Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown

No Looking Back [CD]

Gate's guitar and fiddle front a powerful, horn-driven band. "Classic Texas blues and jazz. Gate swings with a vengeance...the blues never moved with this much sophistication--GUITAR WORLD

No Longer Available on CD

Also Available Digitally:
Download on iTunes Buy from Amazon

1.	Better Off With The Blues	4:10
2.	Digging New Ground	3:49
3.	Dope	3:21
4.	My Own Prison	3:25
5.	Stop Time	3:31
6.	C-Jam Blues	3:10
7.	Straighten Up	4:20
8.	The Peeper	4:30
9.	Alligator Eating Dog	4:12
10.	I Will Be Your Friend	3:13
11.	We're Outta Here	3:49

Produced by Jim Bateman with Clarence Brown
A Real Records Production

John D. Loudermilk, Associate Producer on Dope, Alligator Eating Dog and I Will Be Your Friend

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Vocals, Guitar and Fiddle
Harold Floyd, Electric and Acoustic Bass
Michael Holmes, Piano and Organ
Waldo Latowsky, Drums
Tommy Moran, Guitar (rhythm and lead on Stop Time), Acoustic Guitar and Steel Guitar on I Will Be Your Friend
Ron Harris, Rhythm Guitar
Terry Townson, Trumpet
Bill Samuel, Baritone and Alto Sax
Bobby Campo, Trumpet, Flugelhorn and Flute
Dennis Taylor, Tenor Sax
John Touchy, Trombone
Hound Dog Samuel, Barking

Horn Arrangements by Terry Townson, except The Peeper, arranged by Bill Samuel
Michelle Shocked, Duet Vocal on I Will Be Your Friend

Michelle Shocked appears courtesy of Mercury Records

Recorded and mixed at Ultrasonic Studios, New Orleans, LA
Recorded and mixed by David Farrell, assisted by Steve Reynolds, Trina Shoemaker and Mark Linett
Mastered by Dr. Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital
Cover photos by Buck Ennis
Cover design by Matt Minde

Special thanks to Peter Himberger, Bart Bull, Laura Grover, Jay Gallagher, Jerry Embree, Laura Pran and Bruce Iglauer

A recent interview described Gatemouth Brown's style as having arrived fully formed and relevant. But few people arrive anywhere "full formed," least of all Gate. His sound is the unique product of a creative ambition that constantly seeks to evolve and expand. In his role as blues guitarist, Gate has influenced an entire generation of musicians, as well as defined modern blues style. Yet unlike his proteges, Gate has never been content to play just one style of music. Resisting the temptation (and industry pressures) to exploit his "known" successes, he has instead chosen to explore the "unknown," to define rather than refine. As a result, he has not only pushed his art beyond its conventional boundaries but has, with an unrelenting tour schedule and prolific recording pace, brought his audiences along for the ride as well.

Gate refuses to pigeon-hole, label, or limit himself in any fashion and has, at times, been called "obstinate" for this. Gate would call it "telling the truth." He plays and creates what he feels, as he feels, and does not attempt to offer the results as anything other than a unique product of his imagination. There are no pithy, bite-sized generalizations of Gate's music, no slick marketing niches into which it falls--it is as rich and diverse as the worlds through which Gate travels and, consequently, difficult to pitch a label-obsessed public. Gate's capacity to transcend such constraints, however, is extraordinarily singular; his career has often been a tale of artistic vision matched equally with perserverance.

No Looking Back is a testament to Gate's resilience, strength and creative spirit. Here, Gate weaves a complex and varied mosaic of swing, country, blues, funk, bop and anything else he has run across in the past 50 years of his career. Though quintesentially "Gate," the sound is vibrant and inventive. This is Gatemouth Brown at his best--fluid, clever and alive--the master chef concocting the ultimate aural feast. Gatemouth Brown, ever the prophet, delivers the "truth" with the same creative energy and intensity he exudes in live performances. This tenacious vitality is the essence of Gate's art and the fuel that propels him constantly forward from town to town, country to country, world to world.

--Jim Nelson