Clay Eager (August 8, 1925 – March 7, 1995) was the stage name of Wilbur Clay Eagy Jr., a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer of the 1950s.

Biography

Eager was born in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in Allen County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75, appr ...

. He owned his own record label, Karl Records, in which he released records by rockabilly recording artists such as Ray King,

Bo Ratliff James Richard Ratliff (September 19, 1933 – April 10, 2024), better known as Bo Ratliff, was an American rockabilly and country music singer of the 1950s and 1960s. Life and career Ratliff was born in Logan County, West Virginia on September 19 ...

, Little Dickie Chaffin, Archie Poe, Von Stephens, Deacon Morris, and Larry Edwards. The label was based out of

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

. Eager appeared on radio stations

WFTW WFTW (1260 AM) was a commercial radio station in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, serving the Emerald Coast. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcast a news/talk format. The radio studios and offices are on Hollywood Boulevard NW in Fort Walton ...

out of

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

, and

WLOK WLOK (1340 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Memphis, Tennessee, carrying a gospel music format. Owned by the Gilliam family Trade name, doing business as WLOK Radio, Inc., the station serves t ...

out of Lima in 1950. In addition he also worked as a DJ and Program Director at WHOK in

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, and its county seat. The population was 40,552 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Ohio, Ohio's 30th largest city, having surpassed Warren, Ohio, Warren and Fin ...

. He also appeared on radio shows ''

Renfro Valley Barn Dance ''Renfro Valley Barn Dance'' was an American country music stage and radio show originally carried by WLW-AM in Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday nights. It debuted on October 9, 1937, from the Cincinnati Music Hall and moved to the Memorial Auditoriu ...

'' and ''

Midwestern Hayride ''Midwestern Hayride'', sometimes known as ''Midwest Hayride'' and later ''Hayride'', was an American country music show originating in the 1930s from radio station WLW and later from television station WLW-T in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the 1950 ...

'' on

WLW WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...

out of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, in 1951.

Discography

Singles

* "Don't Come Crying on My Shoulder" / "Babaloo" (Republic No. 7077) (1954) * "Railroader's Blues" / "I'm A Lookin' Fer Some Lovin'" (Clay Eager No. 100) (1956) * "My Guitar And Me" / "Just Like Tonight" (Sage & Sand No. 254) (1957) * "Mu Mu Mix" / "That's What I Made" (BW Label) (12" Single) (as Clay Eager Family)

EP's

* Side A: "Forgotten Blues" / "Helen Jo" / Side B: "Skidrow" / "Never Ramble" (Karl EP CE-22) (1956)

Albums

* ''Clay Eager Family'' (Gloryland GSP1133)

Various artists compilations

* ''Crazy Wild Rockin (White Label WLP 8976) (LP) * ''Nasty Rockabilly Volume 8'' (B-Sharp 666/11) (LP) * ''Rocky Hoodlums Go Maximum'' (Collector #CLCD 4458) (CD) * ''More Slow Boogie And Rockin (Collector/Hepcat) (2005) (CD) (includes "TV Boogie" by Clay Eager)

References

External links

Hillbilly Music

Ohio Local Labels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eager, Clay American country singers American country rock singers American rockabilly musicians 1995 deaths 1925 births People from Lima, Ohio 20th-century American singers Songwriters from Ohio Country musicians from Ohio 20th-century American songwriters