Clifford Curry Jr. (November 3, 1936 – September 7, 2016) was an American

beach music Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, and to a lesser extent, Beach pop, is a regional genre of music in the United States which developed from rock/ R&B and pop music of the 1950s and 1960s. Beach music is most closely associate ...

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became pop ...

, and R&B singer.

Early life and career

Curry was born on November 3, 1936 in the Bearden neighborhood of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...

. Curry's career began in high school and he was a member of several groups, including The Echoes, The Five Pennies (for whom he wrote a 1956 release, "Mr. Moon"), Hollyhocks (1957), and the Bubba Suggs Band (1957–1964). As Sweet Clifford he recorded for the Nashville-based Excello Records label, before beginning work with the Fabulous Six and the Contenders. In 1967, he had a hit on the US R&B chart with " She Shot A Hole In My Soul", which was written by Mac Gayden and performed by Mac and his bandmates Kenny Buttrey and Norbert Putnam. They did the song just like the demo Mac had produced. Despite its commercial failure at the time, his 1968 single "I Can't Get A Hold Of Myself" became a huge Northern Soul anthem from the start of the scene, being played extensively at the

Twisted Wheel The Twisted Wheel was a nightclub in Manchester, England, open from 1963 to 1971. It was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern Soul. History The nightclub was founded by the brothers Jack, Phillip and Ivor ...

and Wigan Casino.

Buzz Cason James E. "Buzz" Cason (born November 27, 1939 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States) is an American rock singer, songwriter, record producer, and author. He was a founding member of The Casuals, Nashville's first rock and roll band. Together ...

produced. Known as "The King Of Beach Music," Curry continued to play in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern po ...

with his brand of Carolina Beach Music, and was inducted into the Beach Music Hall of Fame in 1995, along with his peers Maurice Williams and Bill Pinkney. In 1997, Curry recorded an album titled ''Tennessee R&B Live'' with Earl Gaines and Roscoe Shelton. Curry joined and backed Faye Adams on her number one R&B smash "Shake a Hand".

Personal life

Curry resided in

. In 2010, he was hospitalized for blood clots in his lungs. He suffered a stroke on August 29, 2016. Curry died, after being taken off of life support, in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee Medical Center on September 7, 2016, at the age of 79. He had also suffered from prostate cancer and diabetes.

References

External links

Clifford Curry Soulful Kinda Music - Clifford Curry Discography Page
* ttp://www.billboard.com/artist/clifford-curry/discography/compilations/119557# Clifford Curry Billboard Magazine Bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Clifford 1936 births 2016 deaths People from Knoxville, Tennessee Singers from Nashville, Tennessee American rhythm and blues singers