re: Long haired hippie redneck freaks -- that is to say, Country-Rock

New (Zealand) radio documentary on Clarence White

White Lightning - The Music of Clarence White

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Clarence White revolutionized the role of the guitar in Bluegrass, played on sessions for many of the top artists of the 60's and 70's and was a member of the influential rock band The Byrds.

Featuring new interviews with his friends and fellow musicians Gene Parsons and Ry Cooder, this new radio documentary from RNZ takes a look at the brilliant musicianship and tragically short life of Clarence White.

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According to Ry Cooder you can compare the guitar playing of Clarence White to the cornet playing of legendary Jazz musician Bix Biderebecke.

“They talk about Bix as a guy who played connected lines with a beautiful, picturesque kind of feeling like Clarence has” he told me over the phone.

Cooder, who is about as respected a musician as you can find, is one of many professional guitarists who hold Clarence White in the highest esteem.

Yet, unlike his contemporeries such as Gram Parsons, White has not always got the recognition he deserves and since his tragic death in a road accident aged just 29, he has somewhat faded from view.

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One of the other musicians who were amazed by Clarence was Jerry Garcia, who would follow the Colonels to the east coast of the United States and later found fame as the guitarist and singer for The Grateful Dead.

Then there was a young blues guitarist who admired Clarence’s playing but only got to talk to him years later.

According to Gene Parsons, Clarence’s friend, collaborator and bandmate in The Byrds, he and Clarence were backstage at a club in Hollywood in the late 1960’s when a knock came at the door and a well dressed man asked if Clarence was around.

“I said ‘Clarence, there’s a guy here to see ya!’” Parsons recalled. “I said ‘what’s your name?’, he says ‘ Jimi Hendrix’. I said ‘It’s Jimi Hendrix!’ and Clarence said ‘Yeah….Let him in.’ It turns out Jimi Hendrix was a Clarence White fan!”

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Saw Jimmie Dale Gilmore solo show awhile back, and the guy was terrific.

In1973 we went to the first Willie Nelson 4th of July Picnic at Dripping Springs near Austin. Willie, Waylon, Tom T. Hall,
Charlie Rich and Kristofferson and more.From then on I was an Outlaw Country fan.

An old rockabilly & an old Ernest Tubb song (1969)

John Prine - "Hello In There". Live on the Underground News TV show, March 2nd, 1972

John Hartford, Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, & Roger McGuinn jam during the sessions for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo

Billie Joe telling the story of writing Ragged Ol Truck