Clifford Antone 1949 - 2006
29th June 2006
Clifford "CJ" Antone
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Clifford "CJ" Jamal Antone, owner of Antone's Blues Club in Austin, Texas who is
credited with launching the careers of Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan as well as
other musicians, died Tuesday 23 May 2006.
AUSTIN, Texas May 23, 2006 (AP) - Laura Albrecht, a spokeswoman for the Austin
Police Department, said officers responded to a 911 call at Antone's home. The
death did not appear to be suspicious, and the cause of death was being
investigated.
Fats Domino, John Lee Hooker and B.B. King performed at Antone's, and it became
famous as the home club of rising Texas stars
Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan
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Jimmie Vaughan and the Fabulous
Thunderbirds who were the house band for five years. Jimmie's younger brother
Stevie Ray also got a start at Antone's - he died in a helicopter crash in 1990.
Antone was 25 when he founded the club, which celebrated its 30th anniversary
last year.
In 1987, he also started Antone's Records and Tapes, a recording label that
featured many of the nightclub's top acts.
Antone went to prison on federal charges of drug trafficking and money
laundering in 2000 and was released in 2003.
The charges stemmed from a plot to distribute more than 2,000 pounds of
marijuana and launder roughly $950,000 in drug proceeds. Dozens of conspirators
pleaded guilty in the scheme.
Antone also pleaded guilty in the early 1980s to a marijuana charge and served
time in a federal prison camp.
They don't seem to make them like "CJ" Antone any more.
The DVD -
Antone's Home of The Blues
- has some of the hottest music, bands and players you'll ever hear and see on
one recording. This amazing DVD was
recorded at Antone's and features snippets, interviews and tracks
Antone's Home of The Blues Poster - click to enlarge
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with such luminaries as Clifton Chenier, Percy Mayfield, Pinetop Perkins,
Sonnyland Slim, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Jimmy Reed, Luther Tucker, Muddy
Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Hubert Sumlin, Stevie Ray and
Jimmie Vaughan.
For a rave review of the DVD go to
www.stlblues.net.
and to hear bits of it and read all about it go to
www.antones-homeoftheblues.com.
It should be available for a sweet $13.99 from the USA Amazon at
www.amazon.com
More on
Clifford Jamal Antone
here
More on
Jimmie Vaughan
here
More on
Stevie Ray Vaughan
here
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