Dee Clark
Encyclopedia
Dee Clark was an African-American soul
singer best known for a string of R&B
and pop
hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the ballad
"Raindrops," which became a million-seller in the United States
in 1961.
, and moved to Chicago
in 1941. His mother was a gospel
singer and encouraged her son to pursue his love of music. Clark made his first recording
in 1952 as a member of the Hambone Kids, who enjoyed some success with a recording of "Hambone" on the OKeh
label. In 1953, he joined an R&B group called the Goldentones, who later became the Kool Gents and were discovered by Chicago radio DJ
Herb Kent upon winning a talent competition. Kent got the Kool Gents signed to Vee-Jay
label's
subsidiary Falcon/Abner. The group recorded for Falcon/Abner in 1956, and also recorded a novelty record as "The Delegates".
Clark embarked on a solo career in 1957, initially following the styles of Clyde McPhatter
and Little Richard
. When Little Richard temporarily abandoned his music career to study the Bible, Clark fulfilled Richard's remaining live dates and also recorded with his backing band, the Upsetters. Over the next four years he landed several moderate hits, two of which ("Just Keep It Up" and "Hey Little Girl") reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100
). His records for Abner and Vee-Jay were orchestrated by Riley Hampton. His biggest single, "Raindrops," a power ballad augmented by heavy rain and thunder sound effects and Clark's swooping falsetto
, was released in the spring of 1961 and became his biggest hit, soaring to number two on the pop chart
and number three on the R&B charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. "Raindrops" was also an international success, reaching number one in New Zealand
and reaching the top ten in South Africa
and Belgium
, and selling well in Japan
. "Raindrops" remains a staple on oldies and adult standards
radio station
playlist
s to this day, and has also been covered by several other artists in the years since, including David Cassidy
, Tony Orlando
and Dawn, and most notably Narvel Felts
, who took the song to number 30 on the country chart
in 1974. Clark himself recorded an updated version of "Raindrops" in 1973.
However, Clark's biggest hit was also his last. The follow-up to "Raindrops," "Don't Walk Away From Me," was a flop, and he made the pop charts in America only twice more, with "I'm Going Back to School" (1962) and "Crossfire Time" (1963). By the time "Crossfire Time" came out, Clark had moved from Vee-Jay to the Constellation label. Though he continued to record for Constellation through 1966, none of his records charted. He later recorded for the Columbia
, Wand
, Liberty
and Rocky labels, without success. Clark had a brief revival in 1975 when his song "Ride a Wild Horse" became a surprise Top 30 hit in the UK Singles Chart
, becoming his first chart hit in the UK
since "Just Keep It Up."
Afterward, Clark performed mostly on the oldies circuit. By the late 1980s, he was in dire straits financially, living in a welfare hotel in Toccoa
, Georgia
. Despite suffering a stroke in 1987 that left him partially paralyzed and with a mild speech impediment, he continued to perform until his death on December 7, 1990, in Smyrna, Georgia
, from a heart attack
at the age of 52. His last concert was with the Jimmy Gilstrap Band at the Portman Lounge in Anderson, South Carolina
.
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 best known for a string of R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and 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...
hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
"Raindrops," which became a million-seller in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1961.
Career
He was born Delectus Clark in Blytheville, ArkansasBlytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville is the largest city in and one of the two county seats of Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 15,620 at the 2010 census....
, and moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1941. His mother was a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer and encouraged her son to pursue his love of music. Clark made his first recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
in 1952 as a member of the Hambone Kids, who enjoyed some success with a recording of "Hambone" on the OKeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
label. In 1953, he joined an R&B group called the Goldentones, who later became the Kool Gents and were discovered by Chicago radio DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Herb Kent upon winning a talent competition. Kent got the Kool Gents signed to Vee-Jay
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is a record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. It was owned and operated by African Americans.-History:...
label's
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
subsidiary Falcon/Abner. The group recorded for Falcon/Abner in 1956, and also recorded a novelty record as "The Delegates".
Clark embarked on a solo career in 1957, initially following the styles of Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
and Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
. When Little Richard temporarily abandoned his music career to study the Bible, Clark fulfilled Richard's remaining live dates and also recorded with his backing band, the Upsetters. Over the next four years he landed several moderate hits, two of which ("Just Keep It Up" and "Hey Little Girl") reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
). His records for Abner and Vee-Jay were orchestrated by Riley Hampton. His biggest single, "Raindrops," a power ballad augmented by heavy rain and thunder sound effects and Clark's swooping falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
, was released in the spring of 1961 and became his biggest hit, soaring to number two on the pop chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and number three on the R&B charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. "Raindrops" was also an international success, reaching number one in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and reaching the top ten in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and selling well in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. "Raindrops" remains a staple on oldies and adult standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
playlist
Playlist
In its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. They can be played in sequential or shuffled order. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers.-In radio:...
s to this day, and has also been covered by several other artists in the years since, including David Cassidy
David Cassidy
David Bruce Cassidy is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his role as the character of Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical/sitcom The Partridge Family. He was one of pop culture's most celebrated teen idols, enjoying a successful pop career in the 1970s, and...
, Tony Orlando
Tony Orlando
Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis , better known as Tony Orlando, is an American show business professional, best known as the lead singer of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970s. Discovered by producer Don Kirshner, Orlando had songs on the charts in 1961 when he was 16, "Halfway to...
and Dawn, and most notably Narvel Felts
Narvel Felts
Narvel Felts is an American country music singer. Known for his soaring tenor and high falsetto, Felts enjoyed his greatest success during the 1970s, most famously 1975's "Reconsider Me."-Career:...
, who took the song to number 30 on the country chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
in 1974. Clark himself recorded an updated version of "Raindrops" in 1973.
However, Clark's biggest hit was also his last. The follow-up to "Raindrops," "Don't Walk Away From Me," was a flop, and he made the pop charts in America only twice more, with "I'm Going Back to School" (1962) and "Crossfire Time" (1963). By the time "Crossfire Time" came out, Clark had moved from Vee-Jay to the Constellation label. Though he continued to record for Constellation through 1966, none of his records charted. He later recorded for the Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, Wand
Wand Records
Wand Records was started by Florence Greenberg in 1961 as a subsidiary of Scepter Records. In 1976 Florence Greenberg decided to retire from the business and sold her record labels to Springboard International. When Springboard went bankrupt, Gusto Records acquired the catalog.Artists on Wand...
, Liberty
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
and Rocky labels, without success. Clark had a brief revival in 1975 when his song "Ride a Wild Horse" became a surprise Top 30 hit in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, becoming his first chart hit in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
since "Just Keep It Up."
Afterward, Clark performed mostly on the oldies circuit. By the late 1980s, he was in dire straits financially, living in a welfare hotel in Toccoa
Toccoa, Georgia
Toccoa is a city in Stephens County, Georgia, United States located approximately from Athens and approximately northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,323 at the 2000 census...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Despite suffering a stroke in 1987 that left him partially paralyzed and with a mild speech impediment, he continued to perform until his death on December 7, 1990, in Smyrna, Georgia
Smyrna, Georgia
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 40,999 people, 18,372 households, and 9,498 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,949.9 people per square mile . There were 19,633 housing units at an average density of 1,412.6 per square mile...
, from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at the age of 52. His last concert was with the Jimmy Gilstrap Band at the Portman Lounge in Anderson, South Carolina
Anderson, South Carolina
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was estimated at 26,242 in 2006, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 70,530...
.
Chart singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1958 | "Nobody But You" | 21 | 3 | - |
| 1959 | "Just Keep It Up" | 18 | 9 | 26 |
| "Hey Little Girl" | 20 | 2 | - | |
| "How About That" | 33 | 10 | - | |
| 1960 | "At My Front Door" | 56 | - | - |
| "You're Looking Good" | 43 | - | - | |
| 1961 | "Your Friends" | 34 | 30 | - |
| "Raindrops" | 2 | 3 | - | |
| 1962 | "I'm Going Back To School" | 52 | 18 | - |
| 1963 | "Crossfire Time" | 92 | n/a | - |
| 1975 | "Ride a Wild Horse" | - | - | 16 |