Wesley Curley Clark (November 16, 1939 – March 2, 2024) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician. He is known as the "Godfather of Austin Blues" First aired in 1990. for his influence on the

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Texas, blues scene since the late 1960s.

Biography

Wesley Curley Clark was born and raised in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, where he sang

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

in the choir as a young boy. In the early 1950s, at age 14, he learned the guitar, and later experimented with blues and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

on the bass guitar. By the early 1960s, he began attracting the attention of Texas blues performers such as

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...

Albert Collins Albert Gene Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993)Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing ...

and

Little Johnny Taylor Little Johnny Taylor (born Johnny Lamont Merrett; February 11, 1943 – May 17, 2002) was an American blues and soul singer. He made recordings throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and continued public performances through the 1980s and 1990s. Bi ...

. In the late 1960s, he joined the

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

's R&B band and left Austin, where he thought that the R&B scene had died. However, during a tour with the band back in Austin, Clark sat in on bass with younger Austin locals

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a founding member of The Fabulous Thunder ...

and Paul Ray at an East Austin club. After the session playing with Vaughan and Ray, Clark changed his mind about Austin. Clark left Joe Tex two weeks later and moved back to Austin, where he remained to guide and inspire numerous Austin musicians and lay the foundation of the prolific Austin blues and rock scene of the 1970s and beyond. He formed several bands with various names, which included as members Jimmie Vaughan and

Angela Strehli Angela Strehli (born November 22, 1945) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US an ...

. In 1975, Clark formed the W. C. Clark Blues Revue. Through the 1980s, the band played venues with international greats such as

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

Albert King Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...

Freddy King Freddie or Freddy may refer to: Entertainment *Freddy (comic strip), a newspaper comic strip which ran from 1955 to 1980 * Freddie (Cromartie), a character from the Japanese manga series''Cromartie High School'' *Freddie (dance), a short-lived 19 ...

Sam and Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (1935–2025) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", " ...

Elvin Bishop Elvin Richard Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 2015, and in ...

and

Bobby Blue Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was describ ...

. From late September 1977 to May 1978, Clark played in an Austin blues quintet named Triple Threat Revue, with

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

and

Lou Ann Barton Lou Ann Barton (born February 17, 1954) is an American blues singer based in Austin, Texas since the 1970s. AllMusic noted that "The grace, poise, and confidence she projects on-stage is part of a long tradition for women blues singers". Biogr ...

. In the early 1980s, Clark had taught future rock prodigy brothers

Charlie Sexton Charles Wayne Sexton (born August 11, 1968) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Sexton is best known for his years as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band, though also has become well known as a music producer. Sexton co-founded Arc A ...

and Will Sexton how to play guitar while they were young. In 1990, Clark appeared on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

music television program ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

'' with his group W. C. Clark Blues Revue, from a show taped on October 10, 1989, in celebration of his 50th birthday, along with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan and

Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top ...

The Fabulous Thunderbirds The Fabulous Thunderbirds is an American blues rock band formed in 1974. Singer Kim Wilson is the only constant member through the band's entire history. Their 1986 album ''Tuff Enuff'' sold over a million copies, and spawned two minor hit singl ...

, Lou Ann Barton,

and his former protégé Will Sexton. In March 1997, on the eve of Austin's

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

music festival, as Clark and his band were returning from a show in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, their van, driven by Clark, veered off the highway and down a steep embankment near

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...

, injuring his arm and killing his fiancée Brenda Jasek and his drummer Pedro Alcoser Jr. The album '' Lover's Plea'' followed, containing the single "Are You Here, Are You There?", in memory of Jasek. In 2016, he appeared with his song "Rough Edges" on the album ''Texas Blues Voices'' by Italian

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

player and Grammy Nominee

Fabrizio Poggi Fabrizio Poggi (pronounced Pohjee) (born 1 July 1958) is a singer and harmonica player. He is a Grammy Awards nominee who has received the Hohner Lifetime Award, and has been two times Blues Music Awards nominee, and a Jimi Awards nominee. During ...

. Clark died on March 2, 2024, at age 84. He had been in hospice care since February 2024.

Discography

*1987 ''Something for Everybody'' (Drippin' DR-1001) (LP; under the name W.C. Clark Blues Revue) *1994 ''Heart Of Gold'' (Black Top BT-1103) *1995 ''Texas Soul'' (Black Top BT-1131) *1998 '' Lover's Plea'' (Black Top BT-1145) *2002 ''From Austin With Soul'' (Alligator ALCD 4884) *2004 ''Deep In The Heart'' (Alligator ALCD 4897) *2011 ''Were You There'' (self released) *2018 ''W. C. Clark'' (self released)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, W. C. 1939 births 2024 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists African-American guitarists African-American male singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters Singers from Austin, Texas Black Top Records artists Texas blues musicians Singer-songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers

Biography

Discography

See also

References

External links