Pribek

Everywhere you go on the web, there is some kind of, for lack of a better word, “intuitive”, software or interface or something, I don’t know I’m not a tech guy. Every site is recommending stuff tailored to my interests. Anyway, for me at least, this stuff is way off the mark an extraordinary amount of the time. but, I take a look a lot of times because, I get a hoot out of how off base it is.

So, this morning I went to YouTube and I took a look at the videos recommended for me. Here’s an example of how this works; a couple of days a go, a friend sent me a YT link to check out this neato, new fuzz pedal. So, I took a look. This morning, there was a boat load of videos of guys in their bedrooms showing off their newest stompboxes that YouTube though I might dig.

But, every once in a while this kind of hoodoo/silicon/window to my soul comes up with a gem. I guess every squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

YouTube recommended this audio only of Clarence Carter doing “Snatchin’ It Back”; great record! Clicking on that one led me to another C.C. audio only of “Patches” which is the second one. And, a few thoughts on Clarence below the videos.

As always, slip away, right now then, click pause on the music player located in the side bar before playing the YouTubes.

It’s kind of strange looking back now because, it’s thought of more as a fad than a milestone of cultural significance, but the line dance boom of the 80s/early 90s changed a lot of things. It’s an example of a situation where the audience became more interactive. When you are looking at a dance floor with hundreds of people doing synchronized choreography, it’s clear that that audience is part of the show. When the audience is part of the show, you have to make some compromises. In this case, the band had to play the correct tunes exactly the same way every time and exactly like the record. And, after a while, the bands were bypassed all together and they just played the records.

But, before all of that, years before, when I first started seeing small groups of people line dancing once in a while, there were a limited amount of songs around that folks liked to line dance to. “Pink Cadillac”, “Tulsa Time” were a couple and, oddly enough, the Clarence Carter epic ode to getting nasty, “Strokin’”. It really gave me the heebee geebees watching a a group of 30 somethings, loaded at the bachelorette party, slapping leather and singing along with Clarence’s every word.

Have you ever maaaade lovvvve on a couch

Now, it’s so common you don’t even think about it but back then it was surreal. And, I also remember thinking to myself; how strange that this goofy song is how people are aware of Clarence Carter. Will this be how he is remembered?

In the early 90s, I was playing in a little blues/rock kind of band. Most of the time, we were a four piece but, for a short while we were working as three piece. During this period, we had the opportunity to open shows on a short tour with Clarence Carter. And, yeah he did “Strokin’” and, yeah the place would go nuts but I don’t remember seeing anybody doing the electric slide. For the rest of the show, Clarence did song after song after song, all stuff he wrote that was top notch. The first night, I kept thinking, I forgot about that one or, he wrote that one too? And, he sang with conviction, a voice that can make you shake. It was a solid show, night after night from a brilliant songwriter and a savvy performer. That’s how I remember Clarence Carter.

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