In these days of record levels of unemployment and unpecedented hard times one industry is enjoying a massive revival - Blues music. When times are tough like today the blues music often just about sums the feelings of many folks in dire circumstances.
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was born Louisiana but was raised in Orange, Texas. Brown’s musical career started at San Antonio, Texas playing drums. The famous “Gatemouth” nickname came from a high school teacher who said Brown’s voice was “like a gate”. Brown filled in for T-Bone Walker at a famous Houston venue Don Robey’s Bronze Peacock Nightclub in 1947. When Walker became ill, Brown filled in by playing “Gatemouth Boogie” on his guitar and was a great success.
“Gatemouth” moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the 1960’s to appear in R&B television show recording several singles. He became friends with Roy Clark, making several appearances on the television show “Hee Haw”. In the late 1960s he had a change of career moving to New Mexico, becoming a deputy sheriff. Could “Gatemouth” have been the inspiration for Eric Clapton’s “I Shot The Sheriff”? Brown’s career as a law man was short, as he started touring Europe in the early 70’s as the Blues became popular across the pond continuing regular tours throughout the 70’s. At the end of the 70’s Brown relocated to New Orleans. In 1974, he featured on New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair’s album, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Gumbo” on Blue Star Records. Brown moved to New Orleans in the late 1970s.
In the 1980s he released several records on the Rounder Records and Alligator Records labels to reignote his domestic career. He continued domestic and international tours often making up to 300 perfomances a year. In 1983 his album Alright Again! won a grammy. He was also awarded eight W. C. Handy Awards and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Heroes Award. The Rhythm and Blues Foundation honoured “Gatemouth” in 1997, and the Blues Hall of Fame adopted him in 1999 giving him the recognition he richly deserved as a legendary Blues guitarist.
Brown continued to tour right up to his final years covering Australia, New Zealand, Central America, Africa, and the former Soviet Union. His final album, Timeless, was released in late 2004 at around the same time he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Already suffering from some other serious medical ailments including heart disease and breathing difficulties, Brown decided against treatment. Hurricane Katrina destroyed his Louisiana home in 2005. He evacuated back to Orange in Texas, where he died aged 81 on September 10, 2005 in his brother’s home.
British band Status Quo have been quite literally Rocking All Over The World for around 40 years now. Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi just can’t kick the habit. The band were very heavily influenced by american music. Here is a You Tube rendition of their 1973 hit ‘Mean Girl’, released on the Pye label. ‘Mean Girl’ had been previously been released on the Status Quo album ‘Dog Of Two Heads’. It was released as a in an attempt to cash-in on the band’s successes with their single ‘Paper Plane’ single and their ‘Piledriver’ album. ‘Mean Girl’ spent eleven weeks in the singles chart, reaching the number twenty slot. The re-release and success of ‘Mean Girl’ single marked the start of what wouldmany re-releases of Status Quo material.
Willie Mae Thornton was born in Montomery, Alabama in December 1926. Born the daughter of a preacher into a family of seven children she started working aged 14 following the death of her monther. Her singing career started in a public saloon bar where she was employed to scrub the floors but got her chance to sing after the regular singer unexpectedly quit her job. In 1941 she was invited to join Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Review and she travelled around the blues circuit in the southern states witnessing many live performances by blues legends such as Big Maceo and Memphis Minnie.
Thornton settled in Houston in 1948 meeting several acts who influenced her style such as Junior Parker, Lowell Fulson, Gatemouth Brown and Lightning Hopkins. She gained the title “Big Mama” due to her portly frame and booming voice. Her first recording was released while living in Houston under the name Harlem Stars. She signed up to the Peacock label, and moved to LA appearing with the well known bandleader Johnny Otis along with other top performers such as Mel Walker and Little Esther. Thornton recorded around 30 songs on the Peacock label in the early 1950s.
Thornton’s big break came in 1953 when Johnny Otis was reputed to have asked budding composers Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller to write a song especially for Thornton. That song was “Hound Dog” which climbed to number one in the R&B charts catapulting Thornton to national stardom. Thornton was reputedly quoted as saying “They were just a couple of kids then and they (Lieber and Stoller) had this song written on a paper bag, so I started to sing the words and join in some of my own. All that talkin’ and hollerin’–that’s my own”. Three years on Elvis Presley did a cover with an arrangement similar to the original and it became a global hit. Thornton is reported as feeling that she was cheated out of the recognition and the financial rewards she deserved from “Hound Dog”, and was again reputedly quoted as saying “I never got what I should have, I got one check for $500 and I never saw another.”
For all you Roadhouse Blues fans out there here is another hour of blues podcasting with a Christmas theme from The Roadhouse offering The finest Roadhouse Blues you never heard. Try zooming through to the 26:00 minute mark for a real classic blues riff with Big Mama Thornton and Rolling Stone.
Hi’yall folks and welcome to The Howling Coyote, a blog dedicated to the Roadhouse Blues and Classic Rock Genres. To start the ball rolling I’d like to introduce you to The Roadhouse which broadcasts regular podcasts on The Finest Blues You Never Heard.
To listen to a recent podcast from The RoadHouse click here and enjoy!