Another great one back home.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050911/ap_on_en_mu/obit_gatemouth_brown I used to go see him every time he'd come to town and play at Billy Blues. Not the greatest venue of all time, but Clarence would always put on a stellar show.
Never had the privilege of hearing Gatemouth play live, even though I knew that Antone would have him up in Austin occasionally, I never made it out to see him. He was one of the all time greats and will be missed. Didn't he suffer a stroke or something while being evacuated in the aftermath of the recent hurricane? -Turbo
This is very sad. We're rapidly losing musicians of that generation. I don't know if it was related to his death, but I believe he had refused any type of chemo treatment for his cancer. Last year I saw him and Bo Diddley at a blues festival in Beaumont. Diddley has had some complications with diabetes, and almost missed that show. They both put on a great show
He was at MD Anderson for a bit last year, and yes he refused chemo. I had the privelege of opening for him at the Palomino in North Hollywood in 1994 with my old band the Scraps. A couple of years later, after the Palomino closed down, he played the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip. A bandmate and I got backstage and talked to him, and he kept waving his arms and saying (referring to the House of Blues) "Look at this phony sh*t up here on the walls. This ain't no g-ddamned blues club. I miss the Palomino. Don't y'all boys miss it too?" He was one of a kind. Never wanted to be considered strictly a bluesman, because he wasn't...he could play jazz, swing, country, standards....his repertoire was huge. Check out his CD "American Music, Texas Style" and you'll know what I mean. It came out about 5 years ago. An enormous talent that will be missed. RIP.
