Buster Brown born 15 August 1911

               

Buster Brown (August 15, 1911 – January 31, 1976) was an American blues and R&B singer who was already approaching the age of fifty when he scored a # 1 R&B hit in 1960 with the effervescent "Fannie Mae". The record was also a Top 40 pop hit. 

Brown was born in Cordele, Georgia.  So little is known about Buster that even his real name was in question, but in the 1930s and 1940s he played harmonica at local clubs and made a few non-commercial recordings. These included "War Song" and "I'm Gonna Make You Happy" (1943), which were recorded when he played at the folk festival at Fort Valley (Georgia) State Teachers College, for the Library of Congress' Folk Music Archive. 

Brown played harmonica at local clubs in his native Georgia and drove a cab in his hometown of Cordele before moving to New York City in 1956, where he worked in a chicken and barbecue joint. There he was discovered by Bobby Robinson, who owned the Fire and Fury labels. Robinson took the part- time entertainer into the studio in the summer of 1959. One of the songs recorded was "Fannie Mae" which featured Brown's harmonica playing and whoops with Jimmy Spruill on guitar, which Robinson released in November (Fire 1008). Then Robinson went on the road to promote the record, first in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit, then Chicago. Robinson recalls “Chicago went crazy for it. I had to rush back to New York to press up the record." It went to no. 38 in the US Top 40, and to no. 1 on the R&B chart in April 1960. 

                                    

The selling point of "Fannie Mae" was its infectious riff, which later formed the basis of at least two other songs, "Help Me Rhonda" by the Beach Boys and "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion M an" by the Rolling Stones, both from 1965. But Brown's reign as an unlikely star was short-lived. Robinson issued several follow-ups, including a remake of Louis Jordan's "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" (# 81 pop) and the excellent "Sugar Babe" (# 99 pop, # 19 R&B), which was covered by Jimmy Powell in the UK. 

After one-off singles on the small Gwenn and Serock labels, Brown stopped at Chicago’s Checker Records and  produced a glistening update of the old blues "Crawlin' Kingsnake" that sank without a trace. He also co-wrote the song "Doctor Brown" with J. T. Brown, which was later covered by Fleetwood Mac on their 1968 album, Mr. Wonderful.

He made his last record in 1969, for the Astroscope label, "Fannie Mae's Place," then he completely disappeared from the music scene. Other than two albums and the few named singles that is all there is of one of the great blues harmonica virtuosos of all time. His song “Fannie Mae” enjoyed further attention in 1973 when it was included in the film American Graffiti and the best selling soundtrack. 

Brown died in Brooklyn, New York City in 1976, at the age of 64. Whether his short lived popularity and subsequent recordings were a cause for his failing health may never be known, Buster truly was one of the forgotten rock n rollers. 

It is often erroneously cited that Brown's real name was "Wayman Glasco." however, that was the name of Brown's manager. There was no mention of Brown having any living family members so all rights to his music went to Glasco, thus unintentionally creating the confusion. Also there is some confusion with recordings by the  artist B. Brown who is actually Daniel Brown born in Los Angeles, California. He is not Buster Brown, so beware!

(Edited from Wikipedia, This Is My Story, Seniors LifeStyle mag, Blues- Sessions.com  & AllMusic)