Musician Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown loved grape jelly so much that he ate it on everything, even spaghetti. His grave in Hollywood Cemetery has jars left as tribute to his memory. The Grammy-winning singer, guitar slinger, fiddler and mandolin player died in Orange, his hometown ten years ago Thursday. He was 81 and was at a great-niece’s house after evacuating from Slidell, Louisiana, for Hurricane Katrina.
“I won’t limit myself to one type of music. There’s a lot of universe out there, and what is the universe?—Music!”
The quote is engraved in the black granite tombstone marking Brown’s grave. The marker, installed by his daughter in 2010, has a cut-out of a guitar along with a portrait. His quote describes his music. His 1983 Grammy Award was for Best Traditional Blues Album for “Alright Again!” He also recorded an album with Roy Clark and made appearances on “Hee Haw.” He played Duke Ellington compositions with a full orchestra. He played Cajun fiddle with like the best from Acadia.
The melting pot of the Texas-Louisiana border influenced Brown’s music. He was born in Vinton on April 18, 1924, but moved with his parents to Orange when he was days old. In a local interview, he once said he and his father played for tips on the corner of Division and Sixth streets in downtown during the years of the Great Depression.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army and then started a music career that spanned decades. He traveled the world playing his unique blend of jazz, rhythm and blues, Cajun, country and bluegrass.
He was one of the first acts booked at the Lutcher Theater in 1980. And in October 2003, he was featured at the first Art in the Park. Mayor Brown Claybar read a proclamation officially declaring “Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown” for the city.
By the time Hurricane Katrina was in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005, Brown was suffering from lung cancer and other health problems. At the insistence of relatives, he evacuated from his house on Lake Pontcharatrain for Orange. The house and his distinct Cadillac Coupe de Ville were destroyed in the storm.
While in Orange, he had to go to a hospital for a heart problem and left without being cleared by the doctors. He died at the relative’s house.
His funeral was held on Saturday, September 17, 2005, at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Orange. Newspaper reporters came from Austin, New Orleans and Houston. A military trumpet player did “Taps” at the gravesite because he was a veteran. Hurricane Rita blew through Orange a week later, knocking down some of the trees near his grave.
Even in death, hurricanes still plagued the musician. When Hurricane Ike flooded Orange County on September 13, 2008, Brown’s casket was one of about four dozen that floated out of their plot.
In 2012, a Texas State Historical Marker was erected in the cemetery for him. The Texas Historic Commission waived usual the 10-year wait after his death because of his fame.
This summer, Henry Lowe of Orange went before the City Council to request that the Riverfront Pavilion be named in honor of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, a tribute in the town where he was reared and where he died after giving music to the world.
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