Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 - September 10, 2005)

CLARENCE "GATEMOUTH" BROWN

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 - September 10, 2005) was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, Alright Again!.

Brown was born in Vinton, Louisiana, and raised near Orange, Texas. His father was a railroad worker and local musician who taught him several musical instruments, including fiddle by age 5; as well as piano and guitar. He had at least one brother. Brown was performing guitar by age ten. He also played drums in swing bands as a teenager.

Brown served in the military during World War II. His professional music career began in 1945, playing drums in San Antonio, Texas. He was given the nickname "Gatemouth" by a high school teacher who said he had a "voice like a gate". His career was boosted when he attended a concert by T-Bone Walker in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub in 1947; Walker became ill, and Brown took up his guitar and quickly wrote and played "Gatemouth Boogie", to the delight of the audience.

Clarence Brown, conocido como Gatemouth, fue un guitarrista, violinista, cantante y armonicista de blues, nacido en Vinton, Luisiana (EE.UU.), el 18 de abril de 1924, y fallecido en Orange (Texas), el 11 de septiembre de 2005.

Trasladado a Texas desde muy pequeño, sus primeras influencias fueron el "western swing" y las big bands de la zona. Se inició musicalmente en bandas del área de San Antonio (Texas), donde se instaló, tocando en un estilo muy cercano al de T-Bone Walker. Comenzó, a partir de 1947, a grabar un buen número de discos en un estilo rhythm and blues muy californiano. A comienzo de los años 1960, tocó música cajún, con Buckwheat como pianista.

Obtuvo un gran éxito en Europa a partir de su presencia en el Chicago Blues Festival de 1971 y en el Festival de Jazz de Montreux, donde realizó dos shows el mismo día, uno con música country, y otro de blues, junto a B.B.King. A finales de la década de 1980, varias grabaciones con Rounder Records y Alligator Records, lo redescubrieron para el público americano y lo convirtieron en una figura reverenciada por el gran público.

Asentado en Slidell, junto a Nueva Orleans, sobrevivió milagrosamente al huracán Katrina , aunque perdió su casa y sus bienes. Se refugió en casa de su hermano, en Texas, donde murió con 81 años.