Somebody’s Got To Go

Reverend Moore

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Arnold “Gatemouth” Moore is captured singing one of his originals featuring Fred Ford (alto saxophone), at Mr. Handy’s Blues Hall on Beale St. in Memphis, Tennessee circa 1996.

Arnold Moore graduated from high school in Memphis and embarked on a singing career. His loud voice projected well over a large band earning him the nickname “Gatemouth.” Because of his vocal attributes he found steady work with a wide variety of blues and jazz bands including Bennie Moten, B.B. King, and Rufus Thomas, spending many years split between Memphis, Kansas City, and Chicago. One night in Chicago in 1948 while playing the Club DeLisa he started singing his hit “I Ain’t Mad at You Pretty Baby” but switched to the old spiritual, “Shine On Me” halfway thru. Upon finishing the song he is reported to have ran from the building and down the street screaming ‘I’m Saved!’ Arnold Moore was ordained as a minister the following year. In 1996 a brass note was dedicated to Gatemouth Moore on the Beale Street Walk of Fame.

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