Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was a versatile and crowd-pleasing entertainer throughout his long career, but it's easy to overlook just how explosive a guitarist he was in the early days, a situation this first volume in
Classic Records' chronological survey of
Brown's complete recorded output helps remedy. Collecting both sides of his first two singles for
Aladdin Records, released in 1947, and his earliest sides for
Don Robey's
Peacock Records drawn from sessions dating between 1947 and 1951, this intriguing set spotlights mostly up-tempo
jump blues pieces, and features small horn bands (
Maxwell Davis' band for the
Aladdin tracks and
Jack McVea's band for several of the
Peacock tracks).
Brown wasn't yet playing his trademark fiddle in the studio (the fiddle would make its debut later in
Brown's stay at
Peacock) and his singing was far smoother than the rustic approach he adopted late in his career, but his guitar playing was never more biting, energetic and gutbucket (and ultimately influential) than it was on these sides. ~ Steve Leggett
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