Hammond Report April 20 2022 from Jon Hammond - Daily report / almost daily - today my
interview with Roy Clark, enjoy folks!
Remembering one of my all-time heroes: Roy Clark, Roy's birthday was 5 days ago!
#gibsonguitars
#sennheiser
National Music Council Grand Ole Opry
Roy gave me the most beautiful interview in Nashville:
Roy Clark Television Interview with Jon Hammond just before Roy appeared on the American Eagle Awards in
Nashville Tennessee during Summer NAMM Show - Roy Clark an American Living Legend and long-time member of The Grand Ole Opry and The Country Music Hall of Fame - wikipedia
excerpt:
"Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer and musician. He is best known
for having hosted Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a
performer and in helping to popularize the genre.
During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30-million
viewership for Hee Haw. Clark was highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler. He was skilled in the traditions of many genres, including
classical guitar, country music, Latin music, bluegrass, and pop. He had hit songs as a pop vocalist (e.g., "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound"),
and his instrumental skill had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, and, in 2009, was
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He published his autobiography, My Life—in Spite of Myself, in 1994.
Music: In 1960, Clark began touring with rockabilly star Wanda Jackson, and playing backup instrumentals on
several of her recordings.Through Jackson, Clark met Jim Halsey. Clark signed with the Halsey Agency, which represented him for the remainder of his career. During this
period, Jackson performed at the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas. Within two years, Clark had become a headliner in Vegas,[8] and made numerous appearances there in the
1960s and 1970s.
Clark's backup work for Jackson brought him to the attention of Capitol Records. He signed with Capitol and in
1962 released his first solo album, The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark. The album won solid critical praise, and "above-average" notice from fans. By the early 1970s,
Clark was the highest-paid country music star in the United States, earning $7 million ($48,800,000 in 2021 dollars) a year.
He switched to Dot Records and again scored hits. He later recorded for ABC Records, which had acquired Dot,
and MCA Records, the latter of which then was allowed to absorb the ABC label "
"By the early 1970s, Clark had been named "Entertainer of the Year" three times by the Academy of Country Music
and the Country Music Association (CMA). The Academy also named him "Best Lead Guitar Player" and "Best Comedy Act", while the CMA named him an "International Friendship
Ambassador" in 1976 after Clark toured the Soviet Union.
On August 22, 1987, Clark was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He played an annual benefit concert at
Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, the proceeds of which went to fund scholarships for aspiring musicians.
Clark was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009. On April 12, 2011, Clark was honored by the
Oklahoma House of Representatives. He was honored by the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame as Oklahoma's Music Ambassador for Children and presented with a commendation from
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. In 2007, he was inducted into the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Fiddlers Hall of Fame. Roy Clark was one of
the founding inductees into the Virginia Musical Museum & Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Wayne Newton, Ella Fitzgerald, The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers,
Bruce Hornsby, Pearl Bailey and Ralph Stanley were the other founding inductees. "