He was an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, who played an array of musical instruments such as guitar, fiddle, mandolin, viola as well as harmonica and drums. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, Alright Again! He is regarded as one of the most influential exponents of blues fiddle and has had enormous influence in American fiddle circles.
Brown's two biggest musical influences were Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker.
His professional musical career began in 1945, playing drums in San Antonio, Texas. He was tagged with the "Gatemouth" handle by a high school instructor who accused Brown of having a "voice like a gate". Brown used it to his advantage throughout his career. His career was boosted while attending a 1947 concert by T-Bone Walker in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub. When Walker became ill, Brown took up his guitar and quickly wrote and played "Gatemouth Boogie," to the delight of the audience right on the spot.
In 1949 Robey founded Peacock Records in order to showcase Brown's virtuoso guitar work. Brown's "Mary Is Fine"/"My Time Is Expensive" was a hit for Peacock in 1949. A string of Peacock releases in the 1950s were less successful commercially, but were nonetheless pioneering musically. Particularly notable was the 1951 instrumental "Okie Dokie Stomp", in which Brown solos continuously over a punchy horn section (other instrumentals from this period include "Boogie Uproar" and "Gate Walks to Board"). Okie Dokie Stomp was also recorded by Cornell Dupree in the 1970s and he had success with it as well. As for his gutsy violin playing, Robey allowed him to record "Just Before Dawn" as his final Peacock release in 1959.
In the 1960s Brown moved to Nashville, Tennessee to participate in a syndicated R&B television show, and while he was there recorded several country singles. He struck up a friendship with Roy Clark and made several appearances on the television show Hee Haw. In 1966, Brown was the musical director for the house band on the short-lived television program, The !!!! Beat.
However, in the early 1970s several countries in Europe had developed an appreciation for American roots music, especially the blues, and Brown was a popular and well-respected artist there. He toured Europe twelve times, beginning in 1971 and continuing throughout the 1970s. He also became an official ambassador for American music, and participated in several tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department, including an extensive tour of Eastern Africa. Brown appeared at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival, where he jammed with American blues rock band Canned Heat. In 1974, he recorded as a sideman with the New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair on his album, Rock 'N' Roll Gumbo (originally a Blue Star Records release). He moved to New Orleans in the late 1970s. In 1979, through his manager at the time, Jim Halsey, Brown embarked on a 6 week, 44 concert tour of the Soviet Union. This was an historic event as it marked the first time the Soviet Union made a contract with a U.S. private citizen (Jim Halsey) as regards a musical tour. All previous tours were under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. To date, this was by far the most extensive tour an American band had taken in the USSR.
In the 1980s, a series of releases on Rounder Records and Alligator Records revitalized his U.S. career, and he toured extensively and internationally, usually playing between 250 and 300 shows a year. He won a Grammy in 1983 for the album Alright Again! and was nominated for five more. "Alright Again!" is credited with putting Brown back on the musical map. He also won 8 WC Handy Awards. In 1999 Brown was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
In his last few years, he maintained a full touring schedule, including Australia, New Zealand, and countries with political conflicts in Central America, Africa, and the former Soviet Union. His final record "Timeless" was released in 2004.
In September 2004, Brown was diagnosed with lung cancer. Already suffering from emphysema and heart disease, he and his doctors decided to forgo treatment. This greatly affected his musical career. Later his home in Slidell, Louisiana was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he was evacuated to his childhood home town of Orange, Texas, where he died on September 10, 2005 at the apartment of a niece, at the age of 81. Brown is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Orange, Texas. However, flooding caused by Hurricane Ike in September 2008 damaged his grave. His grave has since been refurbished and through donations a very impressive headstone has been erected in his honor.
Guitar In My Hand
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Lyrics
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then i went ot airport with my guiatr in my hand
i went looking for my baby who flew off with another man
she said that she was going
that i couldn't believe
yeah she said she was going
that i couldnt' believe
when my baby packed up to leave
gave all my money
gave al i could
gave all my lovin
but that didnt' do no good
yes i'nm a ??
well i know you can't understand
ell i'm standin here at the airport
with my guitar in my hand
In Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's song "Guitar in My Hand," the lyrics depict the heartbreak and desperation that comes with losing a loved one. The song begins with the singer standing at the train station, guitar in hand, as he contemplates his next move. He then proceeds to the airport, guitar still in hand, as he searches for his lost love who has flown away with another man. Through his lyrics, Brown conveys a deep sense of pain and betrayal as he tries to come to terms with his loss.
The singer's disbelief and sense of confusion are conveyed through the repetition of the line "she said she was going, that I couldn't believe." This feeling of disbelief is further emphasized by the fact that he didn't even realize his lover had left him until it was already done. The singer's desperation is highlighted in the lines "gave all my money, gave all I could, gave all my lovin', but that didn't do no good." He is at a loss as to how to win back his lover, and he is left to stand at the airport, guitar in hand, with no real plan or direction.
In short, "Guitar in My Hand" is a song about loss and heartbreak. It depicts the singer's struggle to come to terms with a relationship that has ended abruptly and unexpectedly. Through his lyrics, Brown conveys a sense of pain, confusion, and desperation that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the heartbreak of lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
i was standin at the train statio nwith a guitar in my hand
I was left stranded at the train station holding nothing but my guitar.
then i went ot airport with my guiatr in my hand
I took my guitar with me and went to the airport in search of my love.
i went looking for my baby who flew off with another man
I went searching for my lover who had abandoned me and ran off with another man.
she said that she was going
that i couldn't believe
yeah she said she was going
that i couldnt' believe
well i didnt' even realize it
when my baby packed up to leave
My lover had told me she was leaving, but I was in disbelief and didn't even realize when she actually left.
gave all my money
gave al i could
gave all my lovin
but that didnt' do no good
yes i'nm a ??
well i know you can't understand
I had given my lover all my money, everything I had, and all my love, but it did not do any good. I am lost and broken, and you cannot understand what I'm going through.
ell i'm standin here at the airport
with my guitar in my hand
I am now standing alone at the airport, still holding onto my trusty guitar, not knowing where to turn.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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