Tony Clarke

Listen/Download – Tony Clarke – The Entertainer

Greetings all.

I sit here tapping away on the laptop at the end of yet another busy week (I suppose I should get suspicious when things aren’t busy).

I figured since the previous post was so heated, it behooved me to cool things down.

But first, the bid-ness must be taken care of.

I should remind you that I’ll be returning to Spindletop at Botanica this coming Monday evening (2/21) , at 10PM for an evening of soul on 45. I’m thinking of taking a Northern Soul tack this time, so if stylish 60s dancers are a bag you’re in, fall by, grab yourself a cocktail and groove to the sounds.

Speaking of groovy sounds, this Friday night at 9PM I’ll be doing me regular thing, that being the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. Tune in for the best in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove all on vinyl, and all engineered to please the ear. If you can’t be there at 9PM, you can always come by the blog over the weekend and pick up the show as a downloadable MP3 which you can stuff into the iPod or iPod-esque device of your choice.

Now, as I mentioned, the tune I bring you today is something a little smoother, a tiny bit mellower and of course, soulful to ease you into the weekend.

Though I knew the name Tony Clarke, I didn’t actually hear (or own) any of his records until I picked up today’s selection in a huge lot of 45s (which I bought to get something else, making this one what the hipsters of yore would refer to as ‘gravy’).

When I pulled ‘The Entertainer’ out of the box, I took one look and didn’t have much hope that it would be playable, since a cursory glance would indicate that at some time it had duct tape attached to it (I can’t imagine why).

Fortunately, as you’ll hear, it cleaned up pretty well.

Clarke was a NY born, Detroit raised singer who recorded a number of 45s for Chess between 1964 and 1968.

Among these was ‘The Entertainer’, a Top 40 hit in 1965, and  1967 ‘s ‘Landslide’ which would become a Northern Soul classic.

Though it’s not the stormer that ‘Landslide’ is, ‘The Entertainer’ has a certain laid-back, Chicago sound to it that is smooth yet still danceable.

It opens with drums and organ, and a riff inspired by George Gershwin’s ‘I Got Plenty O’Nothin’ (from ‘Porgy and Bess’) as well as some classy guitar work. The arrangement by Phil Wright, including some tasteful horns, is especially nice.

Sadly, Clarke would be killed in a domestic incident in 1970. He was only 26.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday.

Peace

Larry

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some prime UK psyche/prog.

One Response to “Tony Clarke – The Entertainer”

1. mikelj3 says:

   February 21, 2011 at 2:59 am

   Larry, some excellent writing and the allusion to Gershwin’s “I Got Plenty of Nothing” hit the nail on the head. I knda wonder what Tony Clarke may have had waiting for us. Too bad about his untimely. This era of Chess/Checker was the latter days of glory. The musicians were the house guys and more n’ likely did the Billy Stewart sessions too.
   Thanks for the post!