R.I.P. Ruth Brown

“Whatever I have to say, I get it said.”

Ruth Brown, the wonderful R&B singer, died on Friday in Las Vegas. She was 78. I loved her old Atlantic recordings, but I also remember her playing Motormouth Maybelle in John Water's Hairspray.

“She was one of the original divas,” said the singer Bonnie Raitt, who worked with Ms. Brown and Mr. Begle to improve royalties for rhythm and blues performers. “I can’t really say that I’ve heard anyone that sounds like Ruth, before or after. She was a combination of sass and innocence, and she was extremely funky. She could really put it right on the beat, and the tone of her voice was just mighty. And she had a great heart.”

“What I loved about her,” Ms. Raitt added, “was her combination of vulnerability and resilience and fighting spirit. It was not arrogance, but she was just really not going to lay down and roll over for anyone.”