For those unaware, You Bring Out the Wolf In Me! 1948-1962 offers a deep and essential survey of Piney Brown’s formative years, capturing the raw energy and stylistic evolution of an artist who helped bridge the gap between post-war blues, jump blues, and early rhythm & blues.

Spanning fourteen pivotal years, this collection traces Brown’s movement from small-band swing-influenced recordings into the more hard-edged, vocal-driven R&B sound that would lay groundwork for early rock and roll.

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Piney Brown (sometimes billed as Piney ‘Kokomo’ Brown) emerged in the 1940s as a blues shouter with a powerful, expressive delivery. His career saw him record for a wide range of influential independent labels - including Apollo, King, Jubilee, and Duke - placing him firmly within the network of artists who defined the transitional sound of Black American popular music in the mid-20th century.

Though he never achieved the crossover fame of some contemporaries, Brown’s recordings reveal a versatile performer equally comfortable with mournful blues ballads, uptempo dance numbers, and early rock-inflected material.

The selections here highlight that range in full. Early sides like That’s Right, Little Girl and Mourning Blues lean into big-band blues traditions, while later tracks such as Have Mercy and Kokimo reflect the tightening, more rhythmic structures of early R&B. By the time of his Jubilee and King recordings - particularly You Bring Out The Wolf In Me - Brown’s style had become sharper and more direct, emphasizing groove and vocal attitude.

The later cuts from the early 1960s capture an artist adapting to a changing musical landscape, maintaining his core identity while responding to the evolving sound of soul and modern blues.

As a collection, You Bring Out The Wolf In Me serves both as a historical document and a compelling listening experience, shedding light on a talented and often overlooked figure whose work reflects the shifting currents of American music during a transformative era.

Born as Columbus S. Perry in Birmingham, Alabama and raised by his mother who was a housekeeper in Kansas City, Missouri, as a young boy he started to sing in a Gospel group The Young Blue Jays while attending a lot of Vaudeville and Tent Shows. There he met the famous Vaudeville artist Shepherd Sam who taught him how to dance, sing, tell tales, acrobatics.

At the end of the 1930’s, Colombus tried his luck in Kansas City with no success but he had there the opportunity to watch and meet many of the blues and jazz acts of the time. It was here that he took the stage name Piney Brown from a club owner. He then went to Baltimore around 1940, singing and dancing in several night clubs of this big harbour. He even replaced at the Royal Theatre and backed by the Lucky Millinder Orchestra, an ill Wynonie Harris from who he knew all the songs.

In 1946, he formed a singing and dancing duo with Estelle Young. Estelle took the stage name of Caldonia (cashing on Louis Jordan’s hit) and Colombus Perry became Piney Brown, the title of a smash hit by Big Joe Turner about a famous Kansas City bartender! The duo enjoyed some success and Piney Brown started to tour across the USA with several shows, sharing the bill with Billy Eckstine, Gatemouth Brown, Percy Mayfield, Lester Young and even a very suspicious (at first) Big Joe Turner.

Thanks to Sonny Thompson, Piney made his recording debut in 1947 for Miracle. Of the four songs that were recorded, only one was released, which was That’s Right, Little Girl, issued by Esquire Records in the UK several years later. Perry was invited to make a session the next year at New York for the prestigious Apollo label of Bess Berman, cutting several sides in 1948, including the single Morning Blues backed with Gloomy Monday Blues.

My Baby’s Gone enjoyed some success and Piney appeared at many famous clubs and venues like the Apollo Theatre, the Cotton Club, while embarking of several tours of US Military bases. In 1953 Brown recorded Ooh You Bring Out the Wolf in Me backed with Don’t Pass My By for Jubilee Records and Walk-a-Block-and-Fall backed with Whispering Blue for King Records.

None of his records made the national charts, but they sold well locally, and Brown was a top-performing attraction who regularly toured the country. He performed with the young guitarist Albert Collins in the early 1950s. The rest, as they say, is history.

1. Piney Brown And His Rhythm And Blues Band - That’s Right, Little Girl
2. Piney Brown With Orchestra - Mourning Blues
3. Piney Brown With Orchestra - Gloomy Monday Blues
4. Ed Wiley And His Band - Pack Up, Move Out
5. Piney Brown - Why Do I Cry Over You?
6. Piney Brown - That’s Right Baby
7. Piney Brown With Orchestra - How About Rockin’ With Me?
8. Piney Brown With Orchestra - Lovin’ Gal Blues
9. Piney Brown And The Blue Flashes - Have Mercy
10. Piney Brown And The Blue Flashes - Kokimo
11. Piney Brown - Ooh I Want My Baby
12. Piney Brown - My Heart Is Aching Baby
13. Piney Brown, Abie Baker Orchestra - Don’t Pass Me By
14. Piney Brown, Abie Baker Orchestra - Ooh You Bring Out The Wolf In Me
15. Piney Brown - Whispering Blues
16. Piney Brown - Walk A Block And Fall
17. Piney ‘Kokomo’ Brown And The Blue Flashes - Talking About You
18. Piney ‘Kokomo’ Brown And The Blue Flashes - You Made Me This Way
19. Brooks And Brown - Sleeping In An Ocean Of Tears
20. Brooks And Brown - They Call Her Rosalie
21. Piney Brown And His Blues Toppers - Sugar In My Tea
22. Piney Brown And His Blues Toppers - My Love
23. Piney Brown - I’m Travelling
24. Piney Brown - Life Is Funny
25. Piney Brown - After There’s Love
26. Piney Brown - Unemployed

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