Chris Clark was born in Santa Cruz, California, in 1946. At the age of fifteen, she was already singing regularly in clubs, covering Soul, Jazz and Blues. At seventeen, she came to Motown for an audition. Don Waller relates what happened next in an article in the Los Angeles Times (August 21st 2009). She wasn’t the kind of artist that Berry Gordy usually signed. Clark was six-foot tall, blonde and White.
Gordy listened to the demo song that Clark had brought with her and then asked her to do a song live. She went to the piano and sang Etta James’ hit from 1960 “All I Could Do Was Cry”, not realising that the song had been co-written by Billy Davis, Gwen Gordy and Berry himself! What a good choice! She was later offered a contract.
Clark’s first single was “Do Right Baby, Do Right”, backed by “Don’t Be Too Long”, issued on the VIP label. Both songs were written and produced by Berry Gordy. The A-side is an excellent track, sung in typical Gospel/Bluesy style by Clark with backing vocals from the Lewis sisters. The B-side is equally vibrant. It is clear why Gordy decided to bring her to Motown.
Chris Clark worked with Holland, Dozier, Holland for her next release, a real stomper entitled “Love’s Gone Bad”, paired with “Put Yourself In My Place”. The single gave Clark her first chart entry, as “Love’s Gone Bad” reached number forty-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and number one hundred and five on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Clark was certainly influenced by Etta James, but she did not set out to sound like a Black singer. She explains that it was just her tone that suited the up-tempo Bluesy songs that Motown gave her. She was compared at the time with Dusty Springfield, which is understandable, but Clark was funkier. “Love’s Gone Bad” was released in the UK on the Tamla Motown label and became popular on the Northern Soul circuit.
Also released as a promotional shot in the Detroit area was a single with Brenda Holloway’s “Play It Cool, Stay In School” on one side and Chris Clark’s “Do I Love You”, written by Frank Wilson, on the reverse. Wilson had recorded it at Motown in 1965, his only single. The Clark track was scheduled for wider release, but was shelved. It is a Northern Soul classic.
Chris Clark had another good year in 1967. Motown released her first album in May, entitled “Soul Sounds”. Berry Gordy wrote three of the best songs on the album, plus one more with Frank Wilson. Four more came from Holland, Dozier, Holland (one with John Thornton), and one from Smokey Robinson. There is also a cover of Lennon and McCartney’s “Got To Get You Into My Life”. Clark’s voice isn’t particularly powerful, but she is at her best on songs with a Bluesy feel, such as Berry Gordy’s “Day By Day Or Never”.
Two singles were issued in 1967, both drawn from the album. The first was “I Want To Go Back There Again” that Clark wrote with Berry Gordy, who produced the track. On the B-side there is a song co-written by Marvin Gaye, Anna Gordy Gaye and Margaret Gordy Johnson entitled “I Love You”, which Clark sings with a Jazzy swing. It was Clark’s last release on the VIP label, issued in February.
She was switched to Motown for the release of the album and the follow-up single “From Head To Toe” in September. The song was written by Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore, with another Margaret Gordy Johnson composition, “The Beginning Of The End”, on the B-side. It is a slow, sultry Blues, which Clark sings beautifully. It was produced by Berry Gordy, who seems to enjoy this kind of song. It is worth a listen.
In 1968, one of the tracks from her 1967 album was released as a single. “Whisper You Love Me Boy” is a typically bouncy up-tempo foot-tapper from Holland-Dozier-Holland. The song was first recorded by Mary Wells in 1964 and then by the Supremes in 1965. Clark’s version stands comparison with both! The B-side is “The Beginning Of The End” again!
1969 saw the release of her second album, “CC Rides Again”, arranged by David Van DePitte and produced by Deke Richards. It is a varied collection of ten songs, including two from Lennon and McCartney, one from Nilsson, three from Motown songwriters and assorted covers of well-known Pop hits. The tracks were mastered at RCA Studios in Hollywood. Its main claim to fame is that it was the only release on a new Motown label that was given the odd name of Weed.
This was to be her last Motown release, until in 2005 the company issued a double-CD of fifty remastered songs that includes twenty-five previously-unreleased tracks.
Chris Clark had never been a prolific recording artist, but Motown’s move to Hollywood in 1972 gave her an opportunity to demonstrate her talent in a new way. She wrote the screenplay for the film Lady Sings The Blues and earned an Academy Award nomination. It was the start of a new career as a creative assistant that led to greater things.
