever made."
Biography
Brown was probably born around 1880 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He certainly lived in New Orleans from his youth on. He eventually moved to the Battlefield, a rough district of the city, where several events inspired some of the songs he later wrote. He mainly performed at nightclubs and on the street. It was noted that Brown sang "in a gritty voice and playing fluent guitar that incorporated flamenco runs, string snapping and high speed bass runs; he also took tourists for rowboat rides on Lake Ponchartrain".Including the recording also selected for the Anthology of American Folk Music, five of Brown's six known recordings appear on the compilation album, The Greatest Songsters: Complete Works . His sixth recorded song, “Great Northern Blues,” was not released and is considered to be lost.
Brown died in 1937, probably in New Orleans.
Topical songwriting
At least four of Brown's most popular songs were topical ballads. "The Downfall of the Lion" and "Gyp the Blood" were based on events that occurred in New Orleans. Neither of these songs were recorded, but both were later remembered and named by Brown's contemporaries.Two of Brown's recorded songs, "The Mystery of the Dunbar's Child," and "The Sinking of the Titanic," are considered to be original topical songs, and not "folk" songs in the sense of being passed along from performer to performer with slight variations.