Milton Brown
Milton Brown (September 8, 1903 – April 18, 1936) was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hybrid, thus giving him the nickname, "Father of Western Swing". The birthplace of Brown's upbeat "hot-jazz hillbilly" string band sound was developed at the Crystal Springs Dance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, from 1931 to 1936.
Milton Brown | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Milton Brown |
| Also known as | "Father of Western Swing" |
| Born | September 8, 1903 |
| Origin | Stephenville, Texas, US |
| Died | April 18, 1936 (aged 32) Fort Worth, Texas, US |
| Genres | Western swing |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Years active | 1930–1936 |
| Labels | Victor, Bluebird, Decca |
Along with Bob Wills, with whom he performed at the beginning of his career, Brown developed the sound and style of Western swing in the early 1930s. For a while, he and his band, the Musical Brownies, were more popular than Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Brown's career was cut short in 1936 when he died following a car accident.