One of the great guitar players but often underrated and sometimes criminally ignored, ‘Gatemouth’ was originally influenced by jazz players, which lead to a fluidity of style seldom found in other blues players. He is also a renowned multi-instrumentalist and plays harmonica, banjo, drums and, particularly, the fiddle. His music reflects an eclectic upbringing, where he was exposed to country, cajun and jazz as well as the blues.
Gatemouth’s father was a musician and taught his son to play both guitar and fiddle and during his early years he heard the music of Tampa Red, Bob Willis and Count Basie amongst others. He toured with a travelling show (as a drummer!) before being drafted and, on his discharge, he worked as a musician in San Antonio, Texas. Gatemouth impressed enough to attract the interest of Don Robey, who offered him a spot in his club and subsequently recorded him on the Aladdin label before he set up his own Peacock label.
Brown’s early recordings for the Peacock label are available on a number of collections but “The Original Peacock Recordings” (re-released on Rounder Records) is as good an introduction as any (including such Brown favourites as ‘Gate’s Salty Blues’, ‘Dirty Work At The Crossroads’ and ‘Just Before Dawn’). He continued to record for Peacock until 1961, and many of these records are classics of Texas blues, incredibly influential at the time.
He still recorded well into the 90s and beyond and the album “The Man“, released in 1994 on Verve 523 761-2 is a fine example of his skills – straight blues, cajun, jazz, soul and innovative instrumentals (including a remarkable version of ‘Unchained Melody’) all proved he was still in fine fettle at the ripe old age of 71. “Long Way Home“, is also worth hearing and is available on Verve 529465-2.
He deserves to be acknowledged for a lot more than simply being a support act for Eric Clapton at the latter’s late 90s London concerts. “American Music Texas Style“, released in 1999, is another big band, horn dominated set with Gatemouth’s jazzy, distinctive guitar fills well to the fore. His instrumental virtuosity (guitar and fiddle) is as apparent as ever.
Gatemouth was a supremely gifted singer and instrumentalist, no matter what genre of music he chose to play. His final album, “Timeless” is a fitting testament to a criminally undervalued talent.
He was one of many whose home (in Slidell, Louisiana) was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and although he evacuated successfully, many who knew him considered that it understandably weighed heavily on his mind and perhaps broke the spirit that had been fighting illness for so long.
Sadly, Gatemouth passed away on September 10, 2005 after a battle with lung cancer and heart disease. He should be on any list of seminal R&B performers, not least because he defied categorisation – he genuinely wasn’t interested in one specific genre. He was simply a student of music, as happy playing his fiddle as he was on guitar.
““If I can make my guitar sound like my father’s fiddle, then I know I’ve got it right” – “Gatemouth” Brown