[Deathwatch] Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, blues musician, 81

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Blues star 'Gatemouth' Brown dies after avoiding hurricane 
(Monday September 12, 2005 07:32 AM) 

BATON ROUGE, United States (AFP) - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the
famed Louisiana-based singer and guitarist known for Cajun music, blues
and jazz, has died in Texas after leaving New Orleans to avoid the
ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

The Grammy Award winner died on Saturday at 81, according to media
reports.

Brown's official website said the singer had suffered from lung cancer
and had been recuperating at his home in Slidell, a small town just
outside New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tributes from Brown's many fans around the world were posted on the
musician's website.

Brown, an inductee of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, had traveled
to his hometown of Orange, Texas, to avoid Hurricane Katrina, which
devastated New Orleans.

His career spanned 50 years, starting as a drummer, but in 1947 he was
a guitarist, eventually mastering both the big Gibson arch-top acoustic
and the new, electrified Telecaster. He also played violin and
harmonica.

Brown had a prolific musical career spanning blues, country, jazz and
bebop and he was even known to perform Tex-Mex waltzes and polkas.

He played alongside Ry Cooder and Eric Clapton among others, and his
work influenced Guitar Slim, Frank Zappa, Albert Collins and Stevie Ray
Vaughan.

A 1982 comeback album "Alright Again!" secured him a Grammy Award in
1982.

One tribute posted on Brown's website -- www.gatemouth.com -- from a
Texas fan read: "To the family ... Thank you for sharing him with the
world. God Bless."



Many thanks to Stevie Davidson for posting this obituary