Gabriel Brown biography

Gabriel Brown (1910 – 1972) was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist. Biography Brown was born in Florida, and graduated from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1934, Brown performed at the first National Folk Festival in St. Louis, Missouri. He was musically discovered by folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. She enlisted Alan Lomax who, in June 1935, recorded Brown for the Library of Congress. Similar to Ralph Willis, Alec Seward and Brownie McGhee, Brown then relocated from the Southern United States to New York City. However, in 1945 Brown sang, "I can't have no luck at all, the jinx is on me." Several of Brown's recordings were not released during his lifetime, and some of those that were issued were not always promoted tastefully, or accurately. In the late 1940s, various tracks were licensed to Coral Records. Eventually Davis worked in A&R for MGM Records, and Brown followed him to that label, where he was promoted as a pop singer. Later compilation albums were released on record labels such as Flyright. Brown's death from drowning in Florida in 1972, occurred following a boating accident. Selected discography Gabriel Brown (2001) - Catfish Records