Comments on: Clarence Gatemouth Brown - dead at 81

Clarence Gatemouth Brown - dead at 81

madamjujujive — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 10:52:05 -0800

Things ain't what they used to be. Blues, jazz, Cajun and country music great Clarence Gatemouth Brown dies at 81. Brown safely evacuated his home in Slidell, but was said to be broken hearted by the devastation wreaked by Katrina on his beloved Louisiana. Alligator bio (sound alert).

By: justgary

justgary — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 10:54:07 -0800

Huge loss.

By: runningdogofcapitalism

runningdogofcapitalism — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 10:57:38 -0800

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:01:11 -0800

*salutes*

By: NoMich

NoMich — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:02:20 -0800

This is too bad. I saw Gatemouth play in a crappy little club in Michigan a couple of time in the mid-'80s. Great stuff and he will be sorely missed.

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:11:10 -0800

Oh.my.god. This is just depressing as all hell. He was my guitar hero. I had the privilege of restringing his Firebird once when he played at the Little Bear in Colorado (the same Firebird on the cover of "Pressure Cooker") and he was the definition of cool. I overtuned the high E string not thinking he'd grab it and start playing before I had a chance to double-check it and he didn't miss a beat. Just tuned it in the middle of the song and gave me a big shit eating grin. He gave me 10 autographed posters which was just icing considering all he did for me, guitarwise. Anyone who has a chance, go out right now and buy "Pressure Cooker" just for the song "Cold Strings". You won't be sorry and it's be a great way to remember this guitar-great. Very sad indeed.

By: Rumple

Rumple — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:26:19 -0800

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:29:07 -0800

What a privilege to have interacted with one of the comtemporary legends, KevinSkomsvold. I saw him in concert when I could - amazing shows. Loved that fiddle! Gatemouth in his own words: June 2005 interview from Nashville News 1999 interview from Mix online. 1984 interview with Gatemouth from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, School of Music, African American Music Collection.

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:42:45 -0800

By: kortez

kortez — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:51:05 -0800

Not just the guitar, either. He was pretty hot on a fiddle, too. My brother and I saw him a few years back, and it was something else.... .

By: djeo

djeo — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:02:40 -0800

By: Relay

Relay — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:06:08 -0800

" ... in a crappy little club in Michigan ... " If you ask me, that's the way all blues SHOULD BE seen. Dodgy clubs on the wrong side of the tracks, lots of smoke, drinking ... that sort of thing. Did you know there's some venues that don't even allow smoking anymore? Lord, what has this country come to? That said, yeah ... big loss. Fewer and fewer of the originals are left now.

By: jrossi4r

jrossi4r — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:19:37 -0800

Right on the heels of RL Burnside, too. I seriously need to get my kid to a blues show ASAP. I don't want her growing up never having heard them played by one of the greats.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:36:37 -0800

By: nonmerci

nonmerci — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:12:41 -0800

By: scody

scody — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:15:36 -0800

By: maryh

maryh — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:17:54 -0800

By: MinPin

MinPin — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:56:34 -0800

That's awful. When I stated listening to blues in the early Eighties, it was hard to find many albums in the UK, but a mate of mine had a couple of killers by Gatemouth. We played them to shreds. It's sad and unfair, but in the blues revival that followed the switch to CD from LP, Gatemouth Brown never achieved the popularity of contemporaries such as John Lee Hooker.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:58:52 -0800

I was saddened to hear this, too. Fewer and fewer of the originals are left now. If you mean original as pre-war--as in World War II--blues, Robert Jr. Lockwood comes to mind. He played here last year and I missed him because it was not advertised very well at all. If you stretch original to mean the 50's, then apart from the obvious B.B. King, Pinetop Perkins, Ike Turner and Johnny Otis come to mind as well. David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Henry Townsend are still alive but I am not sure if they play that much anymore. They are both very old and frail. I heard a fellow named Terry "Harmonica" Bean at Port Townsend this past August. Louisiana Red--another original who lives and plays in Europe now--was there, too, and had nothing but nice things to say about him. Bean's more second generation than original but he has the sound and feel of the older generation. Carrie Bell was at Port Townsend, too, but, although he managed to play three songs with his son at the last night's concert, he spent most of his time in the hospital while he was out. Which is par for the course for Port Townsend. They try to feature an original or two per year but these past few years, the originals have been in very poor health and far past their playing prime. Honestly, jrossi4r , your daughter's chances of seeing an original downhome blues musician are just about zero.

By: nola

nola — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:43:06 -0800

just another nail in my hear. R.I.P.

By: Ber

Ber — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:20:48 -0800

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:37:58 -0800

I saw him with Dr. John a few years ago in Osaka. Rail thin, still dressed in black, despite his age he did his whole show standing up (in contrast to BB King, who sits for most of his show these days); He was still lightning fast on guitar and fiddle. What a great show, what an epitome of cool. Rock on, Gate.

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:46:42 -0800

I have some great stories about the Bells (Carrie and Lurie). I'll dave them for the obit.

By: NationalKato

NationalKato — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 17:02:06 -0800

Saw Gatemouth in 1992 at at a show in Tallahassee, Florida. Wonderful experience. In the middle of one song, Gatemouth stopped abruptly to spend the next minute trimming his fingernails, all the while smiling at us in the audience bashfully. He picked up the song right where he had left off. That made me smile. .

By: dontoine

dontoine — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 18:32:50 -0800

By: arto

arto — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 19:42:52 -0800

David "Honeyboy" Edwards and Henry Townsend are still alive but I am not sure if they play that much anymore. They are both very old and frail. Dunno about Henry Townsend, but "Honeyboy" Edwards played Calgary last yeat. (I missed it, because I'm a chump.) Buddy Guy and Otis Rush, both of whom date back to '50s Chicago, are still touring. As far as Gatemouth goes, damn, I gotta get my turntable running again so I can spin Makin' Music. That record ruled.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 19:47:03 -0800

So great. RIP.

By: cookie-k

cookie-k — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 19:55:33 -0800

By: nola

nola — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 20:22:24 -0800

heart*

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 05:18:53 -0800

In addition to many of those mentioned, here are some other aging blues performers that should be added to any "to see" list. Tho I can't guarantee all are still performing - or even still living! Blind Mississippi Morris Eddie Shaw Luther Guitar Johnson Magic Slim Koko Taylor Big Jack Johnson Sweet Sam Myers Etta James Big Time Sarah Eddy Clearwater Bobby Rush Plus, Taj Mahal, Charlie Musselwhite and John Hammond are all worth seeing, and they are getting up there in years, too.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 08:05:44 -0800

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 12:26:07 -0800

Damn. Sad to hear about this - the man was one of the greats.