Milton Brown (1903-1936) was born in Stephenville, Texas. A tobacco salesman and singer, he joined with Bob Wills and Herman Arnspiger to form a group to become known as The Light Crust Doughboys and whose radio show was sponsored by Burris Mills, the makers of Light Crust Flour. Needing money to take care of his parents, Brown left the group, moved to Fort Worth and formed The Musical Brownies. Many consider this group to be the first western swing band. Brown was also the first to introduce the electric steel guitar to this music. He recorded over 100 sides for Victor and Decca during the period 1934-1936. He died shortly after being in a car wreck in April of 1936. For more about Brown see Cary Ginell's excellent book Milton Brown and the Founding of Western Swing. The best collection of his music is Complete Recordings of the Father of Western Swing, a 5 CD box set from Texas Rose Records.
The song I've picked today isn't illustrative of his western swing style, but Little Betty Brown is one I damn sure like. It was recorded in 1935. That's followed by a video/photo presentation of his If You Can't Get Five Take Two.
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