Clarence Carter was born in 1936 in Montgomery, Alabama. He was blind from birth. In 1960 he graduated from Alabama State College in Montgomery with a degree in music. He taught himself guitar by listening to Blues guitarists, such as Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker, and could transcribe and arrange sheet music using Braille.
His first venture as a performer came as a member of a duo. He teamed up with a college friend, Calvin Scott, to form Clarence & Calvin, releasing several singles on the Fairlane label, before switching to Duke Records and simplifying the duo’s name to the C & C Boys.
Following a few unsuccessful releases, the duo decided to try their luck at FAME Studios. They paid $85 to record “Step by Step” and the B-side “Rooster Knees and Rice” as a demo, which found its way to Jerry Wexler at Atlantic Records. Wexler was always on the look-out for new talent and decided to put the single out on the Atco label. Unfortunately, it met the fate of their earlier releases and Atlantic didn’t sign them. The bad luck continued when Calvin Scott was badly injured in a car accident.
Clarence Carter decided to continue as a solo singer and was signed to FAME Records. Two singles were released in 1967, entitled “Tell Daddy” and “Thread the Needle”, both of which entered the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, reaching number thirty-five and thirty-eight respectively. The second single crept into the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart at number ninety-eight. “Tell Daddy” inspired a wonderful response from Etta James later in the year.
“Tell Daddy” was co-written with his touring band members William Armstrong, Marcus Daniel and Wilbur Terrell, with Carter receiving full writing credit. It was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals on 4th October 1966. On the recording session were legends of the Muscle Shoals Signature Sound David Hood (bass), Roger Hawkins (drums), Spooner Oldham (keyboards), and Memphis-born studio musician Marvell Thomas (keyboards). The single was released on the Cadet label, a division of Chess Records in August 1967.
The song starts with a powerful horns intro, accompanied by Hawkins’ steady driving drumbeats. David Hood on bass responds to Hawkins’ dynamic performing on drums, along with Spooner Oldham and Marvell Thomas on keyboards. Rick Hall used his brilliant sound engineering skills to create a classic up-tempo dancing style. The track also features the Memphis Horn Section and members of the future Muscle Shoals Horn section. “Tell Daddy” is an iconic masterpiece of Muscle Shoals Southern Soul, setting the template for future recordings at the studio.
At the end of 1967, Carter switched to Atlantic Records, while continuing to record at FAME.
The following year brought greater success with a single “Looking for a Fox” rising to number twenty on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart and number sixty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. Things were heading in the right direction, thanks once again to the work of Rick Hall and the FAME session band.
Carter’s big breakthrough came in 1968, when his next single “Slip Away” reached number six on the Pop chart, number two on the R&B chart, and number one on the Cash Box Soul and R&B Singles Chart week-ending 31st August 1968 (1 week).
“Slip Away” has a dynamic Bluesy guitar rhythm intro which continues with the same intense power right through recording, setting a pattern for future hit singles. The song’s arrangement has steady bass and drumbeats, with a very emotional vocal performance by Carter, that is emphasized by the horn section, consisting of Gene “Bowlegs” Miller, Joe Arnold and Aaron Varnell. These three were regularly used on recording sessions for Rick Hall at this time.
The song was released from Carter’s studio album “This Is Clarence Carter” (1968) and was co-written by Clarence Carter’s touring band members William Armstrong (keyboards), Marcus Daniel (bass), and Wilbur Terrell (drums).
Additional session musicians featured on the studio album are, from Memphis, Floyd Newman, James Mitchell (brother of Willie Mitchell of Hi Records fame) on baritone saxophone, along with Charles Chalmers and Andrew Love on tenor saxophone, and Wayne Jackson and Gene “Bowlegs” Miller on trumpet.
The following studio album, 1969’s “Testifyin’”, produced two Top Five R&B and Soul singles in the Southern Soul style. At the end of the year, Carter entered the Pop chart again with a Christmas song “Back Door Santa”, which made it to number four. Co-written by Carter himself and Marcus Daniel, this song is, in my view, the funkiest that Carter ever recorded. The band is led by an aggressive rhythm guitar performance by Albert “Junior” Lowe, with Roger Hawkins on drums and a driving bass line by David Hood or Jesse Boyce holding the rhythm section together in a raw and refined style. The dynamic horn section gives the song a very Memphis feel, with Ronnie Eades on baritone sax, Aaron Varnell and Joe Arnold on tenor sax, and Gene “Bowlegs” Miller and Harrison Calloway on trumpet.
Two more studio albums followed, “The Dynamic Clarence Carter” (1969) and “Patches” (1970). The first of these was the first album by Carter to feature string arrangements and background vocals. The string arrangements were written by William Fischer, an African American, and the background vocals on track four were performed by Alvin Willford, Cabwhiss Grandberry and James Price. The Swampers were joined by Duane Allman on lead guitar and Marvell Thomas on organ. The single “Too Weak To Fight” was released from the album, reaching number thirteen Pop and number three R&B. Like “Slip Away”, it was certified gold by the RIAA.
The “Patches” album is more sophisticated, with a dynamic string arrangement by Jimmy Haskell, a well-known composer of film soundtrack scores. Rick Hall hired Haskell to create a lush sound that was becoming popular amongst African American artists who wanted to cross over into the Pop album charts. The backing vocals also added to the sophistication. They were provided by Charles Chalmers, Donna Rhodes and Sandy Rhodes, who would later feature on classic Al Green recordings at Hi Records in Memphis, working with Willie Mitchell.
With the second FAME session band now departed, the session musicians on the album were members of the FAME Gang. Cornell McFadden, Freeman Brown and Fred Pouty shared drumming duties, with Junior Lowe, Clarence Carter and Travis Wammack on guitar, and Jesse Boyce, Bob Wray and Jerry Masters on bass. Clayton Ivey played keyboards. The horn section consisted of Ronnie Eades (baritone sax), Aaron Varnell and Harvey Thompson (tenor sax), and Jack Peck and Harrison Calloway Jr. (trumpet). The latter was also responsible for the horn arrangements.
The album contains a number of memorable tracks, including a cover of the Beatles’ classic “Let It Be” with wonderful backing vocals from Rhodes, Chalmers, Rhodes. “Willie & Laura-Mae Jones” (written by Tony Joe White) is a good example of Country Soul, an up-tempo ballad based on memories of living in a small community. There is a real warmth in the singing and playing, with soft guitar, rich horns and strong backing vocals, all driven along by a bouncy piano line. “Patches”, released as a single, was also a moving Country Soul ballad, a style that suited Carter very much indeed.
Clarence Carter
Photo: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com (Wikimedia Commons)
Importantly, Carter was able to build some strong momentum through 1969 and 1970. Seven more singles were released during this period, six of which entered the top thirteen of the R&B Chart. All seven made the top 100 on the Pop chart. The most successful of these songs was “Patches”, which took Carter to new heights. The song reached number one on the Cash Box R&B Soul Singles Chart, week-ending 5th September 1970. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number two on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. It was also a big hit in Australia and the UK, where it reached number two on the Singles chart, making it FAME Records most successful UK release. Within two months of its issue, the song had sold a million copies, bringing Carter and Rick Hall another gold disc. Best of all, the song won the 1971 Grammy for best R&B song.
The song was written by the Detroit songwriters General Johnson and Ron Dunbar (See Icons of Detroit Part 2). It tells the story of life in the deep South for poor families, Black and White, where the breadwinner dies, an echo of Rick Hall’s own story.
Rick Hall, Clarence Carter and Jerry Wexler at Atlantic must have thought that this would herald further successful releases but, this time around, it proved harder to maintain that level of success and Carter left Atlantic Records at the end of 1971, to re-join FAME Records. Only four singles were released over the next four years, with just two making it into the top twenty on the R&B chart. In 1975, Carter moved on again, to ABC Records, but failed to re-ignite his career in terms of chart success. He continued to tour and remained popular, especially in the southern States.
