Samantha Brown is an English female singer-songwriter. She is the daughter
of musician Joe Brown and session singer Vicki Brown.
Early years Brown's first work in the music industry
was in 1978 at age 14, when she sang backing vocals on the album 78 in the
Shade by the Small Faces. She soon had worked as vocalist with several other
groups, including Spandau Ballet, and with her mother on the 1982 solo album
Before I Forget with former Deep Purple keyboarder Jon Lord.
Music career Brown signed a contract with A&M Records
in 1986. Her most successful song with A&M was "Stop!", released as a single in
1988. She issued an album of the same name that year. Other singles taken from
the album included "Walking Back to Me", "This Feeling" and her cover version of
"Can I Get a Witness". The album Stop! sold over two and a half million copies
worldwide, doing particularly well in the UK and Australia. Brown's second
album, April Moon, includes two hit singles, "Kissing Gate" and "With a
Little Love". Three further singles were released from the album: "Mindworks",
"Once in Your Life", and "As One". Brown's third album, 43 Minutes, was a
dark recording made around the time that her mother was dying from cancer. A&M,
Brown's record label at the time was not happy with the album, and wanted some
potential hit singles recorded and added to the track list. Brown, not willing to
compromise and after a protracted legal battle, bought back the masters of the
album and released it on her own label, Pod Music. Few copies were initially
released, although it was re-issued in 2004.
Brown provided backing vocals for Pink Floyd on their 1994 album, The Division
Bell, and accompanied them on tour to promote the release. Her involvement was
documented on the following year's Pink Floyd release, P*U*L*S*E. In 1995 she
had a minor chart hit in a duet with Fish, entitled "Just Good Friends". In
1997 Brown returned with Box, released via the independent record label Demon
Records. Tracks on this album included "Embrace the Darkness", "Whisper" and "I
Forgive You" which was co-written with Maria McKee. McKee's version of the song
appeared on her album, You Gotta Sin to Get Saved.
The year 2000 saw the release of ReBoot via another independent label, Mud Hut
Records, and the single "In Light of All That's Gone Before." In 2003 Brown
formed the band Homespun with Dave Rotheray, releasing three albums. Brown
also released several solo recordings in this period, including an EP. In 2004,
Jon Lord released Beyond the Notes, for which she wrote almost all the lyrics.
In late 2006, she undertook an extensive UK tour as special guest of her father,
Joe Brown. The shows also included appearances by her brother, Pete Brown.
In 2007 Brown released Of the Moment. She also returned to the Top 10 of the
UK Albums Chart in October 2007, when "Valentine Moon" was included on Jools
Holland's hit album Best of Friends. Brown is an accomplished ukulele player
and runs the International Ukulele Club of Sonning Common, the North London
Ukulele Collective and the People's Ukulele Brigade. Brown is also a patron
of Tech Music Schools in London, made up of Vocaltech, Guitar-X, Keyboardtech and
Drumtech. Backing vocalist
As well as her solo career, Brown has had a successful career as a backing
vocalist and collaborator with other artists. She has worked with Barclay
James Harvest, David Gilmour) and Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Jon Lord, The Firm,
Gary Moore, George Harrison and Nick Cave. She has often appeared as a member
of Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, and achieved further
prominence with her 2002 performance at the Concert for George, singing "Horse
to the Water", but this song is only included in the film of the concert, not
on the CD. In 2002, she was a backing vocalist at Buckingham Palace at the
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II's concert, Party at the Palace.
In 2015 Brown teaches backing vocals classes at the Academy of Contemporary
Music in Guildford, Surrey, a school for rock and pop musicians.
Personal life Brown has two children, Vicki and Mohan,
with her ex-husband, producer and musician Robin Evans.
Discography = Solo albums=
‡ – Gold album ¶ – Silver album = With Homespun=
Homespun Effortless Cool
Short Stories From East Yorkshire = With Jools Holland=
Hop the Wag Small World Big Band UK No. 8
More Friends: Small World Big Band Volume 2 UK No. 17, NZ No. 44
Small World Big Band Friends 3 – Jack O The Green UK No. 39
Swinging the Blues Dancing the Ska UK No. 36
Moving Out to the Country UK No. 45 Best of Friends UK No. 9
Also: Horse to the Water
= Singles= Album titles
The titles of Brown's solo studio albums so far have partly spelt out her name:
Stop! April Moon
(43) Minutes Box
ReBoot Of the Moment
Brown claimed she was unaware of the pattern, but once it was brought to her
attention she vowed to continue the trend, asking fans to submit suggestions
for the next title beginning with 'O'. Of the Moment was released in September
2007; its title was suggested by a fan via Brown's website.
See also List of former A&M Records artists
List of performers on Top of the Pops References
External links Sam Brown discography at Discogs
Sam Brown at AllMusic. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
Sam Brown at the Internet Movie Database One Candle – Sam Brown fan club