Customer Reviews

Original Peacock Recordings

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The Peacock Recordings are wonderful, to me, who came late (just in the last 15 years) to Gatemouth's army off fans. His fiddle sizzles, his guitar is immediately recognizable - a veritable signature style. It's hard to distinguish between these tunes and most of his recent releases. To say that is a curse to some but to my ears it means he has ploughed many many different rows and yet the Gate imprint is on every one. Fans or would-be buyers should also check out his "new world" (somebody else's term not mine) recordings with a Namibian drummer and Ry Cooder. Better yet, if you can find it, check out his "Making Music" album created with Roy Clark (yes, Hee Haw's Roy Clark, 5 or 10 times winner of artist of the year in circles around Nashville). A veritable how-to for about six or seven different kinds of blues-ish music. Buy this Peacock album, play it (or inflict it) on friends because they will only - ears open - love it. It is musicians like Gatemouth who make the blues so personal, so enduring, so powerful. A living history that I pray will be still accessible twenty, nay, 50 years from now.

all of these recrodings were made between 1952-1959, and they show why Clarence Gatemouth Brown was such an influence on so many gutiar players after him. He and T Bone Walker were the undisputed kings of Texas Blues. There is even a cut where he plays violin, which sounds a bit like old SugarCane Harris stuff. Great CD.

T-Bone swings, B.B. swings, and Gatemouth swings. Rare blues violin performance shines. A1 sound quality. You must have one.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's "The Original Peacock Recordings," which consists of songs that were recorded in the 50's, is a primer in "Texas Blues," characterized by stinging electric guitar licks, rollicking piano rolls, and jumping horns. There truly is a classic, almost timeless, quality to the twelve songs compiled on this CD, all of which are very good. I highly, highly recommend "The Original Peacock Recordings" to anyone who is interested in hearing roots music that lies at the heart of the Americana sound in the genres of blues, rock, and R&B. Be advised, however, that there is a much more homogenous sound to the songs on this CD than on many of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's other recordings, which often include jazz, Cajun, country, and bluegrass elements as well as rock, blues, and R&B elements. That is not a reason not to get this CD, but rather a reason to get some of his other recordings as well, especially "Texas Swing," which is a compilation CD that contains the majority of the songs from two of his releases from the early 1980's, "Alright Again" and "One More Mile," "Long Way Home," which includes a superstar lineup of guest artists, "The Man," and "Flippin Out."

Although most tracks are guitar blues, the finest part of this compilation is, needless to say, "violin blues". It is a shame that this phenomenal blues violinist recorded only one violin blues song.