Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown has played "American Music, Texas Style" professionally since his youth in Louisiana. A highly talented multi-instrumentalist, his taste and influence effortlessly encompass blues, jazz, country and seemingly everything in between. He continues to tour and record.

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Charles Walton: T-bone Walker, you know, played the shows at the Rhumboogie. And George Freeman was telling me about when he first saw T-bone Walker; they were wearing a conk then, with the hair straight back and his tuxedo and the guitar behind his head and everything. At the, at that time in show business in the lounge and things, especially in the Rhumboogie, people would throw money to the acts. And the first time he saw T-bone Walker doing that, he fell in love with the guitar. And also, T-bone had a different tone on his guitar. He was very good.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: And so in 1947 I made my debut. Nobody knew that I could play guitar. See I was a drummer with a white band in San Antonio Texas called Hard View.

This fella Don Robey came over, he was a friend of a fellow who owned a club, Don Apple who happened to be from New Orleans but he had a club called Don Apple's Keyhole on the corner of Iowa and Pine. I was a drummer and vocalist, called me a singing drummer. And so he gave me his card and said, “If you’re ever in Houston, son, come down my club, The Bronze Peacock.” I said okay. And I wasn’t making about $75 a week or less. And so one day I decided to go to Houston. I went to Houston. T-Bone Walker was the big shot in Texas at the time, and if you read about it he dropped his guitar and I picked it up, and I made six hundred dollars, about six hundred and fifteen dollars in about fifteen minutes from tips, all black club. I thought, Oh man this club is loaded. And my career hit right then. T-Bone come up and took his guitar and told me don’t ever pick up his guitar again. I said, “I’m sorry.” Kind of hurt my feelings about being young. I didn’t think it was wrong for me doin’ so. The next day I had seven hundred and fifty dollars, gifts, that Don Robey bought for me, and a bunch of uniforms and I was goin’ ever since.

Video Copyright © 2003 Experience Music Project

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