Charity Brown began singing with local bands while still in high school in Kitchener, Ontario in the late 1960s. She performed and recorded under the name Phyllis Brown until 1973. Around 1970 she became the lead vocalist for Rain, a popular Kitchener-based rock band. Rain scored a #22 hit in Canada in 1971 with "Out of My Mind", written by
Greg Hambleton and released on
Axe Records. She left Rain in 1973 to focus on her solo career. Her Motown-flavoured brand of white soul was produced by Harry Hinde and was strong enough to secure her a contract with
A&M Records. It was at this time she changed her stage name to Charity Brown. Her two original studio albums with A&M produced four top ten hits in Canada, including the #5 hit "
Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)". "Take Me in Your Arms" was a
Holland-Dozier-Holland composition that had been an R&B hit for
Kim Weston in 1965 and
The Isley Brothers in 1968. Charity Brown released her single in mid-April 1975, about a week before the
Doobie Brothers released the same song in the US. The Doobie Brothers version peaked at number 11 in the US but was overshadowed in Canada by Brown's release. The Doobie Brothers peaked at number 35 in Canada only after Brown's version began to leave the charts. During the 1980s, Brown performed as a voice artist for
Atkinson Film-Arts TV specials and programmes including
The Velveteen Rabbit,
Rumpelstiltskin,
Dennis the Menace and
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin. She also made a guest appearance on
The Alan Thicke Show and appeared with a number of top Canadian female recording artists on the CBC Television special ''
Anne Murray's Ladies Night'' in 1979. After a twenty-year hiatus from music, she began performing again in southern Ontario, including a performance at the 2007 Kitchener Blues Festival. She released an album of material recorded in 1979 but never before released. She also released a sampler called
Wings of Time, featuring two original tracks. A new full album was promised, but has not yet been released. ==Awards==