W. C. Clark (born Wesley Curley Clark, November 16, 1939) is an American blues musician. He is known as the "Godfather of Austin Blues" First aired in 1990. for his influence on the Austin, Texas blues scene since the late 1960s.

Biography

Clark was born and raised in Austin, Texas, United States, where he sang gospel music in the choir as a young boy. In the early 1950s at age 14 he first learned the guitar, and then later experimented with blues and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

on the bass guitar. By the early 1960s, he began attracting the attention of such Texas blues performers as Big Joe Turner,

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

and

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. In the late 1960s, he joined the R&B

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the styl ...

Band, and left Austin, where he thought the R&B scene had died. But during a tour with the band back through Austin, Clark sat in on bass with younger Austin locals

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Vaughan (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Several notable blues guitarists have had a significant ...

and Paul Ray at an East Austin club. After the session playing with Vaughan and Ray, Clark changed his mind about Austin. He left Joe Tex two weeks later and moved back to Austin, where he then remained to guide and inspire numerous Austin musicians and lay the foundation of the prolific Austin blues and rock scene of the 1970s and later. He formed several bands with various names, which also included as members Jimmie Vaughan and

Angela Strehli Angela Strehli (born November 22, 1945) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US an ...

. In 1975, Clark formed the W. C. Clark Blues Revue. Through the 1980s that band played venues with international greats such as James Brown,

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, Freddy King,

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, Elvin Bishop and Bobby Blue Bland. From late September 1977 to May 1978, Clark played in an Austin blues quintet named Triple Threat Revue, with Stevie Ray Vaughan and

Lou Ann Barton Lou Ann Barton (born February 17, 1954) is an American blues singer based in Austin, Texas since the 1970s. AllMusic noted that "The grace, poise, and confidence she projects on-stage is part of a long tradition for women blues singers". Biogr ...

. By the early 1980s Clark had taught future rock prodigy brothers

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and Will Sexton how to play guitar, while they were still young boys. In 1990, Clark appeared on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

music television program ''

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'', with his group W. C. Clark Blues Revue, from a show taped October 10, 1989, in celebration of his 50th birthday, along with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan and

Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top 40 ...

The Fabulous Thunderbirds The Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American blues band formed in 1974. Career After performing for several years in the Austin, Texas blues scene, the band won a recording contract with Takoma/Chrysalis Records and later signed with Epic Recor ...

, Lou Ann Barton,

and his former protégé, Will Sexton. In March 1997, on the eve of Austin's South by Southwest music festival, as Clark and his band were returning from a show in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, their van, driven by Clark, veered off the highway and down a steep embankment near

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan statistical area, and it is part of the Texoma region ...

, injuring his arm and killing his fiancée Brenda Jasek and his drummer, Pedro Alcoser, Jr. The album ''Lover's Plea'' followed, containing the single "Are You Here, Are You There?" in memory of Jasek.Hess, Christopher
"Confessin' the Blues"
''The Austin Chronicle'', August 3, 1998.

Discography

*1987 ''Something for Everybody'' (Drippin' DR-1001) (LP; under the name W.C. Clark Blues Revue) *1994 ''Heart Of Gold'' (Black Top BT-1103) *1995 ''Texas Soul'' (Black Top BT-1131) *1998 ''Lover's Plea'' (Black Top BT-1145) *2002 ''From Austin With Soul'' (Alligator ALCD 4884) *2004 ''Deep In The Heart'' (Alligator ALCD 4897)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, W. C. 1939 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists African-American guitarists African-American male singer-songwriters Musicians from Austin, Texas Black Top Records artists Texas blues musicians Singer-songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers

Biography

Discography

See also

References

External links