martes, 10 de enero de 2012

Clarence Gatemouth Brown













Clarence Brown, conocido como Gatemouth, fue un guitarrista, violinista, cantante y armonicista de blues, nacido en Vinton, Luisiana (EEUU), 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 (2004), aunque perdió su casa y sus bienes. Se refugió en casa de su hermano, en Texas, donde murió con 81 años.


Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
(April 18, 1924 — September 10, 2005) was an American musician from Louisiana and Texas. He is best known for his work as a blues musician, but embraced other styles of music, having "spent his career fighting purism by synthesizing old blues, country, jazz, Cajun music and R&B styles" He was an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, who played an array of musical instruments such as guitar, fiddle, mandolin, viola as well as harmonica and drums. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1982 for his album, Alright Again! He is regarded as one of the most influential exponents of blues fiddle and has had enormous influence in American fiddle circles.

Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was raised in Orange, Texas. His professional musical career began in 1945, playing drums in
San Antonio, Texas. Tagged with the "Gatemouth" handle by a high school instructor who accused Brown of having a "voice like a gate," Brown has used it to his advantage throughout his career. His career was boosted while attending a 1947 concert by T-Bone Walker in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub. When Walker became ill, Brown took up his guitar and played "Gatemouth Boogie," to the delight of the audience.
In 1949 Robey founded Peacock Records in order to showcase Brown's virtuoso guitar work. Brown's "Mary Is Fine"/"My Time Is Expensive" was a hit for Peacock in 1949 A string of Peacock releases in the 1950s were less successful commercially, but were nonetheless pioneering musically. Particularly notable was the 1951 instrumental "Okie Dokie Stomp" in which Brown solos continuously over a punchy horn section (other instrumentals from this period include "Boogie Uproar" and "Gate Walks to Board"). As for his gutsy violin playing, Robey allowed him to record "Just Before Dawn" as his final Peacock release in 1959. Read more.....

Alright Again (1981)

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