RIP Roy Clark

bykfixer

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Never being a big fan of country music I really liked Roy Clark music.

In my 20's I had a job where I'd fill in for a landfill attendent at times while he went to doctor visits etc. He was an older gentleman who had retired from being a Lance crackers salesman.

At times I'd hang out after he returned. He'd have visitors to his little hutch on rainy days. This one fellow with giant ears visited often and the pair of gents would discuss the younger days, summer nights, gals they'd dated etc.

One day they were discussing front porch music jams after church. Apparently some folks we now see as household names attended. Usually it was church songs and folks from other churches would attend. Dolly, Lorreta, Johnny, etc etc. Roy Clark was one who apparently enjoyed jamming with the big ear'd fellow as both played a vast array of instruments. The big ear'd fellow used to regale at all of the stuff Roy could play..often times from the first time he'd ever held it.
He used to say "there aint a musical instrument made Roy couldn't play well". The other fellow would smile and tell me "he was self-taught too".

I'm sitting in a work truck on a rainy day thinking about those days with a tear in my eye as Roy Clark tunes play in the background.....
 

bykfixer

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Recently at my work we had a Christmas luncheon where my supervisor and I sat across the table from each other. He began his career in road building as a surveyor in 1964-ish right after he decided he was likley going to starve to death driving in NASCAR. He did have some top 10 finishes though.

Anyway the subject of famous folks we lost this year came up and the conversation at the table of about 15 people turned to instruments Roy Clark was good at playing.

He said "I met Roy in 1964 while surveying for the highway department". I was like "what? did you survey through his land?" He said "Naw, he ran a paddle pan for Shoosmith Brothers" "and he was good at that too."

Paddle pans are those gigantic scraper trucks that scoop up dirt while they drive then haul the load to a stockpile. Back then the idea was to race as fast as you could to the pile and back. It seems that if ole Roy hadn't gotten a break in music he woulda probably been killed on a construction site.

My supervisor circa 1963
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