{{short description|American soul singer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> | name = Ruby Johnson | image = Ruby johnson.jpg | caption = Cover of Ruby Johnson compilation album | image_size = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Ruby Johnson | alias = | birth_place = Elizabeth City, North Carolina, United States | birth_date = {{birth date |mf=yes|1936|4|19}} | death_place = Lanham, Maryland, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1999|7|4|1936|4|19}} | origin = | instrument = | genre = R&B, soul | occupation = Singer | years_active = c.1958–1974 | label = V-Tone, NEBS, Volt | associated_acts = | website = | current_members = | past_members = }} '''Ruby Johnson''' (April 19, 1936<ref name="LarkinSM">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-733-9|page=143}}</ref> – July 4, 1999)<ref name="independent"/> was an American soul singer, best known for her recordings on the Volt label in the late 1960s.<ref name="LarkinSM"/>
==Life and career== She was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and was raised in the Jewish faith.<ref name="independent">{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-ruby-johnson-1117495.html|title=Obituary: Ruby Johnson|date=October 23, 2011|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=July 8, 2021}}</ref> She sang, with her eight brothers and sisters, in the Temple Beth-El choir.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> After completing high school, she moved to Virginia Beach where she worked as a waitress and began singing rhythm and blues with local bands, before spending two years with Samuel Latham and the Rhythm Makers.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> She then moved to Washington, D.C. in the late 1950s, and joined Ambrose and the Showstoppers, the house band at the Spa nightclub.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> Local entrepreneur Never Duncan Jnr. became her manager,<ref name="LarkinSM"/> and placed her with record producer Dicky Williams. Her first single, "Calling All Boys", was issued in 1960 on the V-Tone label, before Duncan established his own recording company, NEBS.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> She released a succession of singles on NEBS, including "Here I Go Again", "Worried Mind", and "Nobody Cares", some of which became local hits.<ref name="independent"/>
When her local supporter, disc jockey Al Bell, began working for Stax Records in Memphis in 1965, he won her a contract with the label.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> There, she recorded a handful of classic soul records with the writing and production team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter,<ref name="LarkinSM"/> and backing musicians including Steve Cropper, "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson. These were issued on the Stax subsidiary label, Volt.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> They included "I'll Run Your Hurt Away",<ref name="LarkinSM"/> which reached No. 31 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1966, and "If I Ever Needed Love", both tracks which became staples of subsequent soul compilations, such as those by Dave Godin.<ref name=sirshambling>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/J/ruby_johnson/index.php|title=RUBY JOHNSON : Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven|website=Sirshambling.com|access-date=July 8, 2021}}</ref>
Despite the quality of her records, they met with little success, and after a few more years singing in clubs, she gave up her singing career in 1974.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> She worked in government posts, and eventually became the director of Foster Grandparents, a federal programme helping handicapped children relate to older generations.<ref name="LarkinSM"/> She also returned to worship and sing at the Temple Beth-El near her home in Lanham, Maryland. A compilation CD, including many previously unissued tracks, was issued in 1993.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ill-run-your-hurt-away-mw0000094854|title=I'll Run Your Hurt Away - Ruby Johnson | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=July 8, 2021}}</ref>
She died in 1999, aged 63.<ref name=independent/>
==Discography== ===Singles=== * 1961 "Callin' All Boys" / "Pleadin' Heart" – V-TONE 222 * 1963 "I Received Your Message" / "Stop Wasting Your Tears" – Pledge 108 * 1964 "Worried Mind" / "I'm Hooked" – NEBS 502 * 1964 "What Goes Up Must Come Down" / "I Want A Real Man" – NEBS 503 * 1965 "Let Me Apologise" / "Don't Start Nothing" – NEBS 101 * 1965 "Here I Go Again" / "Jerk Shout" – NEBS 501 * 1966 "I'll Run Your Hurt Away" / "Weak Spot" – Volt 133 * 1966 "Come To Me My Darling" / "When My Love Comes Down" – Volt 140 * 1967 "Reach Out and Touch Me" / "Come Back To Me" – NEBS 508 * 1967 "If I Ever Needed Love (I Sure Do Need It Now)" / "Keep On Keeping On" – Volt 147 * 1968 "I've Been Hurt (So Many Times)" / "Through Dealing" – NEBS 509 * 1968 "Why You Want To Leave Me" / "I Can't Do It" – NEBS 511 * 1969 "Nobody Care" / "Why Do You Want To Leave Me" – NEBS 600<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/artist/ruby-johnson|title=Ruby Johnson Discography - USA|website=45cat.com|access-date=July 8, 2021}}</ref>
===Albums=== ''I'll Run Your Hurt Away'', Stax, 1993<ref name="auto"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/volt.htm Volt Discography]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ruby}} Category:1936 births Category:1999 deaths Category:American soul singers Category:African-American Jews Category:Jewish American musicians Category:People from Elizabeth City, North Carolina Category:20th-century African-American women singers Category:20th-century American women singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American Jews