BATON ROUGE, La. - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the singer and guitarist who built a 50-year career playing blues, country, jazz and Cajun music, died Saturday in his hometown of Orange, Texas, where he had gone to escape Hurricane Katrina. He was 81.
Brown, who had been battling lung cancer and heart disease, was in ill health for the past year, said Rick Cady, his booking agent.
Cady said the musician was with his family at his brother's house when he died. Brown's home in Slidell, La., a bedroom community of New Orleans, was destroyed by Katrina, Cady said.
"He was completely devastated," Cady said. "I'm sure he was heartbroken, both literally and figuratively. He evacuated successfully before the hurricane hit, but I'm sure it weighed heavily on his soul."
Although his career first took off in the 1940s with blues hits "Okie Dokie Stomp" and "Ain't That Dandy," Brown bristled when he was labeled a bluesman.
In the second half of his career, he became known as a musical jack-of-all-trades who played a half-dozen instruments and culled from jazz, country, Texas blues, and the zydeco and Cajun music of his native Louisiana.
By the end of his career, Brown had more than 30 recordings and won a Grammy award in 1982.
"I'm so unorthodox, a lot of people can't handle it," Brown said in a 2001 interview.
Brown's versatility came partly from a childhood spent in the musical mishmash of southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas. He was born in Vinton, La., and grew up in Orange, Texas.
Brown often said he learned to love music from his father, a railroad worker who sang and played fiddle in a Cajun band. Brown, who was dismissive of most of his contemporary blues players, named his father as his greatest musical influence.
"If I can make my guitar sound like his fiddle, then I know I've got it right," Brown said.
Cady said Brown was quick-witted, "what some would call a 'codger.'"
Brown started playing fiddle by age 5. At 10, he taught himself an odd guitar picking style he used all his life, dragging his long, bony fingers over the strings.
In his teens, Brown toured as a drummer with swing bands and was nicknamed "Gatemouth" for his deep voice. After a brief stint in the Army, he returned in 1945 to Texas, where he was inspired by blues guitarist T-Bone Walker.
Brown's career took off in 1947 when Walker became ill and had to leave the stage at a Houston nightclub. The club owner invited Brown to sing, but Brown grabbed Walker's guitar and thrilled the crowd by tearing through "Gatemouth Boogie" — a song he claimed to have made up on the spot.
He made dozens of recordings in the 1940s and '50s, including many regional hits — "Okie Dokie Stomp," "Boogie Rambler," and "Dirty Work at the Crossroads."
But he became frustrated by the limitations of the blues and began carving a new career by recording albums that featured jazz and country songs mixed in with the blues numbers.
"He is one of the most underrated guitarists, musicians and arrangers I've ever met, an absolute prodigy," said Colin Walters, who is working on Brown's biography. "He is truly one of the most gifted musicians out there.
"He never wanted to be called a bluesman, but I used to tell him that though he may not like the blues, he does the blues better than anyone," added Walters. "He inherited the legacy of great bluesmen like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, but he took what they did and made it better."
Brown — who performed in cowboy boots, cowboy hat and Western-style shirts — lived in Nashville in the early 1960s, hosting an R&B television show and recording country singles.
"All those guys always tried to sound like T-Bone," Brown said.
I'd heard Gate was in bad health so this isn't a total surprise. I saw him a couple times, always an excellent instrumentalist on all his axes and a nice guy to talk with (although he had some harsh words for some of his former bandmates). Had that wiry physique that made him look younger than he was.
RIP Gate.
Last edited by Captain Hate; September-11th-2005 at 02:58 PM.
This really belongs in Speakout...Gatemouth played froma long line of American music including excellent improvisation including jazz & swing elements.
Had that wiry physique that made him look younger than he was.
Had the pleasure of shaking his hand after a couple of sets back in the late '80's. Wiry with large, boney (but strong) hands. A character from another time.
Damn. One of my favorites. I got to hear him live many times and he was always excellent and the show a good time, indeed. He was a regular at a long defunct Burlington, VT, club, The Front, in the 80s. I heard him also at an American Legion Hall in White River Jct., Vt., early 90s; that was my favorite Gatemouth show of all.
I knew he was sick, so this is not a big surprise. I am strongly emphatic with his decision to die at home rather than in the hospital.
Gates was a serious category-buster, and hearing him play "Take The A Train" back in the way long ago made me realize for the first time that you could play the blues on a lot more than just three chords.
Gatemouth was a phenomenal musician and guitarist. He was using fretboard tapping technique, in a swing context, before Eddie Van Halen was born. Glad I got to see him a couple of times while he was still on this planet. As he used to say at the close of a show, "Remember, wherever you go, there you are!" RIP!
My favorite memory of seeing Gatemouth Brown was him in the middle of a show at the Soup Kitchen in Detroit circa '82 pulling out his fiddle and saying to the audience "yeah, I know y'all came to hear some blues, but I'm tired of playin' that stuff, now it's time for some real shit-kickin' music." The audience didn't quite know how to react, but soon Gate was playing some of killingest country-music ever and tearing the joint up.
He finished his set, said his thank yous, unplugged his equipment, stopped by the bar for a second for a drink, anounced "OK, I'm going to Texas now," went out the door and got behind the wheel of a van that said "Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown" on the outside, and drove off, tires squealing, at a high rate of speed...
My favorite memory of seeing Gatemouth Brown was him in the middle of a show at the Soup Kitchen in Detroit circa '82 pulling out his fiddle and saying to the audience "yeah, I know y'all came to hear some blues, but I'm tired of playin' that stuff, now it's time for some real shit-kickin' music." The audience didn't quite know how to react, but soon Gate was playing some of killingest country-music ever and tearing the joint up.
He finished his set, said his thank yous, unplugged his equipment, stopped by the bar for a second for a drink, anounced "OK, I'm going to Texas now," went out the door and got behind the wheel of a van that said "Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown" on the outside, and drove off, tires squealing, at a high rate of speed...
Bye Gatemouth.
That's a great story! A guy who knows how to make an entrance *and* an exit in style!
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