<Death Anniversary> Clarence White (July 14th 1973)
Bill Schenley
Photo:
http://www.kitanet.ne.jp/~jose/Graphics/Music/Clarence_White.jpg
You Don't Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way the Wind Blows
Clarence White had always kept one ear cocked to music outside of
bluegrass. Country pickers Don Reno and Joe Maphis, jazz guitarist
Django Reinhardt, and rocker Chuck Berry were all influences on his
style. While his fellow Colonels were mostly interested in straight
bluegrass, Clarence was ready to try something new. "It wasn't so much
that I was getting bored with acoustic bluegrass," he explained later.
"I could feel so many new things in the air. I wanted to get in the
stream of a new kind of music that combined what you could call a
'folk integrity' with electric rock."*
In a separate interview, White elaborated on this theme: "It wasn't so
much getting bored with [bluegrass] as seeing something else coming
along at that time -- as if it had reached a peak at that time and the
only thing that could have happened was what happened -- electrifying
folk music, or even electrifying bluegrass music, which could have
still been called folk rock. But a lot of it had to do with the
material, too -- Dylan's songs; everything was timed just right, I
think. With his material and the Byrds -- all previously folk
musicians -- it was just a great idea."*
White purchased a '54 Fender Telecaster in 1965 and began learning to
play it. He sought out and befriended such electric guitarists as
country virtuoso Jimmy Bryant and rocker Duane Eddy. Most importantly,
he got to know the man who would become an important influence at this
stage: James Burton. Burton got his start with Ricky Nelson; indeed,
Burton's rockabilly licks bolstered the teen idol's musical
credibility considerably. In the early '60s, Burton earned a
comfortable living as a session man on both country and rock records.
White set out to become a session guitarist as well. He had to modify
his touch with the right hand, get the hang of the tone and volume
controls, and switch from open chording to doing fretwork with his
left hand. Yet, before too long, he was dazzling listeners with his
electric work. "I met him when he'd been playing the electric guitar
about a year, and I was amazed at what he could do," remembered Gene
Parsons. "He'd just taken the capo off it and was starting to learn to
play barre chords up and down the neck. Once he pulled the capo off he
really got down to it. He was bending strings all over the place and
trying to make it sound like a steel guitar."*
Session Work
White met Gene Parsons and his partner Gib Guilbeau on a session for
the Gosdin Brothers in late '65 or early '66. Before long he was doing
sessions with them regularly and playing with Parsons and Guilbeau as
"Cajun Gib and Gene." In time the three became the house band for Gary
Paxton's Bakersfield International label. The exploits of White,
Parsons and Guilbeau are described in the Chapter devoted to Nashville
West.
Trio and the Kentucky Colonels
White was also active outside his partnership with Parsons and
Guilbeau. For a few months in 1966, he played in a country group
called Trio with Roger Bush and Bart Haney. Nor had White completely
abandoned either bluegrass or the acoustic guitar. In 1966 he played
with brothers Roland and Eric in a new version of the Kentucky
Colonels. Backing them up were Dennis Morris on rhythm guitar, Bob
Warford on banjo, and at times Bobby Crane on fiddle. Some live shows
from this period are captured on The Kentucky Colonels: 1965-1966
(Rounder, 1976) and The Kentucky Colonels featuring Clarence White
(Rounder, 1980). Through Clarence's new friend Guilbeau, this version
of the Colonels came to Paramount, California to cut a demo session in
the studio of Dale Davis.
These demos never secured the Colonels a record deal, but they were
issued many years later on The Kentucky Colonels: 1966 (Shiloh, 1978).
This group of Colonels played sporadically until 1967, when Clarence
was offered a spot with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Clarence
declined, but recommended Roland for the job. When Roland joined
Monroe as a guitarist, the Colonels dissolved again.
Change Is Now: The Byrds And The Gene Clark Group
In late 1966, Clarence White took part in two sets of sessions that
would change his future dramatically. Chris Hillman called Clarence
White to add guitar to the songs "Time Between" and "The Girl With No
Name." Hillman and White had first met as teenagers when the Colonels
played the same circuit as the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, Hillman's
first group. They had the opportunity to meet again in 1966 when
Hillman produced the first single by his former bandmates the Gosdin
Brothers, on which White played guitar.
White's playing on the Byrds sessions gave the two Hillman songs a
more country feel than any previous Byrds number, and are among the
earliest examples of country rock.
Around the same time, both White, Hillman, and the Gosdins were also
doing sessions for ex-Byrd Gene Clark's first solo album. Those
tracks, also among the earliest country rock songs, appeared on Gene
Clark with the Gosdin Brothers (Columbia, 1967). In the spring of
1967, White gigged around LA briefly with the second version of the
Gene Clark Group -- which also included future Byrds bassist John
York.
During this period, White played on a few other important sessions,
including Rick Nelson's Country Fever (Decca, 1967); Pat Boone's
Departure (Tetragrammaton, 1968); and Johnny Darrell's California
Stop-Over (United Artists, 1968).
In November of '67, White played on sessions for Notorious Byrd
Brothers, adding his distinctive guitar to "Change Is Now," "Wasn't
Born to Follow," and "Get to You." In April and May of 1968, White was
one of several session musicians to play on Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
His playing can be heard on "The Christian Life," "Blue Canadian
Rockies," and "One Hundred Years From Now." Unbeknownst to either
White or the Byrds, he would be a full-fledged band member in just a
few short months.
In July of 1968, the Byrds returned home from their disastrous tour of
South Africa in support of Sweetheart. Gram Parsons had abandoned the
tour in England, forcing McGuinn, Hillman and Kelley to tour without
him. Roadie Carlos Bernal was actually pressed into service to replace
Parsons on the South African gigs. The Byrds had to find a new
guitarist before a gig at the Newport Pop Festival in late July,
someone who could handle both their older rock material and the
country sound of their brand new material.
Hillman, eager that the band not abandon country, pushed for his
friend White, and by late July White was an official part of the band.
Nashville West dissolved without White, but by October White had
succeeded in getting his old bandmate Gene Parsons added as the
official drummer for the Byrds.
As a full-fledged band member, White played on all Byrds albums from
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde in 1968 to Farther Along in 1971. His distinctive
guitar work, both acoustic and electric, provides many of the best
moments of this period in the Byrds' existence.
Unfortunately, White's skills were rarely used to full advantage on
these albums. Some good work was obscured by poor production on albums
like Dr. Byrds and Byrdmaniax. Thankfully, the reissued versions of
Dr. Byrds and Ballad of Easy Rider allow listeners to hear White's
work more clearly.
White had both the skill and the disposition to make himself
indispensable to McGuinn, who might otherwise have been inclined to
abandon country music completely (and White with it) after Hillman's
departure. White's skillful playing and his affinity for the drumming
of Gene Parsons helped make the later Byrds a powerful live act. White
was the only full-time Byrd other than McGuinn by February 1973, when
McGuinn finally dissolved the group. Other than McGuinn, no other Byrd
had a longer tenure in the group.
Session Work: Don't Give Up Your Day Job
During his four-and-a-half year stint with the Byrds, White kept a few
other irons in the fire. He participated in various one-off reunions
of the Kentucky Colonels. He also continued to do session work. Below
is a list of albums (and a few non-LP singles) on which Clarence White
is known to have appeared during and after his time with the Byrds. In
a few cases the recording dates may have taken place shortly before
White joined the Byrds.
Christmas Spirit -"Christmas Is My Time of Year" / Will You Still
Believe in Me" / (White Whale, 1968)
Linda Ronstadt - Hand Sown Home Grown (Capitol, 1969)
The Everly Brothers - "I'm On My Way Home" / "Cuckoo Bird" (RCA, 1969)
Arlo Guthrie - Running Down the Road (Reprise, 1969)
Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker (A&M, 1969)
Randy Newman - 12 Songs (Reprise, 1969)
Freddie Weller - Games People Play (Columbia, 1969)
The Monkees - "Steam Engine" (outtake, Colgems, 1969)
Phil Ochs - Greatest Hits (A&M, 1970)
Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Suite Steel (Elektra, 1970)
Rusty Young, Red Rhodes, Jay Dee Maness, Buddy Emmons, Joel Scott
Hill - L.A. Getaway (Atco, 1971)
John Barbata, Chris Ethridge, Jane Getz - Mother Hen (RCA, 1971)
Rita Coolidge - Rita Coolidge (A&M, 1971)
Marc Benno - Minnows (A&M, 1971)
Paul Siebel - Jack Knife Gypsy (Elektra, 1971)
The Everly Brothers - Stories We Could Tell (RCA, 1972)
Arlo Guthrie - Hobo's Lullabye (Reprise, 1972)
Jackson Browne - Jackson Browne (Asylum, 1972)
Skip Battin - Skip Battin (Signpost, 1972)
Gene Parsons - Kindling (Warner Bros., 1973)
Arlo Guthrie - Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (Reprise, 1973)
Maria Muldaur - Maria Muldaur (Reprise, 1973)
Country Gazette - Don't Give Up Your Day Job (United Artists, 1973)
Gene Clark - Roadmaster (Ariola, 1973)
Terry Melcher - Terry Melcher (Reprise, 1974)
After the break-up of the Byrds in 1973, Clarence White was in great
demand. In February of 1973, while the Columbia Byrds were winding
down, White was one of the young musicians assembled as a one-off band
to back Bill Monroe on a local TV show. Monroe's bus broke down, so
the band played the gig without him. The result was a one-shot album,
Muleskinner (Warner Bros., 1973), that showed off White's bluegrass
licks. Muleskinner is now regarded as a milestone in the growth of
progressive bluegrass, and each of the band's other four members --
Richard Greene, Bill Keith, Dave Grisman and Peter Rowan -- has become
an important figure in that movement. Sierra has since reissued the LP
on CD, and more recently also issued a CD and a video of the live
performance, both called Muleskinner Live.
White further renewed his acquaintance with acoustic picking when he
reunited with brothers Roland and Eric for a tour of Europe as the
White Brothers (also called the New Kentucky Colonels). Herb Pedersen
and then Alan Munde played banjo with the New Colonels. A show from
Sweden formed the basis of The White Brothers: The New Kentucky
Colonels Live in Sweden, 1973 (Rounder, 1977).
Upon his return from Europe, White worked on tracks for a solo
project. Four of these songs, finished but for the electric lead
parts, emerged on Silver Meteor (Sierra, 1980). In June, the New
Kentucky Colonels were part of a country rock road show, along with
Country Gazette, Gene Parsons, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Chris Ethridge,
Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. White also served as the musical
director for those shows.
Farther Along
A month later, on July 14, the Colonels played a gig near Palmdale,
California. As the brothers were loading equipment into a car
afterward, Clarence White was struck and killed by a drunk driver.
Roland White dislocated his arm when he vainly attempted to pull
Clarence out of harm's way; brother Eric also witnessed the accident.
The funeral was held on July 19, 1973 at a Catholic church in
Palmdale, California. After the priest performed the burial rites,
Bernie Leadon and Gram Parsons began to sing "Farther Along." Soon
many of the mourners joined in on the country gospel standard, which
both the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers had recorded. Clarence
White's standout track on the last Byrds album became his own epitaph.
Farewell Blues
In more than one interview, Roger McGuinn has called Clarence White
the best musician he ever worked with. Bluegrass musicians have
praised White's touch, his tone, and his timing; his use of
syncopation, his bluesy flourishes, and his unfailing precision. As an
acoustic and as an electric guitarist, his leads were unfailingly
inventive. With the Stringbender, White invented an entirely new sonic
vocabulary for the guitar.
"Clarence made it look like playing was the easiest thing in the
world," said old friend Jerry Garcia. "He was special, the kind of
guitar player who comes along once in a while."*
Garcia's words are, if anything, an understatement. Few other
guitarists can claim to have mastered acoustic bluegrass, electric
country, and rock guitar. But Clarence White didn't just master those
styles; he reinvented bluegrass guitar and influenced every
"progressive bluegrass" player that followed. Then he taught himself
to play James Burton-style country and rock on the electric and in
short order was extracting steel licks from his Fender. Then, for good
measure, he invented an entirely new vocabulary for the electric
guitar using the Stringbender invented for him by Gene Parsons.
"When we played together in the Byrds," recalled Gene Parsons,
"Clarence was always experimenting with new licks. He'd leave these
big holes -- these anticipated beats -- and he'd just kind of leave
you hanging out in the middle of nowhere. And then all of a sudden
he'd come up from underneath, in a totally unexpected place, and
really stretch out. That's what was always exciting about his playing.
He'd knock you right out of your seat."*.
White's death at 29 left a void in the music world -- but it was also
a deep personal loss for his friends. "Clarence was my best friend.
You couldn't have met a more honest, really nice fellow," said Gene
Parsons.* "I quit playing for two years after his death because he was
such a big inspiration."*
---
Photo:
http://www.allcountry.de/Lexikon/Lexikon_W/White_Clarence_bio/WhiteClarPic.jpg
---
Flat picker Clarence White revolutionized bluegrass
FROM: Kennebec (Maine) Journal ~
By DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer
Folded into "The Players Art," an exhibition of guitars from Maine
collectors at Colby College this month, is a little-known piece of
local history with ties to some of the biggest names ever to pick up a
six-string.
In videos and in a custom "string bender" guitar, also part of the
exhibit, legendary flat-picker Clarence White, a one-time member of
The Byrds and an influence on the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia
and Gram Parsons, comes back to life.
Greg Williams, assistant director of operations at the Colby College
Museum of Art, which is hosting the exhibition, said the little-known
fact about Clarence White is that he once lived in Waterville.
"His brother Roland White said the family lived in Waterville in 1954,
then went to California," Williams said. "He said his father knew he
had four talented children and knew that in order for them to be
successful, they had to head to where the talent would get recognition
in the field."
Williams said White was born in Lewiston in June 1944 and the family
lived in several places in Maine, including Madawaska and Waterville.
Once in California, the White children formed a country music band and
began regular appearances on radio and television.
But it was the bluegrass bug that finally bit the young Clarence
White, who tinkered with a new concept of incorporating lead guitar
breaks within a bluegrass song, Williams said.
Before White, bluegrass guitar was a rhythm instrument. After White,
it became the reigning heart of country rock music that would
influence the top musicians of the early 1960s and 1970s and for years
to come.
Williams, 52, himself a guitarist with Suzie and the Smelts, said
White's early bluegrass work with The Kentucky Colonels lead to a
groundbreaking record, "Appalachian Swing," in 1964, the year he
turned 20 and the year he first played the Newport Folk Festival.
But with the jangling, plugged-in sound of the British invasion
already taking hold and people such as Bob Dylan switching to electric
guitar, White moved to session work in Los Angeles studios, finally
collaborating with Gene Parsons to produce the electric "Nashville
West," said to be the first country rock album.
He later played guitar on albums by The Byrds, including "Younger Than
Yesterday," "Notorious Byrd Brothers" and "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo."
On the soundtrack to the 1969 film "Easy Rider," White's guitar work
is on display, with its ground-breaking riffs on "Ballad Of Easy
Rider."
A portion of that track is on display at the Colby exhibition, as is a
live session of White showing his bluegrass style.
Also on display is a "string bender" guitar developed by White and
fellow Byrd Gene Parsons. The guitar allows the player to raise the
note of the B string a full tone for a steel-guitar sound.
Williams said that during a recent showing of the exhibit, an
Englishman stood in front of the White video and started bowing from
the waist in homage to the great guitarist.
"He saw the video and I said, 'This is why we did this show -- for
guys like you,' " Williams said. "He knew of Clarence White's music;
he was a huge fan of Clarence White."
Clarence White was struck and killed by a drunken driver in California
on July 14, 1973, while he and his brothers were loading equipment.
Williams said White's brother Roland, 62 and a mandolin player from
Nashville, is scheduled to do a workshop July 11 at Buck Dancers
Choice Music Co. in Portland.
The guitar exhibition at the Colby museum is scheduled to run through
July 17.
---
Photo: http://www.cookephoto.com/images/64-14-c39.jpg (w/Roland
White)
---
Clarence White: A Flatpicker's Pilgrimage
FROM: Flatpicking Guitar Magazine (July/August 1998) ~
By David McCarty (Based on David Grier's interview with Roland White)
Some sounds change everything. The patriot's toll of the Liberty Bell
on July 4, 1776. The unfamiliar drone of a piston engine in the skies
over Kitty Hawk, N.C. in December 1903. The peal of atomic thunder
rumbling off the high desert plain of Los Alamos, N.M. in early 1945.
It's the same in music. Single tones or phrases, so perfect and
individualistic, that we chart our lives by when we first heard them.
Doc's guitar sound on "Black Mountain Rag." Charlie Parker racing
through the head of"Scrapple From The Apple." The crack of Earl's
banjo on "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." That shimmering opening trumpet
note Miles crafts on "All Blues." Tony's opening salvo on "E.M.D."
from the first David Grisman Quintet album.
For many flatpickers, things changed forever when they heard Clarence
White syncopating through "Listen To The Mockingbird" or rollicking
over the changes to "Beaumont Rag." It certainly was that way for me.
The very first flatpicking guitar I heard was Clarence White playing
"Soldier's Joy" on-stage with the Byrds in 1972 in Indianapolis. I can
still remember the power and individualism White gave his guitar
voice. Along with hearing Eric Clapton live with Cream and seeing Tony
Rice play with the DGQ of the group's first- ever U.S. tour, hearing
White whistlestop through such fast, yet unhurried, acoustic guitar
playing stands as the most impressive guitar work I've ever witnessed.
Over the years of his life and since his death, Clarence has
powerfully influenced tens of thousands of guitarists. Maybe it was
the way he turned mundane popular tunes like"Sheik of Araby" and
"Listen To The Mockingbird" into personal statements so powerful and
profound they still stand today unchallenged, monuments to a
guitarist's genius as lasting as the Great Sphinx of Cheops, and just
as mysterious in their origin.
Whatever his secret gift, like Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery,
Robert Johnson, Eddie Lang, Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix, Clarence
White died long before his full impact on the guitar could ever be
felt. This month, on the 25th anniversary of his death at the hands of
a drunken driver on July 15, 1973, Clarence's guitar playing continues
to inspire awe and fertilize the musical imaginations of brilliant
musicians such as David Grier, Tony and Wyatt Rice, Jeff White, Russ
Barenberg, Scott Nygaard, Beppe Gambetta (who named his son "Clarence"
in White's honor) and thousands more acoustic flatpickers.
Equally brilliant as an electric guitarist, his pedal steel-influenced
Telecaster sound, which he literally invented as co-creator of the
Parsons-White stringbender, echoes through the playing of every cat in
Nashville these days. Even mainstream rock guitarists like Jimmy Page,
Jerry Garcia, Pete Townsend and Hendrix readily acknowledged Clarence
White as a key influence and favorite player.
The cult of Clarence continues today, with frantic Internet traffic
tracking down rare out-of-print copies of Russ Barenberg's excellent
Clarence White - Guitar book or trying to trade tape copies of him
jamming with folks like Tony Rice. There's even a Japanese newsletter
devoted to White's life and legacy - the Clarence White Chronicles.
White's legacy extends even to the instruments we play today. C.F.
Martin, Collings Guitars and the Santa Cruz Guitar Company all
manufacture replicas of the trademark 1935 D-28 (serial number 58957)
with its enlarged soundhole and elongated, bound and markerless
fingerboard, and "leopard" tortoise pickguard that Clarence owned (but
ironically used only infrequently for lead guitar). Fender even sells
a signature model Clarence White Telecaster, modeled after Clarence's
original 1954 Telecaster now owned by Marty Stuart.
We're also in the midst of a revival of Clarence's recordings,
including raw live tapes never intended for public release, but which
his sheer musical genius justify releasing today. Sierra Records,
Vanguard and Rounder all have reissued live and studio recordings of
Clarence playing with his brilliant bluegrass band, the Kentucky
Colonels. Guitarists today can hear in CD clarity a teenaged Clarence
on-stage at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival sharing the
spotlight with legendary flatpicker Doc Watson, and thoroughly impress
ing the established master on tunes like "Farewell Blues." Sierra
Records is preparing a box set including many previously unreleased
tracks of White's acoustic and electric playing and a video of live
performances including his fabled appearance on Bob Baxter's Guitar
Workshop, a televised guitar show broadcast in Southern California in
the early '60s.
Even today, he stands as an innovator of the first rank, bringing
burning speed, rhythmic pulsation, and harmonic invention never before
heard on acoustic guitar. While there's no question Doc Watson
legitimized the role of lead acoustic guitar in bluegrass and folk
music, there's no doubt that Clarence White set flatpicking guitar
free.
He came into the world on June 7, 1944, the day after D-Day, when a
world war raged seemingly everywhere but in tiny Lewiston, Maine. His
Mom and Dad both loved music and encouraged all the White children to
play. Clarence perhaps benefited most from having older brother
Roland, still one of the world's leading bluegrass mandolinists with
the Nashville Bluegrass Band, to encourage and help him along the way.
"When he was just four or five, he could chord the guitar, but he
couldn't strum it (at the same time)," Roland told Flatpicking Guitar
Magazine in a recent interview. "So he'd sit on the left side and make
the chords and I'd sit on the right and strum and we'd sing something.
Just very simple stuff. Then we'd do vice-versa and he'd get on his
knees on the sofa and strum the chords while I fretted. It was a great
way to get started."
Living in rural Maine, outlets for entertainment were few. Clarence
and Roland's father, Eric Sr., was one of 17 children, so the boys
frequently visited with numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. "Whenever
we'd get together, they'd want to hear us play something, so we'd do
three or four songs, then we'd go away and do something else, and then
come back later and play some more," Roland recalls fondly. Eric White
also used to take the boys to local Grange halls, where they could get
up and play.
The family had an old record player and listened to the Grand Ole Opry
on radio, but never heard anything like bluegrass until they moved to
California in August 1954. An uncle told Roland about someone named
Bill Monroe who he might like, and the budding young mandolinist
ordered a 45 rpm record of Monroe's classic "Pike County Breakdown"
and played it at home.
"I remember looking at Clarence and he had this blank look, which he
always did (laughs), but his jaw just dropped because these guys were
playing so fast. That's what got us started," Roland says. Records
from Flatt & Scruggs, Reno & Smiley, Mac Wiseman and other bluegrass
stars soon crowded the White's record collection. One 45 in particular
captured young Clarence's musical attention.
"We had one record that Don Reno played lead guitar on, 'Country Boy
Rock and Roll,' and I sort of figured out the guitar part," Roland
explains, "so I showed it to Clarence and I sort of stumbled through
it. Then Clarence started humming the melody, so I handed him the
guitar and he just played it!"
Clarence picked up guitar from many sources, Roland says, and made
small breakthroughs, such as seeing the guitarist with Monroe's Blue
Grass Boys play with a capo, which "really opened his eyes to what the
guitar could do." Continuing the family band they'd had in Maine,
Clarence, Roland and youngest brother Eric Jr. performed regularly as
the Country Boys, appearing on numerous local radio and TV shows and
other venues. Banjo player Billy Ray Lathum joined the band in 1958,
completing their conversion to a full-fledged bluegrass band.
Late-night TV junkies will even recall seeing the band appear on The
Andy Griffith Show.
In 1961, Roland started a two-year hitch in the Army, and when he came
back, he was amazed at the progress his brother had made. Doc Watson
had played in California during that time, and Clarence "just went off
on that," he says. Clarence also had recorded two early albums, "New
Sounds of Bluegrass America," and the groundbreaking album "New
Dimensions in Banjo and Bluegrass" by Eric Weissberg and Marshall
Brickman that included "Duelin' Banjos."
Suddenly, Clarence White had become an extraordinary flatpicking
guitarist. One key to that transformation, Roland believes, and to the
ongoing creative development Clarence's playing exhibited right up to
his tragic death at the hands of a drunken driver while loading
equipment after a gig, was his ability to absorb, understand and then
utilize ideas from other players in his own style, both as a lead
soloist and as rhythm guitarist.
An avid listener, Clarence explored other kinds of music, especially
guitar-related music. Joe Maphis, a Southern California musicians
whose rapid-fire electric leads made him one of the early pioneers of
electric country guitar, influenced Clarence early on, as did
bluegrass players like George Shuffler of the Stanley Brothers. He
absorbed the cross-picking style created by mandolinist Jesse
McReynolds and turned it into a magnificent technique for extending
the expressiveness of the guitar and expanding the use of wide
intervals in guitar solos. Eventually, he would bring into play his
second and third finger to add even more notes in a banjo-like roll.
Clarence fell under the spell of Earl Scruggs' powerhouse banjo
playing, and also learned much from his fingerstyle guitar work on
Flatt & Scruggs' gospel numbers. The Dobro player in that band, Josh
Graves, also influenced White's frequent use of slides and glissando
techniques, profoundly altering previous concepts of what was possible
on flatpicked guitar.
In the late '60s, the Whites discovered the music of Charlie Christian
and Django Reinhardt, and Clarence avidly pursued the signature
arpeggios and bends of the Gypsy guitar sound. Everything he heard
became fodder for his own musical invention. Just check out his second
solo on "Alabama Jubilee" on the newly released Livin' In The Past CD
on Sierra Records to hear Django's powerful influence as Clarence
combines right-hand tremolo and a signature ascending diminished lick
into a revolutionary flatpicking guitar sound. Everything he heard, it
seemed, was processed and reintroduced into his blossoming musical
vision, a trait Roland see as a key element of his genius.
"I got onto Bill Monroe, and that was all I listened to, which is the
wrong thing to do," Roland says today. "Clarence never did that. He
applied everything he heard and knew and understood to his playing
right away."
Trying to explain on paper the distinguishing components of Clarence
White's guitar playing is, to quote Frank Zappa, "Like dancing about
architecture." Words just don't do it justice. Even using notation and
tab, capturing that slippery, elusive syncopation and his unexpected
phrasing emphasis can't really be done. It's one reason why you hear
so few people mimicking White's style today, compared to other
contemporary flatpickers who've spawned legions of imitators.
Russ Barenberg was probably the first guitarist to systematically
study Clarence White's flatpicking guitar style and publish
transcriptions of his remarkable solos. "Clarence ... introduced much
greater rhythmic and melodic flexibility to the guitar. He discovered
musical effects that fit the guitar like a glove, and with them added
a new dimension to bluegrass without sacrificing any of its strength
or drive," he writes in his introduction to the out-of-print Clarence
White - Guitar book on Oak Publications. Every serious student of
White's playing will benefit enormously from the material in this rare
book.
The people who played with him, naturally, have the greatest insight.
Richard Greene, fiddler with Muleskinner, told Guitar Player in a 1992
interview that, "Clarence had these key notes - I call them major
events - that would be medium-loud and the rest would be kind of
quiet. And you didn't hear any pick noise. He kept the overall dynamic
range in the lower levels, but within that there was great variation.
I don't recall hearing too many people play that way, except classical
players like Julian Bream. Of course, Clarence didn't know about that,
but he intuitively understood the dynamics of classical music. His
playing was so clean, and he was able to play very fast because he
wasn't playing hard. If you play hard, it takes more energy per note.
So he would save it. He was great at controlling his speed and not
rushing it."
The use of the capo, Greene adds, gave White the freedom to
incorporate as many ringing open notes as possible in his playing,
which helped create that classic tone and signature sound.
David Grisman in the same article says flatly, "I don't think any
bluegrass guitarist had as precise a sense of timing. Clarence had
that unique way of twisting things around. He was into screwing with
time, but in a very accurate way so you knew what he meant." White's
ability to play off the beat is certainly his most memorable trait as
a guitarist. Roland recalls how his brother would often create a
dramatic pause in his playing, both during a solo and in his backup,
only to unexpectedly reemerge to reenergize the song with just the
right phrase or chord at an unanticipated moment.
Listen to Tony Rice, who grew up hearing Clarence play in California,
describe his mentor's style in a 1986 interview from Frets magazine.
"The essentials of guitar, as I play it, came from him. All of my
left-hand technique I learned directly from Clarence, too - real
efficiency of movement. Did you ever notice that about Clarence's
playing? It sounded like he was squeezing the notes out, rather than
impulsively firing them off."
Rice also cites Clarence's rhythm playing as a key influence. "He used
the guitar in a bluegrass band as something beyond just strumming
three chords to accompany a vocal." Indeed, close listening to his
backup work on the Long Journey Home CD of the Colonels performance at
Newport reveals an incredibly advanced and sophisticated approach to
rhythm and backup guitar. From Reinhardt's playing, White had
incorporated the use of 6th and 9th chords and frequently added
intricate passing chords, all dramatically syncopated for maximum
impact on the band's rhythmic pulse. Behind brother Roland's mandolin,
he frequently inserted complimentary backup licks gleaned from Scruggs
banjo playing and other sources, creating a powerful, sophisticated
ensemble sound far beyond anything previous heard in bluegrass.
Despite his blazing speed and utter command of the guitar's fretboard,
Clarence always chose his notes economically. He listened to the great
blues guitarists, studying how they would precisely place one perfect
note to accent a vocal and transferred that melodic economy into his
bluegrass playing. Perhaps Clarence's former Byrds bandmate Gene
Parsons said it best: "Clarence's one guideline was to play the least
amount of notes with the most amount of impact."
His guitars and setup also played a key role in his trademark sound.
Although the 1935 D-28, which was modified by luthier Roy Noble in the
1960s, is most closely associated with Clarence, he used that guitar
mostly for rhythm work, preferring his D-18 for almost all his early
lead recording. That guitar was stolen in the late 60s, and he
eventually acquired a custom Noble dreadnought and then a rosewood
dreadnought from Mark Whitebook, who apprenticed with Noble. Roland
says after playing so much electric guitar, Clarence played a
Whitebook one day and was immediately struck by the thin neck and fast
action. His response was so positive, he purchased a Whitebook, which
Roland still owns.
Clarence preferred heavy, inflexible tortoiseshell picks, to the point
that as a joke his friends once gave him a giant tortoiseshell pick
over eight inches wide! With his economical right-hand motion, he was
able to use the rigid pick to produce an enormously dynamic string
attack ranging from booming bass notes to delicate tremolo and
double-stop passages.
With his enormous talent flourishing and big brother Roland out of the
service, the Country Boys, now performing as the legendary Kentucky
Colonels, started playing again and embarked on an East Coast tour
that included a stop at the Newport Folk Festival and gigs at many of
the prestigious folk music clubs in Boston and other cities. An album
was the next step, but the producer didn't have the budget for a full
recording session. The result was an accidental classic.
The only reason we got to do the Appalachian Swing album was because
we didn't have the budget to do any singing, and we figured we'd cut
the budget in half by just doing things instrumentally," Roland
explains, marveling at how this now-classic album almost never
happened. And so the band did instrumental versions of tunes like
"Soldier's Joy," "Prisoner's Song," "Nine-Pound Hammer" and other
tunes they'd normally have sung, and created a stunning testimony to
Clarence White's skill and musical imagination as he and Roland played
through chorus after chorus, often jamming for 10 or 15 minutes and
then having the recording engineer cut and splice the best solos
together into a cohesive recording. If only those original tapes were
available today so we could hear the unedited performances!
The band was at its peak musically then, but sadly the folk boom of
the 1960s was wilting and no one ever offered them another record
contract. "There just wasn't any work," Roland says sadly. "We started
playing in lounges with drums and electric bass and electric rhythm
guitar. We just couldn't do anything." Rockabilly guitar pioneer James
Burton had heard Clarence play and began turning him on to the session
gigs he couldn't take, an opportunity Clarence seized upon to learn
more about electric guitar. Eventually, as lead guitarist with the
Byrds, Clarence set a standard for innovative playing that matched his
reputation on acoustic.
The Colonels all pursued separate careers, with Roland playing guitar
for Bill Monroe and joining Lester Flatt's band. But their desire to
perform together again never faded. By 1972, Clarence came to Roland
and said the Byrds were breaking up and that he wanted to play
acoustic guitar again. Roland left Flatt to reunite with his brother
for a tour of Europe as the White Brothers. The results of that trip
were captured on vinyl by Rounder Records on The White Brothers - Live
In Sweden in 1973.
With the Byrds, Clarence had been playing electric guitar almost
exclusively, except for a brief acoustic set. But despite having spent
the last four or five years concentrating on electric, Clarence picked
up the challenge of playing bluegrass guitar again with a passion.
Once again, his chameleon-like ability to merge influences brought a
world of new electric licks into his acoustic flatpicking style.
"I hear (the difference) a lot on the Sweden album. It was very, very
different. I can hear it, but I really can't describe it," Roland
says. "He had matured a lot."
Another huge milestone occurred with Clarence's recording of the
timeless Muleskinner - A Potpourri of Bluegrass Jam album with Bill
Keith, Peter Rowan, Richard Greene and David Grisman. Blazing through
country rock to embryonic Dawg music on "Opus 57" to killer
flatpicking on"Soldier's Joy," the Muleskinner album set the stage for
all future progressive bluegrass and New Acoustic styles. Both albums
give some insight into the direction Clarence's playing might have
taken had he lived.
"I often wonder what he would be doing now, but I can't answer that
question," Roland says now. "I think he would be doing mostly
electric, because that was always where all the money was. You gotta
eat. I'm curious where he would have taken his style on electric,
which was already pretty phenomenal. But I'm also thinking he would
have been doing as much acoustic playing as he could."
---
Photos: http://www.stringbender.com/img/CWhite2.gif
Clarence White in art:
http://www.starclustermusic.de/artists/byrds/whitecl/bio/whitec.gif
Clarence White's Telecaster:
http://www.guitars.net/telebbe1.jpg ("B-String Bender")
C.F. Martin's Clarence White D-28:
http://www.davesguitar.com/product/33556.JPG