Gabriel Brown and His Guitar
June 23, 2009 11:00 AM Subscribe
Two 78 sides by Gabriel Brown (yt)
Gabriel Brown is one of those great unknowns of the blues whose story seems way too odd to be ignored, but he garnered only a scant paragraph in Edward M. Komara's otherwise excellent Encyclopedia of the Blues:
1: Some of her recordings are available here (previously), and it should be noted he worked with her and Orson Welles in the controversial Federal Theater Project in Harlem.
(object OP10, on this page is a photo of him in costume, sadly not online, and here is a poster of the production.)
2: An example story of the exploits of Joe Davis here
Gabriel Brown is one of those great unknowns of the blues whose story seems way too odd to be ignored, but he garnered only a scant paragraph in Edward M. Komara's otherwise excellent Encyclopedia of the Blues:
- A strangely anonymous artist with no real discernible roots and a sophisticated background that that belies his concentration on slick country blues. Brown won first prize in the St. Louis National Folk festival of 1934 and was recorded for the Library of Congress. He became an actor, working with Orson Wells, among others and was taken up by record company owner Joe Davis. who recorded him extensively from 1943 to 1953 before he reportedly died in a boating accident.
1: Some of her recordings are available here (previously), and it should be noted he worked with her and Orson Welles in the controversial Federal Theater Project in Harlem.
(object OP10, on this page is a photo of him in costume, sadly not online, and here is a poster of the production.)
2: An example story of the exploits of Joe Davis here
A magnificent post, with style and imagination and lots of research. And some truly obscure blues, which makes my day. Thank you!
posted by MinPin at 11:30 AM on June 23, 2009
posted by MinPin at 11:30 AM on June 23, 2009
1f2frfbf, I know the number of recorded early blues artists is finite, and I've heard a helluva lot of 'em, but a new discovery is still possible every now and again. I'm happy to say that this is one such discovery, and thanks so much for putting this post together.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:34 PM on June 23, 2009
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:34 PM on June 23, 2009
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posted by 1f2frfbf at 11:01 AM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]