My original plan was to focus solely on Clarence White as an electric guitarist, but it would be professionally remiss to sidestep his formidable acoustic guitar background. So, let’s take a brief tour through CW’s stint in the Kentucky Colonels before matriculating to his work on the Telecaster. Above all, this post and the several that follow all seek to answer the question:
WHY CLARENCE WHITE?
Clarence White is one of the greatest guitarists of the 20th century, unique in the canon of six-string pioneers for being the only one to revolutionize both acoustic and electric playing.* As a founding member of the Kentucky Colonels, White brought Doc Watson‘s high speed blues runs to bluegrass. For years, Lester Flatt and Jimmy Martin were the genre’s stylistic templates, using the acoustic guitar as a rhythmic bulwark upon which the mandolin players, fiddlers, and banjo players would add their solos. But Clarence had too much music for bluegrass to contain, becoming the first bona fide lead guitarist in a bluegrass band, demonstrating both ungodly speed and a breathtaking sense of timing and syncopation.
* This may not be true, but I’ve been racking my brain for years and cannot come up with anyone else who fits the “revolutionary” description on both fronts. Feel free to lambaste me in the comments.
Clarence then brought his unique bluegrass sensibility to rock, becoming the first rock guitarist — and practically the first rock musician — to be so inclined. But his “revolution” wasn’t merely marrying bluegrass to rock. In 1968, he had drummer and machinist, Gene Parsons, develop the B-Bender guitar, which featured a mechanism acting as a pulley inside of CW’s Telecaster, essentially transforming the instrument into a kind of handheld pedal steel (pictured below). While Parsons deserves the lion’s share of credit for this brilliant innovation, it wouldn’t have happened without Clarence White. It was his maverick vision of how the electric guitar COULD sound that midwifed the B-Bender into existence. For a full history of the B-Bender — or to buy one, for that matter — please visit Gene’s StringBender website.
35 years after his death, it’s probably fair to say that Clarence’s impact on bluegrass has far outweighed his impact on rock. The shadow of Clarence White hangs over EVERY bluegrass guitarist who’s followed in his wake. He is the benchmark, the standard of excellence, and I can’t see that ever changing. As a rock guitarist, I think his long association with The Byrds, combined with his bluegrass background, have meant that his electric guitar work has been unfairly, but understandably filtered through the narrow aperture of country-rock. However, as we analyze Clarence’s catalog over the next several weeks, months, and years, it should be obvious that his body of work transcends genre and stands with the best musicians of the 20th century, in imagination, spirit, and soulfulness.
Kentucky Colonels – Fire On The Mountain
Amazon
From a March 1965 gig at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, here’s a :51 run-through of the old-timey country standard, “Fire On The Mountain.” Clarence only plays from :30-:37, but in those 7 seconds he throws down three 100 MPH lead figures, even veering into another key, as he and fiddler, Scotty Stoneman, lead the Colonels through their unique bluegrass bebop. More on that in a moment.
I lead off with this track because the first thing to jump out at you is Clarence’s breakneck speed. However, it’s not like other guitarists at the time weren’t playing fast. Hell, here’s one of CW’s mentors on guitar, Joe Maphis, a very young Larry Collins, and Merle Travis tearing up Town Hall Party in 1958 (watch video). The difference between these cats and Clarence is that no one had previously played that kind of lead guitar in bluegrass.
Clarence White & Doc Watson – Footprints In The Snow
Amazon
https://youtu.be/PasUUq5_YGE
“Footprints” was initially recorded by Bill Monroe in 1945, but he cut the definitive version in 1952 with Jimmy Martin on pile driving rhythm guitar. This version was recorded in July 1964 at the Newport Folk Festival. The song demonstrates that while some musicians can play fast, Doc Watson and Clarence White could play fast and swing. Clarence swings hard against the beat when he drops in from 1:05-1:21, occupying a space both trad bluegrass and completely visionary.
One thing that particularly impresses me — and that tends to get overlooked in the rush to praise their lead skills — is the way both men provide sturdy rhythm guitar for each other. While soloing pays the bills, so to speak, Watson and White never forget that their first responsibility is to the song. This is a major reason why Clarence was so effective in the Kentucky Colonels and also why he was such an in-demand session player. While he could obviously take off on mind-boggling solos, he also knew when not to play, how not to step on the toes of his fellow musicians. This is a very underrated quality and one to keep in mind as we go along.
Kentucky Colonels – The Shiek Of Araby
Amazon
Django Reinhardt – The Sheik Of Araby
Amazon
From November 1964, here’s Clarence demonstrating the profound influence of Django Reinhardt, who recorded the track in 1937 with the Quintette du Hot Club de France. While a million guitarists have been influenced by Reinhardt, precious few have matched his creativity, wit, and heavy right-hand like Clarence. This last quality is crucial. Way too many supposedly great guitarists can play fusillades of notes, but their tone is light, airy, and supper-club tasteful, as though the notes have been designed to not offend. Screw that. What I love about Clarence and Django (and just about all of my favorite guitar players) is that their tone is heavy, rhythm-centric, and their overall style displays absolute fearlessness. There is no daintiness to their music, no sense of propriety. It’s as if their guitar sound is attacking acceptable notions of tone, timing, rhythm, and syncopation.
GUNSLINGING BYRDS
Which brings me back to the notion of “bluegrass bebop.” In the liner notes to the Colonels’ great compilation, Livin’ In The Past, Jerry Garcia calls one-time Colonels’ fiddler, Scotty Stoneman, “The bluegrass Charlie Parker.” While I don’t disagree with this assessment — in fact, it’s pretty perceptive for a damn hippie, heh — I think you can make a case that Clarence White, even more than Stoneman, was the bluegrass Bird. Or Byrd, if you will. Like Parker, CW was a blazing fast player whose melodies swung at all tempos, was deceptively rooted in the blues, and had a borderline inhuman command of time and rhythm. In fact, here’s quotes about both men that curiously mirror one another:
“When we played together in the Byrds, 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.”
–Gene Parsons to Rick Petreysik, “Echoes of a Country Rock Legend,” Guitar Player, September 1992, page 83
“Charlie Parker’s idea of rhythm involves breaking time up. Instead of (Coleman) Hawkins‘ regular accent on the strong beat or Lester Young‘s flowing style, Bird’s accentuation comes alternately on the beat and between beats. The astonishingly rich rhythm of his music comes from this alternation, from the continual oppositions. The variety of formulas he uses in a single solo makes it possible for him to avoid all rhythmic monotony and thus to attain a more nearly perfect idea of swing than perhaps any of his predecessors.”
–AndrĂ© Hodeir, Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence, 1956, pages 108 & 110
If you’re a Bird novice, you’re in an enviable position. You get to learn about one of the 20th century’s greatest musicians and a player who dwarfed his contemporaries. In a bigger picture, it’s fitting that in the three years spanning last century’s midway point (1949-51), two artists reigned over their respective fields with such authority that they’re still totally relevant: Hank Williams and Charlie Parker. For starters, I’d recommend a single-disc overview, like the Ken Burns JAZZ Collection, which can usually be found for cheap on Amazon.
Charlie Parker – Ko Ko
Amazon
Kentucky Colonels – Alabama Jubilee
Ash Grove, LA
April 6, 1965
As for Clarence, here he is from that same March 1965 Ash Grove gig and what I consider to be the finest showcase of his guitar work as a member of the Kentucky Colonels. All of his talents come together on this piece. You get the lightning quick picking, the deft feel for swinging the blues, the solid rhythmic support during Roland’s mandolin solo, and the spirited sense of improvisation and musical freedom that marked his entire career. My only criticism is that the recording itself runs into the red at times, giving a few parts an unwelcome crunchiness. If you can’t appreciate this, you may as well jab a screwdriver in your ear.
Thanks for your great article LD. I am a HUGE CW fan and look forward to reading your forthcoming articles.
I discovered CW's work by accident – the first bluegrass record I bought was by the Kentucky Colonels. Living in Australia I didn't know much about bluegrass and had never heard of the KCs – their 1965-1967 Rounder Records record was the only bluegrass record I could find in the import record stores I frequented in the late 70s.
I didn't discover Clarence's electric playing until the late 90s, but I've been buying everything I come across which has his name on ever since.
I hope you plan to discuss in length Clarence's pre-bender electric work and less bender-oriented session work with the likes of Marc Benno, Rita Coolidge, Hill, Etheridge & Barbata, The Everly Brothers (The Storys We Could Tell album). I think his playing during both these periods is greatly underappreciated in comparison to his work with the Byrds and his bender-dominated session work from 1969. Like all his playing, his work during these two periods was imaginative, adventurous, tasteful and witty.
Marion
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sorry, first post came out all buggy. Anyway, thanks Marion. As a matter of fact, I am hitting the pre-bender session work with my next post and definitely want to make the overall survey as well-rounded as possible. There will be plenty of Byrds and B-Bender work, for sure, but what I love about his playing is that he was able to inject his personality in so many different contexts.
Really, the only problem I’m having right now is that Clarence played with damn near everybody and some of those records are pretty obscure. But I’ve got a crack team of investigators on the case. I guess this is as good a time as any to solicit CDs and mp3s from folks who have some obscurities. I’m thinking Benno and Coolidge probably qualify as such, but that L.A. Getaway record as well. But I’m on it! And thanks for writing. It feels good to read about CW fans worldwide.
Great series so far. Can’t wait for the rest!
This is a great series on Clarence. There is one little bit that I don't really agree with – you talk about Doc Watson's “blues” licks – I don't think that's really accurate. Back then Doc was really a folksinger in a bluegrass style. Also, according to Tony Rice, who grew up near Clarence and idolized him, Clarence was playing lead bluegrass guitar before Doc's first album came out; so for Tony, Clarence was the first bluegrass lead guitarist. He took his inspiration from his brother Roland – Clarence wanted to play on the guitar what his brother played on mandolin.
Hey Doc, we totally agree on CW being the first lead bluegrass player. I hope I didn't imply otherwise. Your mention of Roland, in fact, reminds me that probably the biggest non-musical influence on Clarence's development as a guitar player was the US Army. Had they not drafted Roland in 1961-62, then Clarence wouldn't have been thrust into a bigger role with the Colonels. He tried playing like Roland because he pretty much had to. That mandolin was gone and the Colonels needed to fill out their sound. By the time big brother got out of the Army, he heard a Clarence considerably evolved from the one whom he had left. A great underrated tale of musical development there.
As for Doc Watson, I call his licks blues because to my ears he's a stone-cold country-blues player. Sure, you could call that folk music, but his sound and his influences are of the pre-folk boom variety, which was that southern amalgam of roots music where country and blues were all bound up together and not totally distinguishable from one another. I think it's also significant that Doc actually started out playing rock 'n' roll in garage bands before adopting a “folk” persona. In this sense he was similar to that Dylan kid in Minnesota, who was doing the same thing simultaneous to Doc. Both men brought a kind of RnR irreverence and sense of rhythm to the folk scene of the late '50s and early '60s.
R.E. the first bluegrass lead guitar player, I think it's generally accepted that the title goes to Don Reno. His style was great, though it bears no resemblance to Clarence's, but he was out there doing it first; not sure of the chronology, but George Shuffler may have been recording lead guitar with the Stanley Brothers on King records prior to Clarence laying his stuff down on record.
Midday, thank you good sir. After I do the next thing I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do a little Don Reno drive-by. Gotta show the biggest little guitar in bluegrass some love.
Just now discovering this blog and all of the amazing work you’ve done archiving Clarence White’s career. I’m at a loss for words. You should really write a biography or get a podcast going as I’ve never seen this much info about Clarence in one place. Amazing work.
Something I’m curious about. In the video of Listen to the Mockingbird on Baxter’s TV show Clarence White clearly uses hybrid picking. Did he use it on the earlier versions? Like, for instance, the version on Appalachian Swing. Joe Maphis used hybrid picking, so he was exposed to it from the early days.