Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower (September 28, 1926 – August 24, 1998) was an American stand-up comedian. Born and raised in the state of Mississippi, Clower was best known for his stories of the rural South and was given the nickname "The Mouth of Mississippi".
Life
Clower was born in
Liberty, Mississippi
Liberty is a town in Amite County, Mississippi. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. It has a population of 728 according to the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Amite County.
The town can be accessed via I-5 ...
and began a two-year stint in the
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
after graduating from high school in 1944. Upon his discharge, in 1946, he was a Radioman Third Class (RMN3) and had earned the
American Campaign Medal
The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...
, the
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with two bronze service stars), and the
World War II Victory Medal
The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945.
The Wo ...
.
He studied agriculture at
Mississippi State University, where he played
college football and was a member of
Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...
fraternity. After finishing school in 1951, Clower worked as a county agent and later as a seed salesman. He became a
fertilizer
A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
salesman for Mississippi Chemical in 1954.
Career
By 1954, Clower had developed a reputation for telling funny stories to boost his sales. Tapes of Clower's speaking engagements wound up in the hands of Edwin "Big Ed" Wilkes and Bud Andrews in
Lubbock, Texas, who had him make a better-quality recording which they promoted. MCA Records later awarded ''The Coon Hunt'' a
platinum record for sales in excess of $1 million at the retail level.
At first, Clower took orders at his speaking engagements, selling 8000 copies on the Lemon record label. In time, Wilkes sent a copy to Grant Turner at
WSM radio in
Nashville, and when Turner played it on the air, Clower said "that thing busted loose."
MCA was soon knocking on Clower's door, offering him a contract. Once MCA began distribution in 1971, ''Jerry Clower from
Yazoo City, Mississippi
Yazoo City is a U.S. city in Yazoo County, Mississippi. It was named after the Yazoo River, which, in turn was named by the French explorer Robert La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river' ...
Talkin retailed more than a million dollars over 10 months and stayed in the top 20 on the country charts for 30 weeks.
Clower's first on-stage engagement occurred in the early 1970s when country radio station owner and show promoter, Marshall Rowland (WQIK, Jacksonville; WDEN, Macon; WQYK, Tampa), received an early Clower recording ("The Coon Huntin' Story") which was met with rave reviews by his station's listeners in Jacksonville. Rowland contacted Clower and offered him an airplane ticket and a few hundred dollars to come open for an upcoming tour Rowland had booked with
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Rec ...
. Clower arrived back-stage for the Saturday night show at the Jacksonville Coliseum, but Pride's manager Jack Johnson refused to allow it because Clower was non-union. Rowland averted the situation by putting Clower on stage while the lights were up and people were still entering the Coliseum. Clower performed for about 30 minutes. Pride, who watched from backstage, is said to have then taken Clower under his wing and introduced him at the next of Rowland's shows as his "new friend." Clower and Rowland remained very close friends for the years that followed, connecting for events, and working shows together. Clower was a frequent face at Rowland's radio stations over the remaining years of his life, and the music was known to be interrupted with Clower's comedy recordings from time to time, especially at WQIK in Jacksonville, where his career can be said to have been launched in earnest.
His stories often featured the Ledbetters, a quintessential Southern, country folk. Clower made 27 full-length recordings in his 27-year career as a professional entertainer (not counting "best of" compilations). With one exception, all the recordings were released by MCA. The exception was ''Ain't God Good'', which Clower recorded with MCA's blessing at a worship service.
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records).
History
In 1 ...
promoted and distributed this title in 1977. This recording gave Clower, always a staunch Christian, an opportunity to present his personal testimony in a comfortable church setting. Clower was well known for his faith and often makes references to God in his stories. He spoke at many Southern Baptist Convention events. He said his
faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people ofte ...
kept him happy and able to make others laugh.
In 1973, Clower became a member of the
Grand Ole Opry, and continued to perform there regularly until his death. He also co-hosted a radio show called ''Country Crossroads'' with Bill Mack and
Leroy Van Dyke
Leroy Frank Van Dyke (born October 4, 1929) is an American country music and honky-tonk singer and guitarist, best known for his hits "The Auctioneer" (1956) and "Walk On By (Leroy Van Dyke song), Walk on By" (1961).
Biography
Van Dyke was bor ...
, which has aired in syndication for 40 years and a television version of the program was produced, as well, starting in 1993. Clower's involvement began in 1973 and lasted well over 20 years. This show was produced and distributed by the
Southern Baptist Convention.
Clower also taped segments of ''Nashville On the Road'', which included comedic performances and interviews with other country artists featured on the show.
Jim Ed Brown
James Edward Brown (April 1, 1934 – June 11, 2015) was an American country singer-songwriter who achieved fame in the 1950s with his two sisters as a member of the Browns. He later had a successful solo career from 1965 to 1974, followed by ...
hosted the series with Clower during the program's first season, 1975–76, and they were joined by
Helen Cornelius
Helen Cornelius (born Helen Lorene Johnson; December 6, 1941) is an American country singer-songwriter, best remembered for a series of hit duets with Jim Ed Brown, many of which reached the U.S. country singles top ten during the late 1970s an ...
in 1976. Their involvement in the series lasted until 1981. The show continued to air with new host
Jim Stafford
James Wayne Stafford (born January 16, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comedian. While prominent in the 1970s for his recordings " Spiders & Snakes", "Swamp Witch", "Under the Scotsman's Kilt", " My Girl Bill", and " Wildw ...
through 1983.
Clower's last album was ''Peaches and Possums'', released posthumously in October 1998. He was the author of four books. The book ''Ain't God Good'' became the basis for an inspirational
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
of the same title that won an award from the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. His other three books include 1978's ''Let the Hammer Down''; 1987's ''Life Everlaughter'', and 1993's ''Stories From Home''.
Death
Clower died in August 1998 following
heart bypass
Coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG, pronounced "cabbage") is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease (CAD), the buildup of plaques in the arteries of the heart. It can relieve chest pai ...
surgery; he was 71 years old. He had been married to Homerline (née Wells) Clower (1926–2018) since August 1947. He was survived by a son, Ray (1953–2011), three daughters, Amy, Sue, and Katy, and seven grandchildren.
Discography
References
External links
*
*
Jerry Clower discography musicscribe.com; accessed August 31, 2014.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clower, Jerry
1926 births
1998 deaths
American male singer-songwriters
American country singer-songwriters
American radio personalities
American stand-up comedians
American religious writers
Baptists from Mississippi
Grand Ole Opry members
Mississippi State University alumni
People from Liberty, Mississippi
People from Yazoo City, Mississippi
Writers from Mississippi
United States Navy personnel of World War II
20th-century American singers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
Singer-songwriters from Mississippi
Southern Baptists
20th-century American comedians
Country musicians from Mississippi
20th-century American male singers
United States Navy sailors
Military personnel from Mississippi
20th-century Baptists
20th-century American male writers
Comedians from Mississippi