Comments on: No RIP for Gatemouth Brown; RIP Norman Whitfield

By: LD

LD — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Heh heh. No worries. I’d love to hear the Marcia song if you ever find it. Hell, if I ever find it I may just post it!

By: O.B. Dan

O.B. Dan — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:54:00 +0000

Actually it just became clear when I went back and re-read the original post. D’oh!!!! I missed that one! I gotta cut back on these “start-your-morning-about-mid-afternoon” days. And with no football, hey, it’s mind-altering…

The Marcia Ball version of “Louisiana 1927” was really something to hear, and to see. It’s been available online, though I can’t recall if it was legit or bootleg. If I find it I’ll give you a link.

By: LD

LD — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Dan, thanks for writing. When I said Gatemouth had been dead for three years, I meant at the time I wrote this post last September, not as of Katrina. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I'd love to hear that Marcia Ball cover. I'm sure that was awe-inspiring.

By: O.B. Dan

O.B. Dan — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:17:00 +0000

Let me assure you, Gatemouth was not three years dead, or dead at all, before Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast. I saw him play at the annual Rhythm & Roots Festival in Charlestown, Rhode Island on Labor Day weekend a year, maybe two at most, before Katrina.

He was missing in the sense that he couldn't be reached by phone. His health was already fast failing, and, while he wasn't a flood casulalty, lost the will to live after losing his home, instruments, and just about everything he owned, including his mementoes of a great career. He died a few days after the flood.

BTW, at the Festival that year, held days after Katrina, Marcia Ball did a rendition of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" brought the crowd to silent tears.