| Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown | |
|---|---|
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown at the Long Beach Blues Festival, 1996 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Clarence Brown |
| Also known as | Gatemouth, Gate |
| Born | April 18, 1924 Vinton, Louisiana, United States |
| Died | September 10, 2005 (aged 81) Orange, Texas, United States |
| Genres | Blues, swing, country, cajun |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | vocals, guitar, violin, viola, mandolin, drums, harmonica, piano |
| Years active | 1947–2005 |
| Labels | Aladdin Records Peacock Records Cindrella Records Black and Blue Records Barclay Records Music Is Medicine Rounder Records Alligator Records Verve Records Occidental Records |
| Associated acts | Gate's Express (Harold Floyd, David Peters, Joe Krown, Eric Demmer), Los Super Seven |
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 — September 10, 2005[1]) was an American musician from Louisiana and Texas. He is best known for his work as a blues musician, but embraced other styles of music, having "spent his career fighting purism by synthesizing old blues, country, jazz, Cajun music and R&B styles"[2]
He was an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, who played an array of musical instruments such as guitar, fiddle, mandolin, viola as well as harmonica and drums. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1982 for his album, Alright Again![3] He is regarded as one of the most influential exponents of blues fiddle and has had enormous influence in American fiddle circles.[4]
Brown's two biggest musical influences were Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker.[5]
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Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was raised in Orange, Texas. His professional musical career began in 1945, playing drums in San Antonio, Texas.[6] Tagged with the "Gatemouth" handle by a high school instructor who accused Brown of having a "voice like a gate," Brown has used it to his advantage throughout his career.[1] His career was boosted while attending a 1947 concert by T-Bone Walker in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub.[1] When Walker became ill, Brown took up his guitar and played "Gatemouth Boogie," to the delight of the audience.[5]
In 1949 Robey founded Peacock Records in order to showcase Brown's virtuoso guitar work.[1] Brown's "Mary Is Fine"/"My Time Is Expensive" was a hit for Peacock in 1949.[5] A string of Peacock releases in the 1950s were less successful commercially, but were nonetheless pioneering musically. Particularly notable was the 1951 instrumental "Okie Dokie Stomp",[5] in which Brown solos continuously over a punchy horn section (other instrumentals from this period include "Boogie Uproar" and "Gate Walks to Board").[1] As for his gutsy violin playing, Robey allowed him to record "Just Before Dawn" as his final Peacock release in 1959.
In the 1960s Brown moved to Nashville, Tennessee to participate in a syndicated R&B television show, and while he was there recorded several country singles.[6] He struck up a friendship with Roy Clark and made several appearances on the television show Hee Haw.[1] In 1966, Brown was the musical director for the house band on the short-lived television program, The !!!! Beat.[5]
However, in the early 1970s several countries in Europe had developed an appreciation for American roots music, especially the blues, and Brown was a popular and well-respected artist there.[6] He toured Europe twelve times, beginning in 1971 and continuing throughout the 1970s. He also became an official ambassador for American music, and participated in several tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department, including an extensive tour of Eastern Africa. Brown appeared at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival.[6] In 1974, he recorded as a sideman with the New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair on his album, Rock 'N' Roll Gumbo (originally a Blue Star Records release). He moved to New Orleans in the late 1970s.
In the 1980s, a series of releases on Rounder Records and Alligator Records revitalized his U.S. career,[6] and he toured extensively and internationally, usually playing between 250 and 300 shows a year. He won a Grammy in 1982 for the album Alright Again! and was nominated for five more. He was also awarded eight W. C. Handy Awards and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Heroes Award.[7]
Clarence Brown was featured as one of the stellar musicians on the Southern Stars poster created by Dianna Chenevert to help promote him and historically document his contribution to the music industry. On October 12, 1983, USA Today reporter Miles White highlighted Brown as being included on the poster, which provided him with more nationwide attention. In 1997 he was honored by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, and in 1999 was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.[7]
In his last few years, he maintained a full touring schedule, including Australia, New Zealand, and countries with political conflicts in Central America, Africa, and the former Soviet Union.
In September 2004, Brown was diagnosed with lung cancer. Already suffering from emphysema and heart disease, he and his doctors decided to forgo treatment.[7] His home in Slidell, Louisiana was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he was evacuated to his childhood home town of Orange, Texas, where he died on September 10 at the apartment of a niece, at the age of 81. Brown is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Orange, Texas. However, flooding caused by Hurricane Ike in September 2008, damaged his grave.[8]
His final album Timeless, was released in late 2004.