Clifford Jamal Antone
10/27/49-5/23/06 

continued from Memorial
Clifford Antone openened 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!