OT: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

[shane justice]

Takenm from his website.


By BEN RATLIFF -- Clarence Gatemouth Brown, an eminent guitarist and singer who spent his career fighting purism by synthesizing old blues, country, jazz, Cajun and R & B styles, died on Saturday. He was 81.

His death was confirmed by Rick Cady, his booking agent, who said Mr. Brown had suffered from lung cancer and heart disease.

Mr. Brown died at his grand-niece's apartment in Orange, Tex., his hometown. He had left his own home in Slidell, La., on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, to escape Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Cady said that his house was destroyed by the storm, and Colin Walters, his biographer, said there had been a plan to resettle him in Austin, Tex.

For anybody that knows American music...this is an incredible loss.

Shane

 

[Bobwhite]

The man is gone, that is a loss. His music remains and that will live a long time. This man influenced music forever. Most people influenced by him don't even realize it. They took it from someone, who took it from someone, who took it from Gatemouth. A true originator. His contribution to music would be hard to underestimate. But he never really was known outside of those "in the know".

 

[munk]

Gatemouth is on many of my blues albums but I can't say I really 'know' him.




munk

 

[hollowdweller]

I saw him this year on Mt Stage. He came out with a long oxygen tube that went backstage, but played great.

At the end of the show they do this finale where all the performers come out and sing together. They did kind of a tepid version of "Mojo Workin'"

They stopped recording, show was over, but Gatemouth refused to leave the stage. He wanted to do the song right. Being a laid back show they indulged him.

His band stayed on stage. Then he recruited most of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band except the drums and guitar, all the horns, and then recruited New Orleans slide master Sonny Landreth to stay out too. They ripped into a blazing version of Mojo, and not one to hog the spotlight Gatemouth made sure every performer got to do at least one wicked solo! They did about a 10 or 12 minute version. We listened to the radio show after but they had used the tepid version instead of the Gatemouth version. All I can say is he was good till the end :thumbup:

 

[shane justice]

Any music your hear called Rock and Roll owes something to Gatemouth.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Shane

P.S. I just bought tickets to go see BB King!

 

[Doug C]

Gate is gone! Terrible news and a great loss to the music world.Why he wasn't more widely known I'll never know but his influences are in many very well known guitarists music.He will be missed.

 

[hollowdweller]

Gate is gone! Terrible news and a great loss to the music world.Why he wasn't more widely known I'll never know but his influences are in many very well known guitarists music.He will be missed.

His music was fairly sophisticated too. Not just simple blues at all.

 

[shane justice]

I saw Mr. Brown on a DVD Wendy got me for my birthday...

Lightning in a Bottle....

In a very unassuming way...he did his thing and as far as I am concerned...

wrecked the place! Best performance on the video.

Shane

 

[DKP]

I don't know if there is any way to classify Gatemouth's music other than call it his. He was definitely one of the few musicians that remained an individual in a copy-cat business.

 

[hollowdweller]

I don't know if there is any way to classify Gatemouth's music other than call it his. He was definitely one of the few musicians that remained an individual in a copy-cat business.

I was thinking about this recently. I don't know if any of y'all know who the Codetalkers are, but they feature Col. Bruce Hampton, previously of the Aquarium Rescue Unit, the Fiiji Mariners, and the Hampton Grease Band. Anyway I saw them recently and they had 3 guitarists, Jimmy Herring who is absolutely a fantastic guitarist, Bobby Lee Rogers who is also good and very jazzy, and the Col who while he is not as fast or technically proficient as either of the others, was for sure the most original. Bobby Lee you could hear George Benson in there Herring was definately Dickie Betts, but the Col had his own style. Hard to do these days.