Texas Faces Grave Situation

By Pamela Mortimer

Poor Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown can’t get a break. Hurricane Katrina wiped out the bluesman’s home in New Orleans and now another hurricane has uprooted his coffin from his hometown in Orange County, Texas. After Katrina, Brown, a Grammy winning musician, returned to Texas where he lived – and died – in exile.

Brown supposedly got the moniker "Gatemouth" from a teacher who commented that the young man had "a voice like a gate." Brown started his musical career as a drummer but eventually turned to the guitar, which became his true love. Gatemouth introduced the world to a "freewheeling blend of blues, swing, bebop, country, jazz and Cajun music" that he often referred to as "American music, Texas style." In 1982, Brown won a Grammy for a comeback record titled, "Alright Again!"

The 81-year-old blues musician was living in a New Orleans suburb when Katrina struck. Brown, who was dying from lung cancer, evacuated the city to go back to his home state of Texas while New Orleans righted itself. Brown died less than two weeks after the hurricane hit. Brown was buried in Hollywood Community Cemetery, an all-black cemetery located on the west side of the Sabine River.

Brown’s coffin was one of many forced to the earth’s surface by Hurricane Ike.

Ronald Jenkins made a trip to the cemetery to check on the graves of his grandparents and an uncle. "If my mother came down, we'd probably have to bury her right here," said Jenkins. "She heard about it in Dallas and she was crying and having a fit out there."

In addition to the caskets rising to the surface, there were many items of "graveware" floating amidst the debris. The graveware consists of items left by loved ones, ranging from dolls and toys to potted flowers.

One piece of Brown’s graveware remained – three jars of Bama grape jelly. Undoubtedly, a fan left the jelly as a tribute to Brown’s famous instrumental titled, "Grape Jelly." However, the top of Brown’s vault came loose and the musician’s bronze coffin floated away.

Wayne Sparrow, third-generation owner of the Sparrow Funeral Home, paid a visit to the cemetery on Monday.

The original name of the burial site was simplistic - Community Cemetery. When Sparrow was asked why his father changed the name, adding "Hollywood," Sparrow replied: "Everybody out here, just like in Hollywood, is star to their respective families and to their place in this community."

Sparrow also said that he had spoken with city officials who assured the man that they were working as fast as possible to restore the historic cemetery.

"These are somebody's somebodies," he said. "And it needs to be taken care of as quickly as possible."