Maxine Ella Brown (born August 18, 1939) is an American soul and R&B[1] singer.
Background and career
Maxine Brown began singing as a child, performing with two New York City based gospel groups called the Angelairs and the Royaltones when she was a teenager.[2] In 1960, she signed with the small Nomar record label, who released the deep soul ballad "All in My Mind" (which was written by Brown) late in the year.[3] The single became a hit, climbing to number two on the US BillboardR&Bchart (number 19 pop), and it was quickly followed by "Funny",[4] which peaked at number three on the R&B chart and #25 on the Hot 100
Brown was poised to become a star and moved to the bigger ABC-Paramount in 1962. She left the label after an unsuccessful year recording several non-chart singles for the label, and signed to the New York-based uptown soul label, Wand Records, a Scepter Records subsidiary, in 1963.[4]
Brown recorded a string of sizable hits for Wand over the next three years. Among these were the Carole King/Gerry Goffin songs "Oh No Not My Baby",[4] which reached number 24 on the pop chart in 1964, and "It's Gonna Be Alright", which peaked at No. 26 on the R&B chart the following year. She also recorded duets with label-mate Chuck Jackson, including a reworked version of an Alvin Robinson hit, "Something You Got", which climbed to No. 10 on the R&B chart.[4] However, the company turned its focus to other bigger-selling acts, especially Dionne Warwick.[4]
In 1969, Brown left Wand Records for Commonwealth United,[4] where she recorded two singles, the first "We'll Cry Together" reached No. 10 in the Billboard R&B chart and also made the lower reaches of the Hot 100. A spell with Avco Records followed, but her later recordings generally met with little commercial success.
