Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was "The !!!Beat!!! band leader in the mid "60s, and many of you know that Clarence played a Rickenbacker Capri.

Here's a clip of Freddy playing "Hideaway" on the show, February 15, 1966...Clarence strums away in the background on his MG ('60?) Capri, using fingers but no pick.

There is a DVD series of this show available. On every show, Clarence plays at least one instrumental number besides backing the acts.

The show, hosted by Bill "Hoss" Allen, was televised every week from Nashville and was groundbreaking for its time in that it features mostly black musicians and black go-go girls in fringed mini-skirts.

Here's the Youtube of "Hideaway" from that show:




Clarence's Capri pops in and out throughout the song, but there are no clear shots of the headstock. No mistaking that shape, though. Just think--the Capri was only five or six years old at the time.

Note also Freddy's gorgeous textbook Gibson tone. He's playing a 345 with Varitone.
The DVDs are available at:

http://www.thevideobeat.com/store/rock- ... l-1-2.html

Fantastic, Paul!! Thanks for posting.

It's tough to see if it has dot vs. triangular inlays. Looks like dots, which would make it a 345. The accent dates this as either a 60 or 61. Only SEVENTEEN mapleglo 345's were made those years! If it was a 375, even rarer, only ELEVEN made those years.