April 18
Today is the birthday of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. He would be 102 today.
Clarence Brown was born on April 18, 1924 in Vinton, Louisiana — but Texas made him. His family moved to Orange, and Brown grew up absorbing everything the Gulf Coast offered: blues, country, Western Swing, jazz, zydeco. He played guitar, violin, viola, drums, and harmonica. He refused to be categorized, which annoyed record labels and delighted musicians. He landed in Houston and built a career at the Peacock Club on Almeda Road, cutting records for Don Robey’s Peacock Records starting in 1949.
The Multi-Tool That Defied Every Box
Brown’s guitar work on “Okie Dokie Stomp” in 1954 is still one of the great showcases in Texas blues. But he was always as likely to be playing fiddle as guitar. He appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival. He toured the world. He won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1982 for Alright Again!. He lived in Slidell, Louisiana in his later years but never stopped calling Texas home. He died September 10, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his house and most of his possessions. Find his place items on Texas Music Map.