Charles Brown records 'Drifting Blues' with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers

Charles Brown recorded 'Drifting Blues' with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers on September 11, 1945, released on Philo/Aladdin Records. It spent 23 weeks on the Billboard race records chart and helped define the West Coast blues style — intimate, jazzy, piano-centered — distinct from the Delta and Chicago traditions. Brown's smooth vocal delivery directly influenced Ray Charles and other R&B vocalists.