The first 30 seconds of the final minute of this make the whole video worthwhile. If you thought he was just the goofball who hosted "Hee Haw," think again. Crazy chops on this one:
Yes, he does. Goofball, no and shows we're all more complicated than we seem. Don't forget he grew up in New York City... NEW YORK CITY????? Yes, New York City and Washington D.C. He did some cool stuff, too. "I'll Never Pick Cotton" he sang was a really dark, cool song.
I never met Roy Clark. I do know his son Roy Clark Jr. fairly well, we've played a good bit of music together. I used to bump into Roy at the Jefferson Elementary School bluegrass jam twice a month, I'd play over at his house occasionally and sometimes I'd go with him up to James Reed's house. I heard James just died a couple of weeks ago, he was a great fiddler and everytime I went up there, James would try to sell me a fiddle he'd made. James' dad was the famous fiddler Henry Reed. So it'd be me on harmonicas, Roy Clark Jr. on mandolin, James Reed on fiddle, then some other dudes would be there and Mrs. Reed would give me cupcakes and coffee at midnight (I've always had a little trouble getting through late-night jams because of my narcolepsy). Those were good times.
Roy Jr. loves the fiddling, also plays mandolin and guitar. I think he plays some banjo, too. I don't think I ever took any video at Roy's, I think the only thing I have is an audio recording of Elk River Blues, with me on harmonica and Roy on guitar. He doesn't go around saying "My dad was on Hee-Haw for 25 years" or anything. He talks about it like anybody else would talk about their parents. If you look at his Web site, Royclarkjr.com I don't think you'll even see a mention of who his dad is, except for a link to his Web site on the links page. Actually, now that I look at it, there's not a lot on Roy Jr.'s page.
I didn't play with Roy every week, I had my own guys I played with every week... Roy mostly played old-time fiddle songs (on mandolin or fiddle). Now me, I was into that Cecil-Payne style, fighting in the mud, the blood and beer, bluegrass (and still am). I haven't seen Roy since I moved out of Parkersburg a few months ago.
Roy Jr is a pretty good fiddler. I saw Roy Clark do that version of Malaquena on a 12 string. 2 or 3 strings flew off while he was playing it and he didn't miss a beat. ---------- Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
Last Edited by on Jun 04, 2012 9:23 PM