Clarence White
Clarence White • www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_White • Clarence White helped popularize the acoustic guitar as a lead instrument in bluegrass music. Except for a few exceptions, such as the occasional guitar track by banjoist Don Reno. Prior to White, the guitar was strictly a rhythm instrument. Many of the most influential flatpickers of the 20th century cite White as a primary influence, including Dan Crary, Norman Blake, and Tony Rice. Rice owns and plays White’s highly modified 1935 Martin D-28. David Grier and Russ Barenberg are two other acoustic guitarists who were heavily influenced by White’s guitar work.
Clarence White (born Clarence LeBlanc) (June 7, 1944 – July 15, 1973) was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada. The father, Eric LeBlanc, Sr., played fiddle, guitar, banjo and harmonica, and his children, Roland, Eric Jr., Joanne and Clarence took up music at a young age.
Clarence died on July 15, 1973 after being struck by a drunk driver. The accident occurred shortly after 2 a.m., while he and his brother Roland were loading equipment into their car following a spur-of-the moment reunion gig of the Colonels. Especially shaken by his death was Gram Parsons, who would lead a singalong of "Farther Along" at the funeral service and conceive his final song before his own death, "In My Hour of Darkness", as a partial tribute to White. Clarence White is survived by his brothers Roland and Eric and sisters JoAnne and Rosemarie, one daughter, Michelle.
VIDEOS
Clarence & Roland White • "I Am A Pilgrim" & "Soldiers Joy"
www.youtube.com/v/CMQuuZNvwLU
Clarence White and the "Wall of Guitar Players"
www.youtube.com/v/9RZTZORVvCE
Clarence White Joins The Byrds
www.youtube.com/v/dlohyg7lswY
Invention of the StringBender (B-Bender) guitar
www.youtube.com/v/pIilq3JdCT4
The Byrds & Earl Scruggs-"You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere"
www.youtube.com/v/NqbswmcdaSY
LINKS
www.rolandwhite.com
www.rolandwhite.com/clarence_white_book.htm
www.flatpick.com/Pages/Featured_Artist/clarence.html
www.clarencewhiteforum.com
www.ebni.com/byrds/memcw1.html
www.myspace.com/mchelleswhite
www.myspace.com/clarencewhite
www.myspace.com/clarencewhitetshirts
ARTICLES
Long Journey Home: The White Brothers and the Birth of Country Rock
www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/long-journey-home-the-white
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