Mel Brown (1939–2009) was an American guitarist and singer, notable for forays into blues, jazz and soul.

Mel Brown

Brown was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and started out backing Johnny Otis. It was playing with Etta James that he swapped his Les Paul for an ES-175 and began creating his own guitar sound. Later he settled in Los Angeles and met Bob Thiele, with whom he recorded his first record “Chicken Fat”. Though mainly a blues and R&B player, Brown also turned his hand to jazz and soul-jazz styles, and played with the Oliver Nelson Big Band. Alongside his sizable discography, there is also a documentary about his life, “Love Lost and Found.”