Review by Cub Koda
Originally recorded for Capitol Records in his pre-Hee-Haw days (1963), this is Roy Clark's instrumental album, an all-guitar fest that showcases the country artist's amazing chops. Kicking off with a warp-speed version of "Twelfth Street Rag" that actually gets doubles in tempo by the final chorus, this album features a brace of generic "twistin''' instrumentals (read: public domain tunes given a twist beat) like "Texas Twist," "Weeping Willow Twist," "Wildwood Twist" ("Wildwood Flower"), "Golden Slippers," and "Over the Waves," rocked up cha-cha's like "Pink Velvet Swing" and Bob Wills' "A Maiden's Prayer," and boogies like the closing "Chicken Wire." Produced by Ken Nelson and sounding for all the world like it was cut in a single afternoon session, this should open up anyone's eyes and ears who thinks of Roy Clark only as a belly scratchin' fool, telling corny jokes and singing sappy love ballads.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-lightning-fingers-of-roy-clark-mw0000046830
Biography by David Vinopal
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 was 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 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 were "Yesterday, When I Was Young," and "Thank God and Greyhound." Instrumentally, he won awards for both guitar and banjo. Clark also co-starred on the silver screen with Mel Tillis in the comedy Uphill All the Way. Clark's presence on the country charts faded in the early 1980s, but he stayed with Hee Haw until it went off the air in 1997, maintaining the connection that brought him stardom and a 2009 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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 Clark's 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, Missouri, 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. The 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. Roy Clark died in November 2018 at the age of 85. Two years after Clark's death, Craft released the comprehensive overview Greatest Hits, which contained all of his major singles from 1969 to 1980.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roy-clark-mn0000341652/biography
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Reseña de Cub Koda
Originalmente grabado para Capitol Records en sus días pre-Hee-Haw (1963), este es el álbum instrumental de Roy Clark, un festival de guitarras que muestra las increíbles habilidades del artista country. Comenzando con una versión a velocidad de vértigo de "Twelfth Street Rag" que dobla el tempo en el estribillo final, este álbum presenta un par de instrumentales genéricos "twistin'' (léase: melodías de dominio público con ritmo de twist) como "Texas Twist", "Weeping Willow Twist", "Wildwood Twist" ("Wildwood Flower"), "Golden Slippers", y "Over the Waves", cha-cha's rockeros como "Pink Velvet Swing" y "A Maiden's Prayer" de Bob Wills, y boogies como el final "Chicken Wire". " Producido por Ken Nelson y sonando para todo el mundo como si hubiera sido cortado en una sola sesión de tarde, esto debería abrir los ojos y los oídos de cualquiera que piense en Roy Clark sólo como un tonto que se rasca la barriga, contando chistes cursis y cantando baladas de amor ñoñas.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-lightning-fingers-of-roy-clark-mw0000046830
Biografía de David Vinopal
En los años 70, Roy Clark simbolizó la música country en Estados Unidos y en el extranjero. Entre ser el anfitrión invitado de Johnny Carson en The Tonight Show y actuar ante salas llenas en la Unión Soviética en una gira en la que se agotaron las entradas para los 18 conciertos, utilizó su talento musical y su divertida personalidad para llevar la música country a los hogares de todo el mundo. Como uno de los presentadores del programa de televisión Hee Haw (Buck Owens era el otro) durante más de 20 años, Clark elegía y cantaba y ofrecía maíz country a 30 millones de personas semanalmente. Era ante todo un artista, que atraía a multitudes en lugares tan diferentes como Las Vegas, Atlantic City y el Opry. Su enfoque intermedio llenó un vacío nacional, ya que Clark ofrecía un country más duro que el de Kenny Rogers pero más suave y accesible que el de Waylon Jennings. Entre sus numerosos éxitos vocales estaban "Yesterday, When I Was Young" y "Thank God and Greyhound". Instrumentalmente, ganó premios con la guitarra y el banjo. Clark también coprotagonizó la pantalla grande con Mel Tillis en la comedia Uphill All the Way. La presencia de Clark en las listas de éxitos del country se desvaneció a principios de la década de 1980, pero permaneció en Hee Haw hasta que dejó de emitirse en 1997, manteniendo la conexión que le llevó al estrellato y a ser incluido en 2009 en el Salón de la Fama de la Música Country.
Hijo de dos músicos aficionados, Roy Clark comenzó a tocar el banjo, la guitarra y la mandolina a una edad temprana. A los 14 años, ya tocaba la guitarra detrás de su padre en los bailes locales. En pocos años, ganó dos campeonatos nacionales de banjo, y su segunda victoria le valió una aparición en el Grand Ole Opry. A pesar de su éxito como músico, Clark decidió seguir una carrera deportiva, rechazando el béisbol por el boxeo. A los 17 años, ganó 15 combates seguidos antes de decidir que prefería ser músico que boxeador.
Clark encontró trabajo en clubes locales, emisoras de radio y programas de televisión. En 1955, era un habitual del programa de televisión de Jimmy Dean en Washington, Country Style. Una vez que Dean se marchó de Washington a Nueva York, Clark se hizo cargo del programa, y en los años siguientes se ganó la reputación de excelente músico y animador. En 1960, decidió abandonar la Costa Este para perseguir su fama y fortuna en el Oeste. Ese año, se convirtió en el líder de la banda de Wanda Jackson, tocando en sus exitosos singles como "Let's Have a Party", así como haciendo giras con la cantante y dando conciertos con ella en Las Vegas. Una vez que Jackson decidió disolver su banda, Clark continuó tocando regularmente en el Frontier Hotel de Las Vegas y, a través de su nuevo mánager, Jim Halsey, ex mánager de Jackson, consiguió un puesto en The Tonight Show y en la serie The Beverly Hillbillies, donde interpretó al primo Roy y a Big Mama Halsey.
En 1963, Clark firmó con Capitol Records, y su primer sencillo para el sello, "Tips of My Fingers", se convirtió en un éxito del Top 10. Durante los dos años siguientes, tuvo un puñado de éxitos menores para Capitol antes de cambiar de sello, firmando con Dot en 1968. En Dot, su carrera despegó de nuevo, con versiones de canciones pop como "Yesterday, When I Was Young" de Charles Aznavour (número nueve, 1969). Sin embargo, lo que realmente dio un giro a la carrera de Clark no fueron los discos, sino un programa de televisión llamado Hee Haw. Concebido como una versión country de Laugh-In, Hee Haw comenzó su andadura en 1969 en la CBS. Roy Clark y Buck Owens, pionero del country en Bakersfield, fueron elegidos como copresentadores. Durante los dos años siguientes, fue uno de los programas más populares de la televisión. En 1971, la CBS abandonó el programa porque su humor country cursi no encajaba con la nueva imagen urbana de la cadena, pero Hee Haw pasó rápidamente a la sindicación, donde siguió prosperando durante toda la década.
Mientras Hee Haw estaba en la cúspide de su popularidad, Clark tuvo una serie de éxitos country que abarcaron desde singles del Top Ten como "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) y "If I Had It to Do All Again" (1976) hasta una multitud de éxitos menores. Aunque no ocupó sistemáticamente los primeros puestos en las listas de éxitos del country, Clark se convirtió en uno de los rostros más conocidos de la música country, apareciendo en anuncios de televisión y en Hee Haw, y realizando giras no sólo por Estados Unidos sino por otros países, incluida una innovadora estancia en la Unión Soviética en 1976. A menudo daba conciertos y grababa discos con una gran variedad de músicos de otros géneros, como la Boston Pops Orchestra y Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.
En 1979, el ímpetu de la carrera de Clark comenzó a disminuir, ya que dejó su sello de toda la vida, ABC/Dot, por MCA. Durante los dos años siguientes, tuvo varios éxitos menores antes de dejar la discográfica. Grabó un álbum inspirador para Songbird en 1981 antes de firmar con Churchill en 1982. La audiencia de Hee Haw empezaba a decaer a principios de los 80, pero Clark diversificó sus intereses invirtiendo en propiedades, equipos de béisbol de ligas menores, ganado, publicaciones y publicidad. Ninguna de las grabaciones de Clark para Churchill fue un gran éxito, y sus breves estancias en Silver Dollar, en 1986, y Hallmark, en 1989, tampoco dieron lugar a ningún éxito. Sin embargo, Clark se había convertido en un icono del country a mediados de los 80, por lo que su falta de ventas no importó: siguió agotando las entradas de los conciertos y ganando premios; incluso hizo la comedia Western Uphill All the Way en 1986 con Mel Tillis. En 1987, fue nombrado tardíamente miembro del Grand Ole Opry.
Durante los años 90, Clark se concentró en actuar en su teatro de Branson, Missouri, y publicó esporádicamente regrabaciones de sus grandes éxitos en diversos sellos discográficos, aunque Live at Billy Bob's Texas, del año 2000, supuso su primer lanzamiento en directo en casi una década. Ese mismo año le siguió Christmas Memories. En 2005 publicó dos álbumes, Hymns from the Old Country Church en Wonder Disc y Bluegrass: It's About Time, It's About Me, una colección de sus temas orientados al bluegrass, en Varese. Roy Clark murió en noviembre de 2018 a los 85 años. Dos años después de la muerte de Clark, Craft lanzó el completo resumen Greatest Hits, que contenía todos sus principales singles desde 1969 hasta 1980.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/roy-clark-mn0000341652/biography
Tracklist:
1 - Twelfth Street Rag -
2 - Texas Twist -
3 - Golden Slippers -
4 - Weepin' Willow Twist -
5 - Pink Velvet Swing -
6 - In The Mood -
7 - Drifter's Polka -
8 - Wildwood Twist -
9 - Maiden's Prayer -
10 - Dented Fender -
11 - Over The Waves -
12 - Chicken Wire
Label: Razor & Tie – 7930182193-2
Released: 1999
Genre: Rock, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Surf, Rock & Roll, Country
https://www.discogs.com/Roy-Clark-The-Lightning-Fingers-Of-Roy-Clark/release/7040925
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