When Frank Zappa was asked about the guitarists that were his biggest influences, he named three artists: Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Guitar Slim, and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Born in Louisiana and raised in Texas, Brown took to music at an early age – playing fiddle at five and guitar at ten. As a teen, he played in area swing bands.
In 194,7 Brown was attending a concert by T-Bone Walker when the performer became ill. Brown came out of the crowd and started playing guitar, improvising a song he later named “Gatemouth Boogie.” The club manager was so impressed he took on Brown as a client, even forming a record label to showcase Gatemouth Brown. Peacock Records prospered in the ’50s and ’60s with several R&B hits.
Gatemouth Brown’s career dipped in the ’60s and briefly he worked as a deputy sheriff in New Mexico. By the next decade, he was back with a show that incorporated far more than his Texas blues, drawing on country, cajun, jazz and even calypso.
An excellent example of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown’s versatility was his appearance on the hit TV show Hee Haw. Brown was a longtime friend of Roy Clark, and his time on the show led to a well regarded duet album with Clark. Brown released several albums in varying styles, topped by a 1982 Grammy winner Alright Again!
In the last few years of his life, Gate continued his hectic touring schedule with performances across the U.S. as well as debut appearances in New Zealand and Australia. When asked by a New York Times reporter to explain his tours to such politically tense areas as Central America, Africa and the Soviet Union, Brown replied, “People can’t come to me, so I go to them.”
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Blues Hall of Fame member, died in 2005.
