Chris Clark (singer)
Encyclopedia
Chris Clark is an American
soul
singer who recorded for Motown Records
. Clark became famous in England as the "white
Negress" (a nickname meant as a compliment), because the six-foot platinum blonde
, blue-eyed soul
singer toured with fellow Motown artists who were predominantly black
.
Recording on the Motown V.I.P. label, one of several Motown imprints, Chris Clark is still acknowledged by Northern Soul
fans for songs such as 1965's "Do Right Baby Do Right" (by Berry Gordy
) and 1966's "Love's Gone Bad" (Holland-Dozier-Holland
). Another of her notable songs was the 1967 single "I Want To Go Back There Again" (Berry Gordy, Jr).
The United States' answer to Dusty Springfield
, Clark, who also dated Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., managed to have only one hit; it was on the R&B singles chart. "Love's Gone Bad" made #105 pop
, and #41 R&B in 1966.
In 1967, Clark released an album called Soul Sounds on the Motown label. The album featured twelve songs including a rare Motown ballad called "If You Should Walk Away" (Berry Gordy, Jr.) which was slated for release as a single, but never was. Clark recorded one more album for Motown on its newly created rock label Weed called CC Rides Again (1969), but the album failed commercially because it was not promoted by Motown. Today it is considered a rare collectable. It remains the only album ever released on the label.
A CD made by Belgian label Marginal entitled Soul Sounds made from the original master tapes was issued, but the disc actually contains the songs from both her albums with Motown plus an unreleased single. A 2005 50-track double-CD compilation includes Soul Sounds, C.C. Rides Again, and many unreleased Motown recordings. A reissue of the Soul Sounds album was released by the Reel Music label in April 2009, the first time the album was issued on CD in the U.S.A.
Clark co-wrote the screenplay for the 1972 Diana Ross
vehicle Lady Sings the Blues, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She later became an executive for Motown Productions' film and television division in Los Angeles
.
In 1982 she married Academy Award-winning screenwriter and novelist Ernest Tidyman
. He died of a perforated ulcer in 1984.
In recent years, Clark has become an art photographer and has exhibited her work mainly to art dealers and at a few galleries. She also performs on stage occasionally in clubs in the United States and in Europe. She currently lives in Santa Rosa
, California.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer who recorded for Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
. Clark became famous in England as the "white
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
Negress" (a nickname meant as a compliment), because the six-foot platinum blonde
Platinum Blonde
Platinum Blonde may refer to:* Platinum Blonde , a 1931 film starring Jean Harlow* Platinum Blonde , a Canadian New Wave music band, popular in the 1980s* Platinum blonde, a color of hair...
, blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
singer toured with fellow Motown artists who were predominantly black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
.
Recording on the Motown V.I.P. label, one of several Motown imprints, Chris Clark is still acknowledged by Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
fans for songs such as 1965's "Do Right Baby Do Right" (by Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
) and 1966's "Love's Gone Bad" (Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. They are considered to be one of the greatest songwriting teams in popular music...
). Another of her notable songs was the 1967 single "I Want To Go Back There Again" (Berry Gordy, Jr).
The United States' answer to Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, Clark, who also dated Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., managed to have only one hit; it was on the R&B singles chart. "Love's Gone Bad" made #105 pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and #41 R&B in 1966.
In 1967, Clark released an album called Soul Sounds on the Motown label. The album featured twelve songs including a rare Motown ballad called "If You Should Walk Away" (Berry Gordy, Jr.) which was slated for release as a single, but never was. Clark recorded one more album for Motown on its newly created rock label Weed called CC Rides Again (1969), but the album failed commercially because it was not promoted by Motown. Today it is considered a rare collectable. It remains the only album ever released on the label.
A CD made by Belgian label Marginal entitled Soul Sounds made from the original master tapes was issued, but the disc actually contains the songs from both her albums with Motown plus an unreleased single. A 2005 50-track double-CD compilation includes Soul Sounds, C.C. Rides Again, and many unreleased Motown recordings. A reissue of the Soul Sounds album was released by the Reel Music label in April 2009, the first time the album was issued on CD in the U.S.A.
Clark co-wrote the screenplay for the 1972 Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
vehicle Lady Sings the Blues, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She later became an executive for Motown Productions' film and television division in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
In 1982 she married Academy Award-winning screenwriter and novelist Ernest Tidyman
Ernest Tidyman
Ernest Tidyman was a Cleveland-born American author and screenwriter, best known for his novels featuring the African-American detective John Shaft. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film version of Shaft with John D.F...
. He died of a perforated ulcer in 1984.
In recent years, Clark has become an art photographer and has exhibited her work mainly to art dealers and at a few galleries. She also performs on stage occasionally in clubs in the United States and in Europe. She currently lives in Santa Rosa
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
, California.
Singles
- Tamla/Motown TMG591 Love's Gone Bad / Put Yourself in My Place 7"
- Tamla/Motown TMG624 From Head to Toe / The Beginning of the End 7"
- Tamla/Motown TMG638 I Want to Go Back There Again / I Love You 7"
- Tamla/Motown TME2014 V/A New Faces from Hitsville EP (inc. Chris Clark)
Releases on the V.I.P. Label (USA)
- Do Right Baby, Do Right / Don't Be Too Long - 1966 - 7"
- Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)"Do I Love You " is a song and single by American soul singer Frank Wilson first released in 1965 on the Motown subsidiary label Soul. It is Wilson's only Motown single and is a prized item among collectors.-Record history:...
/ Don't Be Too Long - 1966 - (Cancelled) - Love's Gone Bad / Put Yourself In My Place - 1966 - 7"
- I Want To Go Back There Again / I Want To Go Back There Again - 1967 (Promo Issue Only) - 7"
Releases on the Motown Label (USA)
- Soul Sounds - 1967 (Mono Version) - 12" vinyl LP album
- Soul Sounds - 1967 (Stereo Version) - 12" vinyl LP album
- From Head To Toe / From Head To Toe - 1967 (Promo Issue Only) - 7"
- From Head To Toe / Beginning Of The End - 1967 - 7"
- Whisper You Love Me Boy / The Beginning Of The End - 1968 - 7"
Released on Marginal Import (Belgium)
- Soul Sounds - 1997 (Contains both "Soul Sounds" and "C.C. Rides Again" albums plus an unreleased single) - CD
Released on Universal UK (England)
- The Motown Collection - 2005 (Contains both "Soul Sounds" and "C.C. Rides Again" plus 38 unreleased songs) - 2 CDs
External links
- Chris Clark website
- Digitage Images "From the Camera and Mind of Chris Clark"
- August 2009 Interview with Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
- September 2009 Interview with L.A. RecordL.A. RecordL.A. Record is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In March 2008, it began publishing as a monthly magazine with a...