Clarence White

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 16 Jul 2010 2:15 am

Clarence and Sneaky Pete backing Terry Melcher. This track is from his first solo record and not very well known,I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM3JtfEa2NI

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 16 Jul 2010 6:53 am

Wasn't Terry one of the unfortunate souls murdered by Manson & cohorts along with Sharon Tate and others?

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 16 Jul 2010 7:44 am

I remember Clarence very well from my "old days" in southern California. I first met him in the early to middle sixties in Southgate, Ca. There used to be a live radio and stage show put on every Sunday at the Southgate Eagles Lodge which was hosted by a KFOX Deejay who called himself "the Squeakin' Deacon". I used to go out there and play with a bunch called "Jimmy Cee and the Country Boys". Jimmy wasn't much of a singer but he'd written a song that Rose Maddox recorded called "Stand Up Fool".

Anyway, Clarence was heavy into bluegrass at that time and he along with his brother Roland were part of a group called "The Kentucky Colonels". The first time I talked to him was in the parking lot one day when we were going over a couple of tunes at the same time the Colonels were. I had a Gretsch acoustic flat top guitar at the time. After a while Roland White came over and said that his brother liked the sound of my guitar so I showed it to him and he might have played a run or two on it, I'm not sure as it was so long ago. I saw him a time or two at the same place and we'd talk a little but he seemed a little shy to me.

Later I went to see him a few times at the old Nashville West in El Monte and was amazed at his electric guitar playing and his use of finger bends. I asked him about what strings he used for that and he told me and I later went to a music store that had just started carrying the individual gauges and got some very light strings. It took awhile to get used to them but I'm glad I did. I used the 8-38 set for many years but I'm up to the 9-46 set now as my old fingers just can't play as light as they used to......

Gene Parsons started making an acoustic B-Bender unit after Clarence's death and I've always wondered just what Clarence could have done with something like that considering what he'd done with the Telecaster.......He was truly a one of a kind, innovator, and one of the best masters of a flatpick I've ever seen. He probably had the best control of dynamics with a flatpick. He could play lightning fast on an acoustic (or electric) without hardly being heard and then crank up the volume with just his right hand. It was a very sad day when he left us........JH in Va.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 16 Jul 2010 10:31 am

Chip Fossa wrote:Wasn't Terry one of the unfortunate souls murdered by Manson & cohorts along with Sharon Tate and others?

No, he was only a target of the guy. Terry Melcher died in 2004. He made two records under his own name, and a record with a band called Freeway, Jaydee Maness was the steel player.

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 17 Jul 2010 4:43 am

Thanks Joachim. I read the book by Bugliosi [prosecuter in the case], but I forget some of the people who were victims. A Folger's coffee heir was one, too, I think. Been awhile, of course, since I read that book.

Terry was behind the scene, too [again I think], early-on with the Byrds. I think he may have collaborated some on the recording end. Not sure.

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 17 Jul 2010 7:33 am

A slight bit of trivia...
In the pic of the Tele "Clarence", you can see a small oval shaped sticker with a face wearing a cowboy hat.
The face is none other than Nudie, the famous tailor who made all those awesome stage suits for all the C&W stars back in the day.
It was a stick-on, and shaped to fit right over George Washington on the one dollar bill. Nudie would stick a bunch of them on dollars and hand them out as calling cards. Brand-new dollar bills, mind you.
I remember being at the curb at LAX in 1975, about to catch a flight to do a gig with Johnny Rivers, and here comes Nudie, pulling up in that white Cadillac convertable with the steer horns in front, Colt 45 door handles, saddle in the back seat, and all the other stuff all over it. He was on our flight...and he saw us and recognized Rivers, and started passing out those dollar bills, saying things like, Keep it and you'll never go broke, and how they were cheaper than getting business cards printed, etc.

I didn't keep the dollar, but Rivers took the sticker and put it on his guitar, just like in the pic of "Clarence".

So there you have it.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 29 Jul 2010 12:49 am

Dave Zirbel wrote:Yes. He does a really great outro on one of the Gosdin tunes. Can't remember the title but the picking knocks me out!

Maybe it is this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDUKKaRw9wE

Dave Harmonson · Post by **Dave Harmonson** » 29 Jul 2010 5:54 am

Very cool, Joachim. Never heard that before. Was that Red Rhodes on steel perhaps?
Here's some more Clarence I hadn't been "hip" to.
Sounds like Lloyd on steel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZf0kpdpWvI

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 29 Jul 2010 6:37 am

Glad you liked it Dave! The CD's liner notes give no info about who played (only very vaguely). I couldn't
listen to the U- Tube. They state it's not allowed to view in my country because it is Sony content.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 29 Jul 2010 7:23 am

I knew Terry Melcher and his wife Jacqueline a little bit when I was part owner of a plant nursery on the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel Valley in the late 80's to the mid 90's. Jacqueline enjoyed gardening and having nice flowers and plants and they were good customers. Nice folks. As written above, Terry passed away (from cancer) several years ago. Terry was the son of Doris Day, another long-time Carmel Valley resident.

Terry had a long association with The Beach Boys, and one of his early groups was Bruce & Terry, with Bruce Johnston who became a Beach Boy in about 1966 and for the most part has been with that group ever since. They later had the hit song "Hey Little Cobra" as The Ripchords. I met Bruce a couple times when he would come up from southern California to visit the Melchers. One of my customers was also Beach Boy Al Jardine, whom has a ranch in Big Sur.

Melcher was one of the co-writers of their final Number 1 hit, "Kokomo," which is referred to by us hardcore Beach Boys fans as "Beach Boys Lite."

Terry produced the first two Byrds albums, and had an off again/on again relationship with The Byrds through the years.

I recall the story with Manson is that Terry gave Crazy Charlie an audition (at the behest of Dennis Wilson) for the potential to go into the studio to do some recording, but Terry turned him down after hearing his songs, and from that point on he was on Charlie's "hit list." When I knew Terry I never brought it up, my gut told me that it was done to death and he probably didn't need to hear about it from me.

Charlie Manson lived for awhile near downtown San Jose in the late 60's, next to the San Jose State University campus. A neighborhood near the campus was sort of a mini Haight/Ashbury at the time, and one of my older brothers lived there and was a student. He had a couple of weird, controversial run-ins with Manson, and after the Tate/Labianca murders and the arrest of Charlie, I remember my brother being blown away thinking "I knew that crazy SOB - that could have been me that was murdered!" A story for another time.

Duncan Hodge · Post by **Duncan Hodge** » 29 Jul 2010 12:23 pm

Hey Chip, I'm sorry to bother, but do you have a clip of Truck Stop Girl from Untitled laying around that you could post? That is some of my favorite Clarence playing (and singing).
Thanks, Duncan

Dave Harmonson · Post by **Dave Harmonson** » 29 Jul 2010 1:13 pm

Here's a youtube audio clip. Great song penned by Lowell George.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRBKcrn9Xlk

Duncan Hodge · Post by **Duncan Hodge** » 29 Jul 2010 3:02 pm

Thanks Dave. That was beautiful. You made my day.
Duncan

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 29 Jul 2010 3:35 pm

Duncan & Dave..thanks for this "Untitled" classic.

Some jack-off borrowed my "UNTITLED" real LP, back when. I never got it back. Pissed me off.

It was a 2-disc LP, I think?

I don't recall much from it.

Except this song:

#1 - The Byrds
#2 - Delawre Crossing; featuring Richard Starkey on a Martin string-bender; that's right - a prototype acoustic stringbender.

(I think it's Richard Starkey)

Richard is a great acoustic flatpicker; works for Martin guitars, tours everywhere, and shows people what Martin guitars are all about.
He is a "salesman" you would want to go and listen to.

BYRDS - http://picosong.com/ymK
DELAWARE CROSSING - http://picosong.com/ymt

Thank you-thank you-----thank you berry mush'

Kick-kick.

I used to know me.

God bless, brothers...I'm just jokin' around. Don't we need some some fun, now?

Will Houston · Post by **Will Houston** » 29 Jul 2010 5:28 pm

Hey Chip, I told you this was a great post back in June and it keeps goin, thanks to the Clarence and Byrd fans.I've gotten to hear songs I never heard before.
Once again nice goin Chip.
Will

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 29 Jul 2010 6:16 pm

Love ya Will...

You are one of the most righteous folks here, on this great FORUM.

You've been hiding out. And ..that's OK with me buddy.

All of us got to deal with our immediate problems.

And it bugs the fu&^% out of us.

Why does life hafta be a pain???????

I'm ramblin' now. Getting OFF TOPIC. b0b will be shuting me down any minute now.

Thanks folks...I'm just-a ramblin' on.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 15 Oct 2012 1:13 pm

Bittersweet to come back to this thread, but I believe Chip wouldn't have minded.
Clarence with Sal Valentino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-af_IfDRy5A

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 15 Oct 2012 4:31 pm

Brint Hannay wrote:
Dave Harmonson wrote:That is definitely pre-bender Clarence. I believe the first Byrds record with the B-bender was Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde. The sessions he played on Sweetheart of the Rodeo and earlier Byrds albums was before bender.
As was my take--and I agree with Dave Z., I actually like that better (mostly!). His Bender work on Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde is terrific, especially Old Blue and Your Gentle Ways Of Loving Me, but later IMHO he got a bit carried away with the Bender--understandably enough, but, again IMHO, it can lead one to somewhat lose sight of the vast terrain one can explore without using the Bender. (NOTE: I have a PW Bender-equipped guitar, which is the only guitar I've ever had custom made for myself.)

I remember when I saw The Byrds live back in 1970. I was far back in the crowd and thought Clarence's body English looked strange, but I had no clue at all about the Bender then.

I heard you play that guitar.........you "out-Mooneyed" me and I was the one playing steel!

Dave Harmonson · Post by **Dave Harmonson** » 17 Oct 2012 2:55 pm

Joachim, thanks for the link. That's one I hadn't heard before.
Tony, you know that only the first part of that was my post, quoted by Brint Hannay.
I don't know if I out Mooneyed you or not. That was around '79 so I'd had my bender for about 3 years. At least by then I wasn't playing it for every single lick.
Too bad there's not more video of Clarence. Here's one that I like, though. Playboy club with the same line up as Dr. Byrds and Ballad Of Easy Rider

http://youtu.be/Q21BF38W3Gs

Will Houston · Post by **Will Houston** » 17 Oct 2012 4:14 pm

Nice one Dave, the boys at the PB club, gotta love it.
Keepin one of Chips posts goin. Gotta love that too.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 17 Oct 2012 4:34 pm

Dave Harmonson wrote: Too bad there's not more video of Clarence. Here's one that I like, though. Playboy club with the same line up as Dr. Byrds and Ballad Of Easy Rider

http://youtu.be/Q21BF38W3Gs

Same song with Earl Scruggs Review & Byrds at Earl's home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rATxG-hWMIo

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 17 Oct 2012 7:36 pm

Tony Glassman wrote:I heard you play that guitar.........you "out-Mooneyed" me and I was the one playing steel!

Dave Harmonson wrote:Tony, you know that only the first part of that was my post, quoted by Brint Hannay.

It sure wasn't me!! I never out-Mooneyed anyone, on guitar or steel!!!

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 19 Oct 2012 10:59 am

Just saw him and Roland on an old Andy Griffith episode. Got a chance to see him with the Byrds twice. Great player.

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 19 Oct 2012 10:47 pm

Clarence on top of his game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6901nFzy ... re=related

Ray Riley · Post by **Ray Riley** » 22 Oct 2012 3:05 am

Glad your back chip. Ray

The Steel Guitar Forum

Clarence White

Good to see ya