Arnold
'Gatemouth' Moore (November 8, 1913, Topeka, Kansas - May 19, 2004,
Yazoo City, Mississippi) was an American blues and gospel singer, songwriter
and pastor. A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, he
claimed to have earned his nickname as a result of his loud speaking and
singing voice.
During his career as a recording artist, Moore worked with various jazz
musicians, including Bennie Moten, Tommy Douglas and Walter Barnes, and had
songs recorded by B.B. King and
Rufus Thomas.
In 1949, Moore was ordained as a minister First Church of Deliverance in
Chicago and went on to preach and perform as a gospel singer and DJ at
several radio stations in Memphis, Birmingham and Chicago.
Moore holds distinctions as a survivor of the 1940 Natchez Rhythm Club Fire
and as the first blues singer to perform at Carnegie Hall. A brass note on
Beale Street Walk of Fame was dedicated to Moore in 1996. He was also
featured in Martin Scorsese's 2003 documentary The Blues.