The Mescal Sheiks: Home

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Mardi Gras Mambo 2010 - 8 PM - Los Angeles, CA

This will be the Sheiks next live performance upon the completion of the Second Wind Sessions. So mark your calendars, and be prepared to party like you've never partied before! After a four year hiatus, the zombies of the second line will be rising!

Memorial Services will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 14, 2008

Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation

9185 Monte Vista Ave., Montclair, CA 91763

Clabe Hangan
Folk musician, educator

Pomona resident Clabe Robert Hangan died at home on August 9 , 2008 at the age of 74. A musician for a lifetime, Mr. Hangan steered his talent into the realm of education later in life, bringing inspiration to young people eager to absorb his valuable lessons in music and life.

Born in Ashdown, Arkansas in 1934 to Artomia (nee Ghoston) and John Hangan, Mr. Hangan grew up in Redlands, graduating from Redlands High School around 1950. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Redlands.

“This was the late 50s, and there was the whole Beat thing going on, and [my parents] were, in their own way, involved in that Bohemian, Beat era. So sociology was the kind of field you go into if you were interested in alternative ways of thinking about social justice, etc.” said his daughter, Margaret Hangan. “Bear in mind, people were starting to see the African American Civil Rights Movement build at this time. There was a confluence of things going on, including a movement in the folk music scene, and he was at the forefront of all of this.”

In 1955, Mr. Hangan married Emily Gates, a fellow sociology student in college. He worked as a probation officer for a short time and then, during the 60s, built his career as a musician. He had started his music career as a young man singing with a gospel group called the Mu-tonic Singers in Redlands. In the early part of the decade, he began to play guitar and perform folk music with the Riverside Folk Song Society whose members included Sally and Jim Thomas, Keith and Rusty McNeil, Keith Chalmers, Roberta and Chet Roistacker and many more.

Mr. Hangan built his solo career by becoming a regular performer at local venues such as the Redlands Bowl and at the coffee house known as the Penny University in San Bernardino. He also performed at colleges and universities such as La Sierra College; the University of California, San Diego, with Sam Hinton; the Ice House in Pasadena; the Heritage in San Diego; the Bitter End in Greenwich Village, New York; the King’s Rook in Boston, Massachusetts; and the Lion’s Share in Sausalito. He recorded 2 children’s records on the Empire Label and was always willing to lend a voice for a just cause.

Also in the 60s, Mr. Hangan became very active in human and civil rights causes such as equal access to housing and education. He served as a counselor for young people through programs such as Brotherhood-Anytown of America and Upward Bound and, for a brief time, he was principal of a short-lived Freedom School in San Bernardino.

In 1968, the Hangan Family moved to Montclair where Mr. Hangan taught sociology and black history while working towards a master’s degree in sociology at The Claremont Colleges. Time spent around Claremont meant further entrenchment in the folk music scene and, specifically, the deepening of connections with the Folk Music Center. Always, music was a means of rich friendship with fellow artists for Mr. Hangan.

“In the folk music crowd, everybody knew everybody. Everyone was interrelated,” Mr. Hangan’s daughter said. “There was this great community of musicians, with everyone playing everywhere.”

In the 70s, Mr. Hangan and Joe Rael, his music and business partner for over 30 years, formed Music Americana, an education program for schools that combined Mr. Hangan's love of music, education and inspiring young people to learn. He continued to perform solo as well as with blues bands like the Hangan Brothers and the Mescal Sheiks, which also included his eldest daughter Elizabeth Hangan. In recent years, Mr. Hangan and his youngest son, Ali, established the Clabe Hangan Institute for Young Scholars to raise funds for a scholarship to support young African American students.

“He was probably one of the most charismatic people you’ve ever known. He had a warmth that just emanated,” his daughter said. “He walked into a room and lit it up. People gravitated toward him because of that ability to reach out and touch people and really care about them. Just about everybody who knew him thought he was their best friend. He had that effect on people.”

Mr. Hangan is survived by his 4 daughters, 3 sons and 13 grandchildren.

Memorial Services will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at the Monte Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 9185 Monte Vista Ave., Montclair, CA 91763.