Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Long Way Home
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The music of Texas Blues legend Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown covers various styles : Blues, of course, Jazz, Country, Cajun, Folk, and makes some people say that Brown is Texan roots' music personified. "Long Way Home" is an album where he focuses more specifically on Blues, lining up several special guests to accompany him throughout the 13 tracks of this recording : the authors of "Tobacco Road" (John Loudermilk), "Blues Power" (Eric Clapton and Leon Russell), and "Here I Go Again" (Bobby Charles) sit in on Brown's versions of their songs, while guitarists Amos Garrett and Ry Cooder join him on several tracks. Another interesting contribution to mention is Maria Muldaur, who shares vocals with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown on several songs, giving a feminine counterpoint to Brown's deep gruff vocals. Another special guest is slide guitarist Sonny Landreth, who appears on "Don't Cry Sister". As expected with a Clarence "Gatemouth" album, various fields of music are shown here : Jazz ("The Blues Walk"), Boogie Blues ("Underhand Boogie"), and Country ("I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)", "Don't Think Twice"). Brown appears alone on acoustic guitar in the instrumental track "Deep, Deep Water". "Long Way Home" gives the Texan Country Blues touch required in any good Blues collection. Yet, if want to discover the music of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown more thoroughly, you might also want to pick another album, such as "Gate Swings", where he and his and, Gate's Express, play Texas Blues, with more intense Jazz, Country and Folk flavors. |
TRACKS
| 1. | Blues Power (Clapton/Russell) - 3:42 |
| 2. | Somebody Else (Brown) - 7:06 |
| 3. | Dockside Boogie (Brown) - 5:39 |
| 4. | I'll Be There (if You Ever Want Me) (Gabbard/Price) - 4:43 |
| 5. | Here I Go Again (Charles) - 4:32 |
| 6. | Deep, Deep Water (Brown) - 3:07 |
| 7. | The Blues Walk (Brown) - 3:24 |
| 8. | Mean and Evil (Russell) - 3:09 |
| 9. | Underhand Boogie (Brown) - 2:25 |
| 10. | Don't Think Twice (Brown) - 4:49 |
| 11. | Tobacco Road (Loudermilk) - 2:54 |
| 12. | Don't Cry Sister (Cale) - 4:15 |
| 13. | Long Way Home (Brown) - 5:39 |
(Audio snippets in Windows Media format)