- Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
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Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown 
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown at the Long Beach Blues Festival, 1996Background information Birth name Clarence Brown Also known as Gatemouth, Gate Born April 18, 1924
Vinton, Louisiana, United StatesDied September 10, 2005 (aged 81)
Orange, Texas, United StatesGenres 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 RecordsAssociated 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]
Contents
Career
1940s and 1950s
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.
1960s and 1970s
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.
Later years
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. "People can't come to me, so I go to them," he explained.
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 was Timeless, released in late 2004.
Discography
Original albums
- 1972 The Blues Ain't Nothin' (Black and Blue)
- 1973 Cold Strange (Black and Blue)
- 1973 Sings Louis Jordan (Black and Blue)
- 1973 Drifter Rides Again (Barclay)
- 1974 Gate's on the Heat (Barclay)
- 1974 Down South in Bayou County (Barclay)
- 1975 Bogalusa Boogie Man (Barclay)
- 1976 Blackjack (Music Is Medicine)
- 1977 Heatwave (with Lloyd Glenn) (Black and Blue)
- 1979 Makin' Music (with Roy Clark) (One Way)
- 1981 Alright Again! (Rounder)
- 1982 One More Mile (Rounder)
- 1986 Real Life (Rounder)
- 1989 Standing My Ground (Alligator)
- 1992 No Looking Back (Alligator)
- 1994 The Man (Verve/Gitanes)
- 1996 Long Way Home (Verve/Gitanes)
- 1997 Gate Swings (Verve/Gitanes)
- 1999 American Music, Texas Style (Verve/Blue Thumb)
- 2001 Back to Bogalusa (Verve/Gitanes)
- 2004 Timeless (Hightone)
Compilations and bootlegs
- 1974 San Antonio Ballbuster (Red Lightnin') Peacock recordings
- 1983 Atomic Energy (Blues Boy) Peacock recordings
- 1985 Pressure Cooker (Alligator) Black and Blue recordings
- 1985 More Stuff (Black and Blue) Black and Blue recordings
- 1987 Texas Swing (Rounder) Rounder recordings
- 1989 Hot Times Tonight (P-Vine)various recordings of the 1960-70s
- 1990 The Original Peacock Recordings (Rounder) Peacock recordings
- 1993 Just Got Lucky (Evidence Music) Black and Blue recordings
- 1994 Live (Charly) unreleased live recording
- 1995 The Best of Clarence Gatemouth Brown, A Blues Legend (Verve) Barclay recordings
- 1999 Okie Dokie Stomp (Bullseye Blues & Jazz) Rounder recordings
- 1999 Guitar in My Hand (Catfish) Aladdin & Peacock recordings
- 1999 Hot Club Drive (P-Vine) Black and Blue recordings
- 1999 The Blues Ain't Nothing (P-Vine) Black and Blue recordings
- 2000 Okie Dokie (AIM)various recordings of the 1960s
- 2002 "Gatemouth" Brown: 1947–1951 (Classics) Aladdin & Peacock recordings
- 2003 Clarence Gatemouth Brown: In Concert (DVD)
- 2005 "Gatemouth" Brown: 1952–1954 (Classics) Peacock recordings
Other contributions
- 2003 Johnny's Blues: A Tribute To Johnny Cash (Northern Blues)[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f Allmusic biography
- ^ Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, New York Times
- ^ Past Grammy Winners on Official Grammy Award website
- ^ Blues Fiddle|Julie Libermnan|Mel Bay?|Citation verification needed
- ^ a b c d e Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 164. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
- ^ a b c d e Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 95–96. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ a b c Allaboutjazz.com website biography
- ^ Orangeleader.com
- ^ Brown sings the 1956 Johnny Cash rockabilly song, "Get Rhythm", with Benjy Davis.
External links
- Alligator Records' biography
- Obituary in the New York Times
- Brown's obituary at KLTV
- "W.C. Handy Blues Awards", from National Public Radio Talk of the Nation, program, May 24, 2001
- "Music: 'Gatemouth' Brown Plays Through Cancer, Years", from National Public Radio All Things Considered program, June 22, 2005
- "Remembrances: 'Gatemouth' Brown's Blues Voice Goes Quiet", from National Public Radio All Things Considered program, September 12, 2005
- Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Disk Guide (Japanese)
Categories:- 1924 births
- 2005 deaths
- People from Vinton, Louisiana
- African American musicians
- American blues guitarists
- American blues harmonica players
- American blues violists
- American country musicians
- American drummers
- Blues Hall of Fame inductees
- American mandolinists
- Grammy Award winners
- Charly Records artists
- Deaths from lung cancer
- People from Orange County, Texas
- People from San Antonio, Texas
- American country fiddlers
- Blues fiddlers
- Cancer deaths in Texas
- Musicians from Louisiana
- Texas blues musicians
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