1. Oscar Brown wrote many songs, 12 albums, and more than a dozen musical plays.
18 Facts About Oscar Brown
1. 2.
Oscar Brown's acting debut came on the Chicago radio show Secret City at the age of 15.
3.
Oscar Brown worked briefly in real estate and public relations before running for political offices: for the Illinois Legislature in 1948 through the Progressive Party, and for the US House of Representatives as a Republican in 1952.
4.
Oscar Brown was a contributor to the weekly WMAQ Chicago radio series Destination Freedom both during its early years and in the 1950 revival.
5.
Oscar Brown's father intended for him to follow in his footsteps and become a practicing lawyer.
6.
Also, Oscar Brown would make politically controversial comments about the on-going Korean War.
7.
However, Oscar Brown was to fall down the pecking order at Columbia following a rearrangement of the management at the company.
8.
Oscar Brown was given much more creative freedom for his fourth album, Tells It Like It Is, and he was back to his creative best, composing songs such as "The Snake", which became a Northern soul classic when it was covered by Al Wilson, and has featured on several adverts.
9.
Host Dave Garroway turned over an entire broadcast of the Today show to Oscar Brown to perform numbers from the show and try to raise the necessary funds to launch it on the stage.
10.
Oscar Brown was the show's presenter and it featured a new musical guest each week.
11.
Oscar Brown sang the theme for the 1970 drama series Bird of the Iron Feather, the first all-Black television soap opera.
12.
Oscar Brown was married to Jean Pace, the elder sister of actress Judy Pace.
13.
Oscar Brown's son Oscar "BoBo" Brown III was a bassist and musical arranger who died in a car crash in August 1996.
14.
On May 29,2005, Oscar Brown died in his hometown of Chicago from osteomyelitis at the age of 78.
15.
Oscar Brown participated in an anti-apartheid protest rally in Compton College in 1976.
16.
Oscar Brown wrote the vocalese lyrics to the Duke Pearson melody "Jeannine" as sung by Eddie Jefferson on the album The Main Man recorded in October 1974 and covered by The Manhattan Transfer on their 1984 album Bop Doo-Wopp.
17.
Oscar Brown was scheduled to contribute lyrics to Allyson's 2006 album Footprints before his death; instead, she recorded his songs "A Tree and Me" and "But I Was Cool" as a tribute.
18.
Oscar Brown was the subject of a tribute album by cabaret singer Linda Kosut.