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Roy Clark

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Guitar and banjo player, singer

The affable Roy Clark, longtime co-host of "Hee Haw," on syndicated television, is recognized as a virtuoso of country-style banjo and guitar. Clark has been performing since his teens, and his serious musicianship is sometimes overshadowed by his hayseed comedy routines, especially on television. Neil Hickey noted in TV Guide, however, that the corny "Hee Haw" was the vehicle that propelled Clark "from the penumbral half-light of minor celebrity to the blinding glare of full public favor" and therefore gave the star a national following for his music.

Named Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year in 1973, Clark has extended his popularity beyond America’s borders to include Europe and the Soviet Union, where he has toured to enthusiastic ovations. The extent of his appeal, obviously, is wider than the southern states where country music dominates. This is because Clark has been a ground-breaker in adapting country picking styles to classical and popular melodies—his repertory includes the Spanish dance "Malaguena," "Lara’s Theme," and "Yesterday When I Was Young." Hickey quotes "HeeHaw" producer Frank Peppiatt, who has said of Clark: "It took a long time for him to be discovered, but he deserves his success because he is one of the best musicians alive."

Clark was born into a musical family. His father and uncles were amateur performers who played guitar, banjo, and fiddle at small socials in the Washington, D.C., area. While a child, Clark toyed with a cigar-box ukelele his father made for him; by his teens he had graduated to the banjo and guitar, both of which he mastered without learning how to read music. Soon he was playing with his family and contemplating a show business career. Clark was also an excellent athlete as a youngster. He was invited to spring training by the St. Louis Browns but had no money for the train fare to Florida. He also boxed professionally as a light heavyweight, winning fifteen bouts before losing one and deciding to retire.

At the age of fourteen Clark won the prestigious banjo competition at the National Country Music Championships in Warrenton, Virginia. He won again in 1948 and earned television contracts in Washington, D.C., and occasional appearances at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. By 1950 he had his own band and had added fiddle, piano, trumpet, trombone, and drums to his list of instruments played. He also worked up a comedy act that he performed during the band’s breaks, and he discovered that he enjoyed making people laugh.

Slowly Clark began to make his way in the competitive country music industry. In the mid-1950s he played lead guitar first for Jimmy Dean’s Texas Wildcats, then for the Marvin Rainwater Ensemble. A 1956 guest

appearance on the "Arthur Godfrey Show" led to even wider exposure; by 1960 he was touring the nation and playing Las Vegas as backup to Wanda Jackson and Hank Thompson. In 1962 Clark got the chance to be a guest host of "The Tonight Show," and he played the rural wisecracker so successfully that other television offers poured in. He appeared several times as Cousin Roy and Big Mama Halsey on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and was a guest star on numerous variety shows.

His early albums, Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark, Superpicker, and Yesterday When I Was Young did well on the country charts; the latter also made the pop charts. In 1969 Clark was working with "The Jonathan Winters Show" when he was asked to co-host a country comedy/variety series on CBS. He agreed, and "Hee Haw," starring Clark and Buck Owens, premiered in May of 1969.

Fast-paced but uncompromisingly hokey, "HeeHaw" was an instant hit, not only among rural viewers, but with mainstream audiences as well. Country Music U.S.A.author Bill C. Malone observed that the show’s appeal "suggested that the humor of country music was more traditional than its music" but added that the performers in the ensemble cast "won a national exposure through the show that most earlier country comedians had only dreamed of."

"HeeHaw" was more than just a silly comedy program, however. Each episode featured an old-fashioned gospel quartet number, with Clark providing vocals and guitar accompaniment, and both hosts were given a solo song in almost every show. Clark used his solo time primarily to perform his guitar and banjo instrumentals, some of which bore little resemblance to the stereotypical hillbilly tenor of "HeeHaw.". While one week he might pick the ever-popular "Orange Blossom Special" or "Jesse James," the next week he would offer a jazz tune like "St. Louis Blues" or "Georgia on My Mind."

Clark’s performance styles likewise were quite varied, from traditional stringband methods to complex classical fingering to innovative uses of a guitar pick. CBS cancelled "HeeHaw" in 1971 because the network wanted to urbanize its image, but the show continued in syndication. It is still on the air throughout rural America, the longest continuously-running television program in history.

Surprisingly, "HeeHaw" consumes only three to five weeks of Clark’s time each year. The rest of the time he travels, giving live performances and appearing on television talk shows, variety specials, and charity telethons. In The Encyclopedia of Country & Western Music, Rick Marschall suggested that because of his engaging personality, Clark "is more popular in performance than on record…. His voice can be described as a permanently hoarse tenor, and the emotion he brings to heart-songs sounds like every drop of feeling has been wrung out for the task." It is as a comedian and an instrumentalist that Clark has made his mark, however. Long-time friend Jimmy Dean is quoted in The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country, and Western Music as saying of Clark: "Everybody loves him. When he walks out on stage with his bungling attitude as though he didn’t know what was going to happen next, the audience is immediately on his side. It’s like cheering for the underdog or the hometown boy."

Selected discography
Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark, Capitol, 1962.
Best of Roy Clark, Dot.
Country, Dot.
Do You Believe This?, Dot.
The Entertainer, Dot.
Entertainer of the Year, Capitol.
Everlovin’ Soul, Dot.
The Greatest!, Capitol.
Guitar Spectacular, Capitol.
He’ll Have to Go, Pickwick.
Incredible, Dot.
I Never Picked Cotton, Dot.
Honky Tonk, Pickwick.
Live!, Dot.
Live Fast, Love Hard, Pickwick.
The Magnificent Sanctuary Band, Dot.
The Other Side of Roy Clark, Dot.
Roy Clark, Pickwick.
Silver Threads and Golden Needles, Hilltop.
Su per picker, Dot.
Take Me As I Am, Hilltop.
Urban, Suburban, Dot.
Yesterday When I Was Young, Dot.
Roy Clark Sings Gospel, Word.
Classic Clark, Dot.
Family and Friends, Dot.
Roy Clark’s Greatest Hits, Volume I, Dot.
Heart to Heart, Dot.
Hookin’ It, ABC.
Live with Me, Dot.
(With Buck Trent)A Pair of Fives, Dot.
Sincerely Yours, Paramount.
So Much to Remember, Capitol.
Introducing Roy Clark, Ember.
The Very Best of Roy Clark, Capitol.
Country Standard Time, MCA, 1986.
Also recorded Happy to Be Unhappy, Family Album, Back to theCountry, and with Trent, Banjo Bandits.

Sources
Books
Malone, Bill C., Country Music U.S.A., revised and enlarged edition, University of Texas Press, 1985.
Marschall, Rick, The Encyclopedia of Country and Western Music, Exeter Books, 1985.
Stambler, Irwin and Grelun Landon, The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country, and Western Music, St. Martin’s, 1969.

Periodicals
People, September 26, 1977.
TV Guide, August 24, 1973.
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Roy Clark

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  • Genres: Country

Biography

In the '70s, Roy Clark symbolized country music in the U.S. and abroad. Between guest-hosting for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and performing to packed houses in the Soviet Union on a tour that sold out all 18 concerts, he used his musical talent and his entertaining personality to bring country music into homes across the world. As one of the hosts of TV's Hee Haw (Buck Owens was the other) for more than 20 years, Clark picked and sang and offered country corn to 30 million people weekly. He is first and foremost an entertainer, drawing crowds at venues as different as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and the Opry. His middle-of-the-road approach has filled a national void, with Clark offering country that was harder-edged than Kenny Rogers but softer and more accessible than Waylon Jennings. Among his numerous vocal hits are "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound." Instrumentally he has won awards, for both guitar and banjo. Clark has also co-starred on the silver screen with Mel Tillis, in the comedy Uphill All the Way.

The son of two amateur musicians, Roy Clark began playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin at an early age. By the time he was 14, he was playing guitar behind his father at local dances. Within a few years, he had won two National Banjo Championships, with his second win earning him an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry. Despite his success as a musician, Clark decided to pursue an athletic career, rejecting baseball for boxing. At the age of 17, he won 15 fights in a row before deciding that he would rather be a musician than a fighter.

Clark found work at local clubs, radio stations, and television shows. By 1955, he was a regular on Jimmy Dean's D.C.-based television show, Country Style. Once Dean left Washington for New York, Clark took over the show, and over the next few years he earned a reputation as an excellent musician and entertainer. In 1960, he decided to leave the East Coast to pursue his fame and fortune out West. That year, he became the leader of Wanda Jackson's band, playing on her hit singles like "Let's Have a Party," as well as touring with the singer and playing concerts with her in Las Vegas. Once Jackson decided to break up her band, Clark continued to play regularly at the Frontier Hotel in Vegas and through his new manager, Jackson's ex-manager Jim Halsey, he landed spots on The Tonight Show and the sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, where he played both Cousin Roy and Big Mama Halsey.

In 1963, Clark signed to Capitol Records, and his first single for the label, "Tips of My Fingers," became a Top Ten hit. Over the next two years, he had a handful of minor hits for Capitol before he switched labels, signing with Dot in 1968. At Dot, his career took off again, through covers of pop songs like Charles Aznavour's "Yesterday, When I Was Young" (number nine, 1969). However, what really turned Clark's career around was not records, but rather a television show called Hee Haw. Conceived as a country version of Laugh-In, Hee Haw began its run in 1969 on CBS. Roy Clark and Bakersfield country pioneer Buck Owens were picked as co-hosts. Over the next two years, it was one of the most popular shows on television. In 1971, CBS dropped the show because its corny country humor didn't fit the network's new, urban image, but Hee Haw quickly moved into syndication, where it continued to thrive throughout the decade.

While Hee Haw was at the height of its popularity, Clark had a string of country hits that ranged from Top Ten singles like "I Never Picked Cotton" (1970), "Thank God and Greyhound" (1970), "The Lawrence Welk -- Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka" (1972), "Come Live With Me" (1973), "Somewhere Between Love and Tomorrow" (1973), "Honeymoon Feelin'" (1974), and "If I Had It to Do All Over Again" (1976) to a multitude of minor hits. Though he didn't consistently top the country charts, Clark became one of the most recognizable faces in country music, appearing on television commercials, Hee Haw, and touring not only the United States but a number of other countries, including a groundbreaking sojourn to the Soviet Union in 1976. Frequently, he played concerts and recorded albums with a wide variety of musicians from other genres, including the Boston Pops Orchestra and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.

In 1979, the momentum of his career began to slow down, as he left his longtime label ABC/Dot for MCA. Over the next two years, he had a number of minor hits before leaving the label. He recorded one inspirational album for Songbird in 1981 before signing to Churchill in 1982. Hee Haw's audience was beginning to decline in the early '80s, but Clark diversified his interests by investing in property, minor-league baseball teams, cattle, publishing, and advertising. None of Clark's recordings for Churchill were big hits, and his brief stays at Silver Dollar in 1986 and Hallmark in 1989 also resulted in no hits. Nevertheless, Clark had become a country icon by the mid-'80s, so his lack of sales didn't matter -- he continued to sell out concerts and win awards; he even made the comedy Western Uphill All the Way in 1986 with Mel Tillis. In 1987, he was belatedly made a member of the Grand Ole Opry. During the '90s, Clark concentrated on performing at his theater in Branson, MO, sporadically releasing re-recordings of his big hits on a variety of small labels, though 2000's Live at Billy Bob's Texas marked his first live release in nearly a decade. Christmas Memories followed that same year. 2005 saw the release of two albums, Hymns from the Old Country Church on Wonder Disc and Bluegrass: It's About Time, It's About Me, a collection of his bluegrass-oriented tracks, on Varese. ~ David Vinopal, Rovi
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Roy Clark

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For other people named Roy Clark, see Roy Clark (disambiguation).
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Roy Clark

Roy Clark in March, 2002
Background information
Born (1933-04-15) April 15, 1933 (age 79)
Meherrin, Virginia
Genres Country music
Instruments Guitar, Vocals, Banjo, Fiddle, Harmonica, Mandolin
Years active 1950–present
Associated acts Hee Haw
Website Official website

Roy Linwood Clark (born April 15, 1933) is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Roy Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre. Most of all, he is an entertainer, with an amiable personality and a telegenic presence.

During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30-million viewership for Hee Haw. Clark is highly regarded as a guitarist and banjo player, and is also skilled in classical guitar and several other instruments. Although he has had hit songs as a pop vocalist (e.g., "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God And Greyhound"), his instrumental skill has had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and The Country Music Hall of Fame.

Contents

Biography

Born in Meherrin, Virginia, Clark grew up in Staten Island, New York[1] and lived as a teenager in Washington, D.C. where his father worked at the Washington Navy Yard. At 14, Clark began playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin, and by age 15 he had already won two National Banjo Championships and world banjo/guitar flatpick championships. He was simultaneously pursuing a sporting career, first as a baseball player, and then as a boxer, before dedicating himself solely to music. At 17, he had his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.

By 1955, he was a regular on Jimmy Dean's Washington, D.C. television program. Dean, who valued punctuality among musicians in his band, the Texas Wildcats, fired Clark for habitual tardiness, telling him "you're the most talented person I've ever fired." In 1960, Clark went out to Las Vegas where he worked as guitarist in a band led by former West Coast Western Swing bandleader-comedian Hank Penny. During the very early 1960s, he was also prominent in the backing band for Wanda Jackson during the latter part of her rockabilly period.

When Dean was tapped to host The Tonight Show in the early 1960s, he asked Clark to appear, introducing him to a national audience for the first time. Subsequently, Clark appeared on The Beverly Hillbillies as a recurring character (actually two, he played businessman Roy Halsey and Roy's mother, Myrtle). Once, on an episode of the Sunday evening Jackie Gleason Show dedicated to country music, Clark played a blistering rendition of "Down Home". Later, he even appeared on an episode of The Odd Couple where he played "Malagueña".

In 1963, Clark signed to Capitol Records and had three top 10 hits. He switched to Dot Records and again scored hits. He later recorded for ABC Records, which had acquired Dot, and MCA Records, which absorbed the ABC label.

Clark as "Cousin Roy" on The Beverly Hillbillies, 1968. Cousin Roy was selling medicine and willing to do whatever it took to do that.

In 1969, Clark and Buck Owens were the hosts of Hee Haw. The show was dropped by CBS Television in 1971 but continued to run in syndication for twenty-one more years. During its tenure, Clark was a member of the Million Dollar Band and participated in a host of comedy sketches.

In 1983, Clark opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre in Branson, Missouri, becoming the first country music star to have his own venue there, and thus beginning a trend which led to Branson becoming a center of live music performance, as it is today. Many of the celebrities who play in Branson first performed at the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre. Clark frequently played in Branson during the 1980s and 1990s. He has since sold the venue (now owned by the Hughes Brothers and renamed the Hughes American Family Theatre) and gone back to a fairly light touring schedule, which usually includes a performance with Ramona Jones and the Jones Family Band at their annual tribute to Clark's old Hee Haw co-star Grandpa Jones in Mountain View, Arkansas.

In addition to his musical skill, Clark has often displayed his talents as a comedian and actor. During his years on Hee Haw, Clark entertained with numerous comedy sketches, including a recurring feature where he played the clerk of the "Empty Arms Hotel". Clark released several albums of his comedic performances, to varying critical acclaim and commercial success.

Clark has endorsed Mosrite, Gretsch, and many other brands of guitar during his career. He currently endorses Heritage Guitars, which makes a Roy Clark model.[2]

On August 22, 1987, Clark was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He plays an annual benefit concert at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, the proceeds of which go to fund scholarships for aspiring musicians.

For many years Clark has made his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Roy Clark Elementary School in Tulsa's Union School District was named in his honor in 1978.

On May 17, 2009, Clark was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Barbara Mandrell and Charlie McCoy.[3]

On September 23, 2010, Clark sang "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch at Dodger Stadium in a game featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers versus the San Diego Padres.

On April 12, 2011, Clark was honored by the Oklahoma House of Representatives. He will be honored by the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame as Oklahoma's Music Ambassador for Children and will be presented with a commendation from Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin.

Film roles

Television and film

He has appeared as himself in numerous television programs:

Discography

Main article: Roy Clark discography

Awards

  • 1970 - CMA - Comedian Of The Year
  • 1972 - ACM - Entertainer Of The Year
  • 1973 - ACM - Entertainer Of The Year
  • 1973 - CMA - Entertainer of the Year
  • 1975 - CMA - Instrumental Group Of The Year (with Buck Trent)
  • 1976 - CMA - Instrumental Group Of The Year (with Buck Trent)
  • 1977 - CMA - Instrumentalist Of The Year
  • 1978 - CMA - Instrumentalist Of The Year
  • 1980 - CMA - Instrumentalist Of The Year
  • 1982 - Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for his recording of Alabama Jubilee

References

  1. ^ Staten Island on the Web: Famous Staten Islanders
  2. ^ Heritage Guitar Inc., Roy Clark model page
  3. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090204/en_nm/us_country_1

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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Mentioned in

Superpicker/Hookin' It (1990 Album by Roy Clark)
Star Route USA (1966 Musical Film)
Timeless: The Classic Concert Performances (2008 Album by Roy Clark)
Roy Clark/The Entertainer (1974 Album by Roy Clark)
Sunday Morning Country (1996 Album by Various Artists)
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