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On this day, April 15, 1933, Roy Clark was born.
Roy Clark
Clark on the set of A Conversation with Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2014
Background information
Birth name: Roy Linwood Clark
Born: April 15, 1933; Meherrin, Virginia, U.S.
Died: November 15, 2018 (aged 85); Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Genres: Country, rockabilly
Occupation(s): Singer, musician, TV host
Instrument(s): Vocals, guitar, banjo, fiddle, harmonica
Years active: 1947–2018
Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer, musician, and television presenter. He is best known for having hosted Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and in helping to popularize the genre.
During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30-million viewership for Hee Haw. Clark was highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler. He was skilled in the traditions of many genres, including classical guitar, country music, Latin music, bluegrass, and pop. He had hit songs as a pop vocalist ( e.g., "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound" ), and his instrumental skill had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, and, in 2009, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He published his autobiography, My Life—in Spite of Myself, in 1994.
Early life
Clark was born April 15, 1933, in Meherrin, Virginia, one of five children born to Hester Linwood Clark and Lillian Clark (Oliver). His father was a tobacco farmer. He spent his childhood in Meherrin and New York City, where his father moved the family to take jobs during the Great Depression. When Clark was 11 years old, his family moved to a home on 1st Street SE in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Washington, D.C., after his father found work at the Washington Navy Yard.
Clark's father was a semi-professional musician who played banjo, fiddle, and guitar, and his mother played piano. The first musical instrument Clark ever played was a four-string cigar box with a ukulele neck attached to it, which he picked up in elementary school. His father taught Clark to play guitar when Roy was 14 years old, and soon Clark was playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin. "Guitar was my real love, though," Clark later said. "I never copied anyone, but I was certainly influenced by them; especially by George Barnes. I just loved his swing style and tone."
Clark also found inspiration in other local D.C. musicians. "One of the things that influenced me growing up around Washington, D.C., in the '50s was that it had an awful lot of good musicians. And I used to go in and just steal them blind. I stole all their licks. It wasn't until years later that I found out that a lot of them used to cringe and say 'Oh, no! Here comes that kid again' when I'd come in. As for his banjo style, Clark said in 1985, "When I started playing, you didn't have many choices to follow, and Earl Scruggs was both of them." Clark won the National Banjo Championship in 1947 and 1948, and briefly toured with a band when he was 15.
Clark was very shy, and turned to humor as a way of easing his timidity. Country-western music was widely derided by Clark's schoolmates, leaving him socially isolated. Clowning around, he felt, helped him to fit in again. Clark used humor as a musician as well, and it was not until the mid 1960s that he felt confident enough to perform in public without using humor in his act.
The D.C. area had a number of country-western music venues at the time. Duet acts were in favor, and for his public performance debut Clark teamed up with Carl Lukat. Lukat was the lead guitarist, and Clark supported him on rhythm guitar. In 1949, at the age of 16, Clark made his television debut on WTTG, the DuMont Television Network affiliate in Washington, D.C. At 17, he made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in recognition for winning his second national banjo title. By this time, he had begun to play fiddle and twelve-string guitar. He toured the country for the next 18 months playing backup guitar during the week for David "Stringbean" Akeman, Annie Lou and Danny, Lonzo and Oscar, and Hal and Velma Smith, working county fairs and small town theaters. On weekends, these acts usually teamed up with country music superstars like Red Foley or Ernest Tubb and played large venues in big cities. He earned $150 a week ($1,900 in 2023 dollars). After the tour, Clark returned to performing at local country-music venues. He recorded singles for Coral Records and 4 Star Records.
At the age of 23, Clark obtained his pilot's certificate and then bought a 1953 Piper Tri-Pacer (N1132C), which he flew for many years. This plane was raffled off on December 17, 2012, to benefit the charity Wings of Hope. He owned other planes, including a Mitsubishi MU-2, Stearman PT-17 and Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond 1A business jet.
Career
Television
Clark (right) as "Myrtle Halsey" on The Beverly Hillbillies, 1968
Rising country music star Jimmy Dean asked Clark to join his band, the Texas Wildcats, in 1954. Clark was the lead guitarist, and made appearances on Dean's "Town and Country Time" program on WARL-AM and on WMAL-TV (after the show moved to television from radio in 1955). Clark competed in 1956 on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a variety show airing on CBS. It was his first network television appearance, and he came in second. Dean, who valued punctuality among musicians in his band, fired Clark for habitual tardiness in 1957. Clark left D.C. and never lived there again. During his D.C. years, Clark said he never intended to be a country guitarist. Rather, he played when he liked and what made him feel good, and never intended to begin a recording career or to perform on television. In the spring of 1959, Clark appeared regularly on George Hamilton IV's short-lived television series in Washington, D.C.
In 1960, Clark went to Las Vegas, where he worked as a 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—known as the Party Timers—during the latter part of her rockabilly period.
During Jack Paar's temporary absence from The Tonight Show in early 1960, Jimmy Dean was asked to guest-host the program. Dean asked Clark to appear on the last night of his guest-host stint, and showcased Clark in two songs. Clark made his solo debut on The Tonight Show in January 1963.
Subsequently, Clark appeared on The Beverly Hillbillies as a recurring character — actually two, as he played businessman Roy Halsey and Roy's mother, Myrtle. Once, in an episode of the Saturday evening Jackie Gleason Show dedicated to country music, Clark played a blistering rendition of "Down Home". Later, he appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple, where he played "Malagueña".
{snip}
Clark on the set of A Conversation with Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2014
Background information
Birth name: Roy Linwood Clark
Born: April 15, 1933; Meherrin, Virginia, U.S.
Died: November 15, 2018 (aged 85); Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Genres: Country, rockabilly
Occupation(s): Singer, musician, TV host
Instrument(s): Vocals, guitar, banjo, fiddle, harmonica
Years active: 1947–2018
Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer, musician, and television presenter. He is best known for having hosted Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and in helping to popularize the genre.
During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30-million viewership for Hee Haw. Clark was highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler. He was skilled in the traditions of many genres, including classical guitar, country music, Latin music, bluegrass, and pop. He had hit songs as a pop vocalist ( e.g., "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound" ), and his instrumental skill had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, and, in 2009, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He published his autobiography, My Life—in Spite of Myself, in 1994.
Early life
Clark was born April 15, 1933, in Meherrin, Virginia, one of five children born to Hester Linwood Clark and Lillian Clark (Oliver). His father was a tobacco farmer. He spent his childhood in Meherrin and New York City, where his father moved the family to take jobs during the Great Depression. When Clark was 11 years old, his family moved to a home on 1st Street SE in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Washington, D.C., after his father found work at the Washington Navy Yard.
Clark's father was a semi-professional musician who played banjo, fiddle, and guitar, and his mother played piano. The first musical instrument Clark ever played was a four-string cigar box with a ukulele neck attached to it, which he picked up in elementary school. His father taught Clark to play guitar when Roy was 14 years old, and soon Clark was playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin. "Guitar was my real love, though," Clark later said. "I never copied anyone, but I was certainly influenced by them; especially by George Barnes. I just loved his swing style and tone."
Clark also found inspiration in other local D.C. musicians. "One of the things that influenced me growing up around Washington, D.C., in the '50s was that it had an awful lot of good musicians. And I used to go in and just steal them blind. I stole all their licks. It wasn't until years later that I found out that a lot of them used to cringe and say 'Oh, no! Here comes that kid again' when I'd come in. As for his banjo style, Clark said in 1985, "When I started playing, you didn't have many choices to follow, and Earl Scruggs was both of them." Clark won the National Banjo Championship in 1947 and 1948, and briefly toured with a band when he was 15.
Clark was very shy, and turned to humor as a way of easing his timidity. Country-western music was widely derided by Clark's schoolmates, leaving him socially isolated. Clowning around, he felt, helped him to fit in again. Clark used humor as a musician as well, and it was not until the mid 1960s that he felt confident enough to perform in public without using humor in his act.
The D.C. area had a number of country-western music venues at the time. Duet acts were in favor, and for his public performance debut Clark teamed up with Carl Lukat. Lukat was the lead guitarist, and Clark supported him on rhythm guitar. In 1949, at the age of 16, Clark made his television debut on WTTG, the DuMont Television Network affiliate in Washington, D.C. At 17, he made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in recognition for winning his second national banjo title. By this time, he had begun to play fiddle and twelve-string guitar. He toured the country for the next 18 months playing backup guitar during the week for David "Stringbean" Akeman, Annie Lou and Danny, Lonzo and Oscar, and Hal and Velma Smith, working county fairs and small town theaters. On weekends, these acts usually teamed up with country music superstars like Red Foley or Ernest Tubb and played large venues in big cities. He earned $150 a week ($1,900 in 2023 dollars). After the tour, Clark returned to performing at local country-music venues. He recorded singles for Coral Records and 4 Star Records.
At the age of 23, Clark obtained his pilot's certificate and then bought a 1953 Piper Tri-Pacer (N1132C), which he flew for many years. This plane was raffled off on December 17, 2012, to benefit the charity Wings of Hope. He owned other planes, including a Mitsubishi MU-2, Stearman PT-17 and Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond 1A business jet.
Career
Television
Clark (right) as "Myrtle Halsey" on The Beverly Hillbillies, 1968
Rising country music star Jimmy Dean asked Clark to join his band, the Texas Wildcats, in 1954. Clark was the lead guitarist, and made appearances on Dean's "Town and Country Time" program on WARL-AM and on WMAL-TV (after the show moved to television from radio in 1955). Clark competed in 1956 on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a variety show airing on CBS. It was his first network television appearance, and he came in second. Dean, who valued punctuality among musicians in his band, fired Clark for habitual tardiness in 1957. Clark left D.C. and never lived there again. During his D.C. years, Clark said he never intended to be a country guitarist. Rather, he played when he liked and what made him feel good, and never intended to begin a recording career or to perform on television. In the spring of 1959, Clark appeared regularly on George Hamilton IV's short-lived television series in Washington, D.C.
In 1960, Clark went to Las Vegas, where he worked as a 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—known as the Party Timers—during the latter part of her rockabilly period.
During Jack Paar's temporary absence from The Tonight Show in early 1960, Jimmy Dean was asked to guest-host the program. Dean asked Clark to appear on the last night of his guest-host stint, and showcased Clark in two songs. Clark made his solo debut on The Tonight Show in January 1963.
Subsequently, Clark appeared on The Beverly Hillbillies as a recurring character — actually two, as he played businessman Roy Halsey and Roy's mother, Myrtle. Once, in an episode of the Saturday evening Jackie Gleason Show dedicated to country music, Clark played a blistering rendition of "Down Home". Later, he appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple, where he played "Malagueña".
{snip}
Wikipedia doesn't have a wiki for "Town and Country Time." Here's more about that show.
DC Memories -- Jimmy Dean
{snip}
(l. to r.) Buck Ryan, Mary Klick, Jimmy Dean, Dale Turner, Marvin Carroll, Alex Houston w/Elmer, Roy Clark, Scotty Irwin. Herbie Jones.
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Roy Clark, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Marvin Carroll
{snip}
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Marvin Carroll, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Roy Clark, Mary Klick
{snip}
This meeting took place on the evening of March 23, 1956, prior to Elvis' 8:00 pm performance on the SS Mt. Vernon ship.
{snip}
Connie B. Gay, the hillbilly impressario, has every right to be gay. He just completed a deal to produce 52 half-hour films of his radio show, "Town and Country Music."
{snip}
(l. to r.) Buck Ryan, Mary Klick, Jimmy Dean, Dale Turner, Marvin Carroll, Alex Houston w/Elmer, Roy Clark, Scotty Irwin. Herbie Jones.
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Roy Clark, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Marvin Carroll
{snip}
"Town and Country Time" Weekday Series from WMAL-TV Studios at the Chevy Chase Ice Palace, Washington, DC
(l. to r.) Fiddlin' Buck Ryan, Marvin Carroll, Jimmy Dean, Herbie Jones, Roy Clark, Mary Klick
{snip}
This meeting took place on the evening of March 23, 1956, prior to Elvis' 8:00 pm performance on the SS Mt. Vernon ship.
{snip}
Jimmy Dean -Town & Country Time (1954)
Mr. DC Memories
185 subscribers
(Courtesy: Kinevideo.Net) A fine example of the late Jimmy Dean's (b. 1928 - d. 2010) first TV series, produced by "hillbilly music" impresario Connie B. Gay at Byron Roudabush's Georgetown DC studios in 1954. Filmed in color, the show was distributed on black and white 16mm prints through Official Films.
In January 1955, a live five-days-a-week "Town and Country Time" series debuted from the studios of Channel-7, WMAL-TV, in Washington, DC, to be followed by a three-hour live weekly "Town and Country Jamboree" in October of 1955 from Turner Arena (aka Capitol Arena) 14th and W Sts, NW in DC.
Also shown here among the crew are Marvin Carroll and Herb Jones along with Mary Klick, Fiddlin' Buck Ryan. and comic relief by Quincy Snodgrass.
The full half-hour kinescope can be purchased on DVD from the Kinevideo.Net website along with a few additional surviving shows..
Mr. DC Memories
185 subscribers
(Courtesy: Kinevideo.Net) A fine example of the late Jimmy Dean's (b. 1928 - d. 2010) first TV series, produced by "hillbilly music" impresario Connie B. Gay at Byron Roudabush's Georgetown DC studios in 1954. Filmed in color, the show was distributed on black and white 16mm prints through Official Films.
In January 1955, a live five-days-a-week "Town and Country Time" series debuted from the studios of Channel-7, WMAL-TV, in Washington, DC, to be followed by a three-hour live weekly "Town and Country Jamboree" in October of 1955 from Turner Arena (aka Capitol Arena) 14th and W Sts, NW in DC.
Also shown here among the crew are Marvin Carroll and Herb Jones along with Mary Klick, Fiddlin' Buck Ryan. and comic relief by Quincy Snodgrass.
The full half-hour kinescope can be purchased on DVD from the Kinevideo.Net website along with a few additional surviving shows..
Jimmy Dean - Town and Country Time
1,647 views • Nov 11, 2013
GatorRock
84.1K subscribers
an early syndicated version of Jimmy's show originating from Washington, DC
1,647 views • Nov 11, 2013
GatorRock
84.1K subscribers
an early syndicated version of Jimmy's show originating from Washington, DC
Jimmy Dean Show - Country Classics - PBS
8,360 views • May 9, 2018
FanZowy
1.08K subscribers
The Jimmy Dean Show Country Classics special was hosted by country legend Roy Clark. Join Roy Clark as he looks back on the Jimmy Dean Show and all of the classic and legendary performers that graced Jimmy's stage Including Buck Owens, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Eddie Arnold and many more!
8,360 views • May 9, 2018
FanZowy
1.08K subscribers
The Jimmy Dean Show Country Classics special was hosted by country legend Roy Clark. Join Roy Clark as he looks back on the Jimmy Dean Show and all of the classic and legendary performers that graced Jimmy's stage Including Buck Owens, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Eddie Arnold and many more!
Tue Aug 22, 2023: On this day, August 22, 1914, country music impresario Connie B. Gay was born.
Thu Aug 10, 2023: On this day, August 10, 1928, Jimmy Dean was born.
