Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

Grammy winner Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown died September 11, 2005 in his hometown of Orange, Texas. He had just evacuated from his home in Slidell, LA which was totally destroyed by hurricane Katrina. "He was completely devastated," Rick Cady (his booking agent) said. "I'm sure he was heartbroken, both literally and figuratively. He evacuated successfully before the hurricane hit, but I'm sure it weighed heavily on his soul."

Although his career first took off in the 1940s with blues hits "Okie Dokie Stomp" and "Ain't That Dandy," Brown bristled when he was labeled a bluesman.

In the second half of his career, he became known as a musical jack-of-all-trades who played a half-dozen instruments and culled from jazz, country, Texas blues, and the zydeco and Cajun music of his native Louisiana.

By the end of his career, Brown had more than 30 recordings and won a Grammy award in 1982. Gatemouth had suffered from cancer lately but rather than accept treatment he had been playing gigs as hard as he could. Sail on Clarence.