Country

Roy Clark Helped Popularize Country Music

Roy Clark is a familiar face even to folks who are not country music fans.

He is a great instrumentalist and very funny and engaging entertainer who gained fame as the host of the 1970s television program Hee Haw. It’s interesting and a bit funny that Clark, who was born in 1933, grew up on Staten Island, NY and lived in Washington, DC. Neither is a hotbed of country music. The young Clark was a boxer. He won 15 of 17 fights before opting for music.

The biographies give Clark much credit for popularizing country music. In addition to Hee Haw — he co-hosted with Buck Owens — Clark was a frequent guest and guest host on Johnny Carson’s on The Tonight Show and appeared in sitcoms and movies. That was as much to do with his easy-going style as his musical talents.

He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and is in the Country Music Hall of Fame. In addition to guitar, Clark plays banjo – he won two national banjo championships — and violin. He still is performing.

The profiles tell the story of Clark’s rise to stardom. High points include his work as a regular on Jimmy Dean’s television show in Washington and, in 1960, his decision to move west and to lead Wanda Jackson’s band. Another highlight, according to the AllMusic profile, was a tour of the Soviet Union that sold out 18 concerts.

Above is “Alabama Jubilee” and below is “Under the Double Eagle.”

Profiles from Wikipedia and AllMusic – written by David Vinopal – were used to write this post. The home page photo is by Bret Stewart.

 

Our New Things: Links to Music Sites and Info on Analog Tech and Vinyl

TDMB has focused on music and musicians. We will continue to do that, of course. We're also expanding our coverage to include vinyl and analog equipment.

More specifically, we'll look at this huge and interesting world from the perspective of music lovers who want a better experience, not committed non-audiophiles.

Check out is some of what we've written so far:

-- Assessing the Value of Vinyl Records: An Overview

-- 7 Quick Tips on Optimizing Your Turntable Cartridge

-- Why Vinyl Records Continue to Thrive

-- Finding the Best Amplifier

-- Finding the Best Phono Preamp

-- What Speakers Do I Need for My Turntable?

Check out more articles on analog equipment and vinyl.

The site also is home to The Internet Music Mapping Project, an effort to list and describe as many music-related sites as possible.

Our Music

--A Tribe Called Quest to The Dick Hyman Trio (In other words, A to H)

--Indigo Girls to Queen Ida (I to Q)

--Radiohead to ZZ Top (R to Z)

Reading Music

The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.

Here are some books to check out.

Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.

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What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.

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The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").

David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.

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