Nappy Brown's career in blues, R&B spanned five decades

Charlotte musician died Saturday

CHARLOTTE -- Influential Charlotte-born blues and R&B singer Nappy Brown died Saturday at Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy at the age of 78.

After a show-stopping performance at the Blues Music Awards in May he performed his last live shows in June when he was hospitalized for a number of ailments.

Brown was in the midst of a successful comeback after the September 2007 release of his latest album, "Long Time Coming," which he'd recorded with Wilmington-based producer Scott Cable at Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium studios in Kernersville.

Born Napoleon Brown Culp in 1929, Brown began his career as a gospel singer. He had a string of R&B and pop hits in the 1950's with "Don't Be Angry," "Piddily Patter Patter," "It Don't Hurt Me No More," and "I Cried Like a Baby." He was also an early influence on up-and-coming R&B singers, including Elvis Presley, who according to his label Blind Pig Records would come to his shows in Memphis. Brown all but disappeared from the music business in the late 1960s, but he experienced a resurgence in Europe in the 1980s.

Cable met Brown while Cable was a 14-year-old student at Quail Hollow Junior High.

"I was dating his great niece and there was this guy that would sing at family reunions who I knew as Uncle Napoleon. Even as a kid I loved the way he sang," Cable recalled on Monday. When Cable was 17 he met "Uncle Napoleon" again. "Bob Margolin said this guy was coming out of retirement and they were playing at the Double Door. He walks in and it was Uncle Napoleon. We started talking and I said, 'One day we're going to make a record together.'"

Twenty-three years later they did. Cable, who produced "Long Time Coming," convinced Blind Pig Records to release the comeback album.

"I was able to convince them to take a chance on Nappy. I put a band behind him that loved him as much as I did," said Cable. That band also included 28-year-old blues guitarist Sean Costello who died of an accidental overdose in April. "It was a dream come true for me to do the record that I knew Nappy was capable of."

Appearances on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion," the cover of "Living Blues" magazine, and two Blues Music Awards nominations followed the disc's release. Brown's last Charlotte concert was during 2007's Blues, Brews and BBQ festival.

Brown's funeral will take place Saturday at St. Paul's Baptist Church in Charlotte with a viewing at 1 p.m. and services to follow.

Both the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and MusicCares have announced that they will help defray funeral expenses.

This story was originally published September 24, 2008 at 12:14 AM with the headline "Nappy Brown's career in blues, R&B spanned five decades."