It has been brought to our attention that Roy Clark has passed away. He reached the ripe old age of 85. His death was in his home and due to complications from pneumonia.
He is best known for his work on “Hee-Haw”, a show that aired for 24 years and he was either the host or co-host for the entire series.
He is best known as a guitar virtuoso, but he also played banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and even played a harmonica. He was not just a talented guitarist, he was a talented multi-instrumentalist, which is quite a rarity and exceptional.
He had worked with such institutes as the Boston Pops and, even more strikingly, helped to cool down the “Cold War” when he performed, in 1976 in the USSR. He was also a respected member of the Grand Ole Opry.
In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. This was an emotional experience for him and this is what he had to say during the induction ceremony:
“… just to be associated yourself with the members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and imagine that your name will be said right along with all the list.”
Clark was even a guest on The Tonight Show, which is exceptional because they seldom have country music guests. He had fans across all genres of music and was a favorite among listeners and musicians alike.
He was fond of corny jokes, one-liners, and making music, having begun his music career in his father’s square dancing band at the age of 15. He will surely be missed and mourned by many and we’d like to take a moment to recognize his accomplishments in the industry.
Let’s examine some of his work, shall we?
If you thought he was “just” a country music player, a genre that isn’t known for fancy guitar playing, this is Roy Clark playing flamenco in a song called Malaguena.
Next, this is a more traditional Country & Western tune called Ghost Riders in The Sky. However, in this video you can see his traditional corny jokes and hear the twist he could put on a song like nobody else.
And, finally, you can hear him back in his early days when he really accentuated his comedy routine and examined the boundaries of the tones you can make with an amplified guitar.
It’s not just the death of a country star, it’s the death of a guitar legend. As you can hear from that last track, he’s very much doing what all guitarists do -and that is chasing sound. You’ll have heard him make guitar sounds you may have not known were possible, and surely they weren’t recorded before by anyone else but have now entered our lexicon of techniques.
So, let us pay homage to a guitar legend. Let us spend a moment thanking him for the influence he has had on the music we all know and love, as well as to thank him for the examples he gave us when we too chased sound. The world is a slightly lesser place today, as another legend passes.
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