Multi-instrumentalist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown bristled at being labeled a bluesman despite his vast impact on the evolution of Texas blues. Anyone seeking to categorize the veteran performer would do better to describe him as an eclectic Texas musical master drawn to nearly every roots style in existence.
Versatility became second nature during his upbringing in Orange, TX, where his father worked as a locally popular musician focused on country, Cajun, and bluegrass rather than blues. Exposure to the orchestras led by Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, and Duke Ellington left a lasting mark, with a fiery version of "Take the 'A' Train" remaining a staple in Brown's sets. A high-school teacher bestowed the "Gatemouth" nickname after remarking on Brown's voice resembling a gate, and the performer turned the moniker into a lasting asset. His guitar-playing sibling James "Widemouth" Brown cut "Boogie Woogie Nighthawk" for Jax in 1951.
An unexpected 1947 substitution for an indisposed T-Bone Walker at Houston club owner Don Robey's Bronze Peacock nightclub prompted Robey to take the reins of Brown's professional path. Following a pair of unsuccessful Aladdin releases, Robey launched the Peacock imprint in 1949 expressly to highlight Brown's searing guitar lines, which left an imprint on numerous Houston players including Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and Cal Green. Peacock and its affiliated Duke label thrived across the 1950s and 1960s.
Brown remained on Peacock until 1960. National R&B charts captured only one of his successes, the 1949 double-sided hit "Mary Is Fine"/"My Time Is Expensive," yet his high-energy instrumentals such as "Boogie Uproar," "Gate Walks to Board," and 1954's "Okie Dokie Stomp," along with horn-driven uptempo numbers like "She Walked Right In" and "Rock My Blues Away" and gritty Lone Star blues pieces like "Dirty Work at the Crossroads," form an essential part of the postwar Texas blues catalog. He also pioneered fresh approaches by featuring fiddle at concerts throughout the decade, though Robey waited until the final Peacock single, 1959's "Just Before Dawn," to document that violin work.
The 1960s proved uneven. A 1965 Hermitage rendition of Little Jimmy Dickens' country novelty "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" achieved modest notice and hinted at stylistic directions ahead, while 1966 brought a regular role leading the house band for the syndicated Dallas R&B television series The!!!!Beat, hosted by WLAC's Bill "Hoss" Allen.
Returning to active touring in the 1970s, Brown insisted on following his own eclectic instincts, weaving country, jazz, and calypso into performances and moving freely between fiddle hoedowns and guitar blues. A 1979 MCA duet album with Roy Clark titled Makin' Music led to a joint appearance on Hee Haw. Later acclaimed recordings on Rounder, Alligator, Verve, and Blue Thumb reaffirmed that Gatemouth Brown stood as an American original resistant to easy classification. Gatemouth Brown passed away on September 10, 2005 in Orange, TX.
