Artist:Roy Clark
Song:Come Live with Me
Album:Greatest Hits
Roy Clark is best known as one of the hosts of the long running country variety show Hee Haw. But I think as a musician, he is very underrated. A few years ago, I featured an album that Clark recorded with jazz guitarist Joe Pass. It says a lot about Clark's musicianship that he was able to hang with Pass. And Clark was worried about that too. But he never got to show that in Nashville because of Hee Haw. That show was Clark's bread and butter. And believe it or not, Clark's 1973 single Come Live with Me was Clark's only #1 country hit. Clark's 1969 single Yesterday When I Was Young was his biggest hit because it was a top twenty pop hit. But it only reached #9 on the Country Singles chart. Clark was born Apr. 15, 1933 in Meherrin, VA. His father was a tobacco farmer. He moved the family to Staten Island, NY for work and then moved them to Washington, DC. Clark's father played banjo, fiddle and guitar and his mother played piano. They moved to Washington, DC after Clark's father found work there. Clark's father taught him to play guitar. Clark's main influences were jazz guitarist George Barnes and bluegrass pioneer Earl Scruggs. After winning the 1947 National Banjo Championship, Clark played in several DC bands. His big break came when he joined Jimmy Dean's Texas Wildcats and appeared on his TV show. Clark made his first solo TV appearance on a 1963 episode of The Tonight Show hosted by Dean. He recorded for Capitol Records at first then switched to Dot Records in 1968. And that's when Yesterday When I was Young reached #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Country Singles chart. He finally topped the country charts with the 1973 single Come Live with Me. It was his only #1 country hit. The song was written by the husband and wife duo of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. Among other songs, they wrote Bye Bye Love and Wake Up Little Susie for The Everly Brothers. The album producer was Dot Records president Jim Foglesong. Dot was soon sold to ABC records and then to MCA in 1978. Clark left MCA in 1981 and then recorded for small labels. This comp on Craft Records seems to be the only decent comp available. These are original recordings. Beware of rerecorded versions. Clark continued to appear on Hee Haw. And he opened his own theater in Branson, MO. Clark continued to perform until his death on Nov. 15, 2018 at age 85. Clark occasionally recorded albums showcasing his musicianship like the 1979 album Makin' Music with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and the 1994 album Roy Clark & Joe Pass Play Hank Williams. I just think record companies could have done more with Clark. Here's Roy Clark performing Come Live with Me on a 1996 episode of The Statler Brothers Show.
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