Guitarist and keyboard player Mel Brown has died at age 69. Brown was born in Jackson MS, and his major influence was his father, John Henry "Bubba" Brown. He played both guitar and keyboards, and after working in LA with the Johnny Otis Band, Etta Jamaes, T-Bone Walker, and others, he was signed to ABC Records, recording his debut album "Chicken fat" in 1967. Brown toured with Bobby Bland and played behind him on his "California Album" and headed up the house band at the famed Antone's club in Austin in the 1980s. A gig in Kichener Ontario in the closing days of 1989 changed Mel Brown's life. He moved there, and it was hard to get him to leave town after that. He did record for the Canadian Electro-Fi label both on his own projects and other artists' albums. His album "Neckbones & Caviar" in 2000 won the WC Handy blues award for Comeback Album Of The Year.

Guitarist and keyboard player Mel Brown has died at age 69. Brown was born in Jackson MS, and his major influence was his father, John Henry "Bubba" Brown. He played both guitar and keyboards, and after working in LA with the Johnny Otis Band, Etta Jamaes, T-Bone Walker, and others, he was signed to ABC Records, recording his debut album "Chicken fat" in 1967. Brown toured with Bobby Bland and played behind him on his "California Album" and headed up the house band at the famed Antone's club in Austin in the 1980s. A gig in Kichener Ontario in the closing days of 1989 changed Mel Brown's life. He moved there, and it was hard to get him to leave town after that. He did record for the Canadian Electro-Fi label both on his own projects and other artists' albums. His album "Neckbones & Caviar" in 2000 won the WC Handy blues award for Comeback Album Of The Year.