Sunday, June 03, 2007

Honoring Gate


A stretch of U.S. 11 from the southern boundary of Slidell to Lake Pontchartrain will be designated the Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Memorial Highway
if state Rep. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, gets his way.

Gate lived on this stretch of road that includes camps and apartment buildings, all of them just about flattened in Katrina's wake.
He was evacuated August 28, 2005 to Orange Texas where he died from emphysema, lung cancer and heart disease two weeks later.

I had the opportunity to see Gatemouth Brown up close and personal several times in Slidell. He would show up at Palmetto's in Slidell and
play a few sets. His guitar playing was excellent despite all his health problems. He loved his music and enjoyed entertaining.
He played the 2005 Jazz Fest despite the need to carry around oxygen wherever he went.
At this website is a shot of him at the end of his last Jazz Fest set.

No comments:

Much Needed Levity

 SOME posts are still fun on twitter, even though I've chosen to move to Bluesky.