From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Sep 7, 2003  2:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Milton Brown
 
MILTON BROWN (By Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born Willie Milton Brown, 7 September 1903, Stephensonville, Texas

Died 18 April 1936, Forth Worth, Texas

The real founder of Western Swing.

In the very short time between Milton Brown's Musical Brownies' debut 
on the radio in September 1932 and his untimely death in 1936, Milton 
Brown laid the foundation of what would become the classic sound of 
Western Swing (also called Texas Swing), using twin fiddles, dixieland 
banjo, slapped string bass, piano, guitar and, almost never heard 
before, an amplified steel guitar. Musically, the vocals are more pop 
inclined and the majority of the material was drawn from a vast array, 
from Tin Pan Alley songs, trads, polkas, some Mexican/Conjunto tunes 
and lots of New Orleans jazz. As such, 30's Western Swing can be seen 
as the first popular musical style blending black and white, pop tunes, 
blues and jazz, to create a popular style of dance music.

Born into a sharecropping family, Milton Brown was the second child of 
four, and the oldest of three brothers, Derwood (or Durwood), born 
1915, and Roy Lee, born 1921. The Brown family moved to Forth Worth in 
1918, following the sudden death of Milton's older sister Era, aged 
only 16. He began singing at an early age and was even known as "The 
Harmony Boy" in High School. After graduating in 1925, Milton went to 
work at the same factory as his daddy. He formed his first vocal group 
in 1927, performing in the Forth Worth area, at the same time singing 
alongside his daddy, a talended fiddler, and his brother Derwood on 
guitar.

It was around this time that Milton met another aspiring talent in Bob 
Wills, along with guitarist Herman Arnspiger. The trio, soon joined by 
Derwood Brown, began performing and had their regular radio program. 
Two sides ("Nancy Jane" and "Sunbonnet Sue") were issued in February 
1932 as by The Forth Worth Doughboys, making the recording debut of 
both Milton and Bob Wills.  Later in the year, sponsorship changed to 
the Burrus company, maker of "Light Crust Flour". Thus they changed 
their name to the Light Crust Doughboys, creating one of the longest 
performing groups (the Light Crust Doughboys were still performing in 
the late 1990s!). The group enjoyed a huge success locally and were 
soon managed by W. Lee O'Daniel (of the Burrus Mills company). 

Following a dispute over money (times haven't changed!), Milton and 
Derwood quit and start their own group, the Musical Brownies. They 
played their first radio program on September 19, 1932.

The first line-up reads like a who's-who of Western Swing with Wanna 
Coffman on bass, the great Ocie Stockard on banjo, soon followed by 
Fred Cahloun on piano and ace fiddler Cecil Brower. The Brownies will 
also host well known musicians such as Bob Dunn, with one of the first 
amplified steel guitars, Lefty Perkins and Cliff Bruner.

The Musical Brownies were an instant success all over Texas, and over 
the three following years, they performed almost every night at dances, 
at the same time hosting an everyday radio program in Forth Worth. 

They managed to record more than 100 ground-breaking sides for Bluebird 
and Decca between 1932 and 1936, encompassing every popular style of 
the times, but in that particular style that was so new at the time. 
Musical level was up to the skills of each player, and they all 
idolized the jazz musicians of their time such as Jack Teagarden, Earl 
Hines and Joe Venuti, giving to their music a tone seldom heard in 
"hillbilly" or "strings" records before.

Success came to an end quite abruptly in April 1936 when Milton Brown 
was injured in a car accident, and died a few days later in hospital, 
aged 32.

The Musical Brownies were carried on by Derwood Brown for some time, 
but without the success they knew when Milton was singing. Band members 
were leaving to join other Western Swing swing outfits, notably those 
of Bob Wills and Cliff Bruner.

Further reading:
Cary Ginell, Milton Brown and the Founding of Western Swing. Urbana :
University of Illinois Press, 1994.

Recommended Listening:
(issued by Cary Ginell, visit www.originjazz.com)
- Milton Brown - Western Swing Chroniclles Vol 1 - Origin Jazz Library OJL 1000 
- Milton Brown - The Complete Recordinggs Of The Father Of Western 
Swing, 5 CD box set - Texas Rose TXRCD1
or there's also the Proper Box Set take off on the Texas Rose original, 
that costs less........