Oscar Brown Jr Oscar Brown Jr. was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. 125 of Brown's songs have been published, these include "Somebody Buy Me a Drink", "Bid 'Em In", "A Tree and Me" and "But I Was Cool". Numerous artists such as Nina Simone, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Lizz Wright have covered his songs or used Brown's lyrics. He released twelve albums between 1959 and 1998. Brown also composed ten musicals one of which he performed as a one man show in London titled "Oscar Brown, Jr. Entertains".