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Clifford
Jamal Antone, 56, known to his life-long friends as C.J.,
passed away May 23, 2006 at his home in
Austin , Texas . Antone was noted as founder of the
internationally known nightclub, Antone's, best known as Austin 's Home of the
Blues.
Clifford was born October 27, 1949 at St.
Mary Hospital in Port Arthur ,
Texas , middle child of Jamal and Georgette
Antone, also of
Port Arthur
. His immediate living family includes sisters Susan Antone and
Janelle Antone Raad, and niece Georgette Raad, 13, and
nephew Jamal Raad, 6. He leaves behind an uncle and two
aunts along with many cousins, and a large extended family
of fine friends. Antone graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School
in Port Arthur in 1968 and
relocated in the late Sixties to Austin
, where he attended the University of Texas . Clifford was preceded in death by
his parents, grandmothers Pauline Ashy and Jamilee Antone,
grandfather Elias Antone, his loving aunts Onnie Hyslop and
Gloria Farha, uncles K.E. Antone, J.E. Antone, and Fred
Ashy, and cousins Craig Ashy and Will Farha.
Clifford Antone opened the original club July 15, 1975 at
6th and Brazos in an old furniture warehouse with zydeco king
Clifton Chenier. Bringing in the blues and soul legends of
the day such as Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, John
Lee Hooker, Fats Domino, Sunnyland Slim, Hubert Sumlin,
Eddie Taylor, Walter Shakey Horton, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells,
Pinetop Perkins, Albert King, James Cotton, Calvin Jones,
Willie Big Eye Smith, Bobby Blue Bland, and B.B. King made
Antone's the premier blues club in Texas. He furthered the
career of R&B artists such as Albert Collins, Barbara Lynn,
Clifton Chenier, Miss Lavelle White, and Lazy Lester. Yet,
what truly made Antone's Austin's Home of the Blues was its
cultivation of local talent such as Stevie Ray Vaughan &
Double Trouble, Jimmie Vaughan, Angela Strehli, the Fabulous
Thunderbirds, Derek O'Brien, Lou Ann Barton, Paul Ray & the
Cobras, Guy Forsyth, Doyle Bramhall II, Sue Foley, Bob
Schneider, and Charlie Sexton.
In recent years, Clifford Antone broadened his base of
interests to work with numerous social and educational
organizations. He created the Help Clifford Help Kids
fundraiser for American Youthworks in 2000 and was among the
first to respond to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 with his
all-star benefit, Neighbors in Need. He loved teaching
music at the University of Texas in Austin and at Texas
State University in San Marcos. Antone was in the process
of writitng a book about the history of the blues and rock &
roll with Sarah Rucker. Teaching and writing were among the
work he most loved, along with being at his nightclub.
Visitation is open to the public at Cook-Walden Funeral
Home, 6100 North Lamar, Thursday and Friday, May 25 and 26,
6-8 p.m. At the family's request, donations in lieu of
flowers may be made to the Clifford Antone Memorial Fund,
care of Prosperity Bank, or to American Youthworks. A
public memorial and celebration of Clifford's life will be
held June 3rd 6:00 p.m. at Palmer Auditorium in Austin.
Clifford Antone truly loved the blues with all of his heart
and his home in Austin, Texas. Peace and love. Hook 'em
Horns! |