Roy Clark, Country Music Hall of Fame member, dies at 85

[Zorro]

Source: The Tennessean

According to his publicist, Country Music Hall of Fame member and versatile entertainer Roy Clark died Thursday at his Tulsa, Oklahoma home due to complications from pneumonia. He was 85 years old.

A fleet-fingered instrumentalist best known for his 24 years as a "Hee Haw" co-host, the affable Clark was one of country music's most beloved ambassadors.

He brought heart and humor to audiences around the world, guest-hosted "The Tonight Show," worked with greats like Hank Williams and blues artist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and inspired countless pickers, including a young Brad Paisley, with his instructional guitar books.

"He's honest," said fellow Country Music Hall of Famer Harold Bradley when Clark was inducted in 2009. "Whether he's playing guitar or singing, he's honest. Whatever he does, he sparkles."

Read more: https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2018/11/15/roy-clark-dead-85/1978910002/

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Another exceptional talent gone.

[Mrs. Overall]

1. Did any other DUers watch Hee Haw?

Loved Hee Haw as a kid and loved Roy Clark more than Buck Owens.

[underpants]

3. Every Saturday night.

Right after Emergency

[DinahMoeHum]

6. This here suburban slicker did. . .

. . .and this is Roy's signature song on Hee Haw's 10th anniversary.

He also played the song at baseball great Mickey Mantle's funeral in 1995.

[llmart]

21. I've always loved that song.

The lyrics are so sentimental.

I didn't like Hee Haw though. Seemed too corny to me.

[MyOwnPeace]

29. With you on both counts.......

beautiful song - and I wasn't then (and still not) a great fan of the "Hee Haw country" thing - but truly appreciate the good Blue Grass stuff.

And WOW - did not know that about playing at Mickey's service. Good stuff.

[Dave Starsky]

23. That is a GREAT song.

One of the best ever on the topic of getting older and wondering where the hell the time went.

[sandensea]

30. It really is.

Coincidentally, the songwriter, Charles Aznavour, died very recently as well.

Two greats, Aznavour and Clark. Here's hoping they meet up above, and sing this as a duet.

[Dave Starsky]

33. Thank you for that.

I never heard of Charles Aznavour, but I am so happy to learn of him. I would hope that he would be happy with Roy Clark's version of his song. It truly is a masterpiece.

[sandensea]

34. You're welcome, Dave.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Melancholy tunes always get to me.

[Beacool]

37. Charles Aznavour was a great French-Armenian singer and composer.

He died this past October 1st at 94. He was one of France's iconic singers. He was also a diplomat, ambassador to Switzerland and UN delegate.

[Lars39]

8. Yes!

And same here....Roy just had a more mischievous side to him that made you want to watch him to see what he would do next.

[Docreed2003]

27. We did at my grandparents house

Every Saturday night

[Archae]

41. You bet!

Back when I was a kid, I liked the silly jokes and hated the music.

Now, I hate the silly jokes and love the music.

[EllieBC]

42. Me!

I was very young. Grew up in upstate NY and watched with my parents every weekend.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Oh, no. Oh, no. I was just watching a YouTube video of him the other day.

This one:

Yes, Mrs. Overall, I watched Hee Haw.

This is big local news for DC and Richmond. He was born in Meherrin, Virginia. He had a huge presence in DC back in the fifties and sixties. Expect a big article in the Washington Post.

[JohnnyRingo]

38. Unlike today's country karaoke crooners...

Roy Clark was a talented musician. So tired of modern country pop stars using a guitar as a prop, with no talent beyond a pretty face and maybe a two octave range.

Kudos to the CMAs for recognizing Keith Urban this week, another talented musician.

[underpants]

4. Meherrin VA

As of 2000, the total population of zip code 23954 was 1,838. The racial breakdown was as follows: 48.3% White, 49.6% Black or African-American, 0.5% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% Other, and 1.3% two or more races. As for education for ages 25 and over, 64.1% were high school graduates or higher and 9.3% had a bachelor's degree or higher. The median household income was $30,147.[3]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. The RT-D hasn't even written an article yet. It's still running the story from the AP.

Roy Clark — Virginia native, country guitar virtuoso and 'Hee Haw' star — has died at age 85

By KRISTIN M. HALL Associated Press 28 min ago

Seriously, the Washington Post can come up with some great stories from the old days.

[underpants]

24. That Times-Disgrace is a rag

Back when I (or anyone) actually read it they used to flip articles, From Wire Reports, upside down. They'd take the token quote from often a Republican and lead the article with it.

[beachbum bob]

5. Roy Clark was an accomplish guitarist and with most C&W musicians did get his just acknowledgements

[Journeyman]

7. And just yesterday, he was young . . .

[2naSalit]

9. I hated Hee Haw...

but I sure did love Roy Clark and many of the musicians that appeared on it. I was always on the road back then anyway, missed most of what was on the teevee for over a decade, that goes for movies too.

[peekaloo]

44. Those twins creeped me out.

Junior Samples was kinda endearing and the two guys who sang that song about losing their true love and "pfttttt you were gone" made me laugh. I had to compromise with my family that IF they were going to watch wrasslin' and 'Hee Haw' then I was going to watch 'Monty Python' and 'Siskel and Ebert'.....it actually worked out well.

'Laugh In' in a corn field. Not my thang.

Wasn't until later that I would fully appreciate the music.

RIP Mr. Clark

[RT Atlanta]

10. Malaguena from 'The Odd Couple'

He was an insanely good guitarist across so many genres. This video is worth the watch as but another example of his talent!

[area51]

17. Amazing guitar work.

[Sneederbunk]

18. And banjo.

[Dave Starsky]

19. Here he is with Glen Campbell.

Another insanely gifted guitarist.

RIP, Roy. You were awesome.

[handmade34]

20. a couple of greats!

thanks for that

[Botany]

22. +1

n/t

[dameatball]

12. Yep, watched HeeHaw quite a bit. So corny it could be funny. Lots of good guests.

Sorry to hear Roy is gone. He was very talented and seemed a little more likeable than Buck, IMO.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Regarding Mark Opsasnick:

Rock and Remembrance

MICHAEL LITTLE AUG 23, 2002 12 AM

Mark Opsasnick doesn't much care for new music. In fact, says the 40-year-old Prince George's County resident and Montgomery County employee, his musical tastes "haven't changed one iota" since 1976, when he was 14. "I'm like Al Bundy," he jokes, "listening to his high school record collection over and over again."

That obsession with rock's past is reflected in Opsasnick's recently reissued Capitol Rock, a 460-page love letter to the Washington music scene as it was between the years 1951 and 1976. The book was born from Opsasnick's inability to find good resources on obscure local bands and long-shuttered area clubs. "I wrote the book that I couldn't find on the library shelves," he says—though he might have thought twice if he'd known what he was getting himself into.

"The writing of the original book took four years, from January 1993 to December 1996," says Opsasnick. He spent his weekends doing research at local libraries and listening to old-timers reminisce at Strick's, the legendary country venue in P.G. County where, from the mid-'50s through the mid-'70s, such musical greats as Patsy Cline, Jimmy Dean, and Roy Clark played for a roughneck crowd of white Southern transplants.

"During its heyday," Opsasnick says, "Strick's was open 24 hours. It was wild. The band would play a set of music. Then a big brawl would break out. Then everybody would patch everybody else up and the band would play another set. Then another brawl would break out. It would go on like that until dawn."
....

25
JUN 2014

Mark Opsasnick, Local Rock Historian, on Greenbelt’s Famous Rockers
....

Mark got started writing through his interest in unexplained phenomena, and his first article for Rockville’s Strange Magazine is the first and last word on Big Foot sightings – Maryland Big Foot Digest. His coverage of that beat also led to another of his books – Miscellaneous and Unknown: Cultural Souvenirs from Prince George’s County, Maryland.
....

[sinkingfeeling]

14. R.I.P. I remember him from Hee-Haw.

[BillyBobBrilliant]

15. I used to watch Hee Haw

Every week with my father.
We went to see Roy at the Hemisfair Arena (San Antonio, TX) in 1968. I was 14 and had been playing guitar since I was 10. I had the Roy Clark Big Note Guitar Book.

He gave a terrific show, playing just about every instrument imaginable.
Very talented musician. Not very good at writing lyrics, but who cares?

[world wide wally]

16. I still get a kick out of Hee Haw

Roy Clark was an amazing musician and always made me think he was pretty liberal too

[Javaman]

25. Such a talented guy. Rest in Peace, Roy. I loved your music.

[yonder]

26. Sad to hear this news

I was never much a fan of HeeHaw or even that style of music. One thing's for sure though: I'd be the first to stand up and shout that he was an excellent musician with amazing skills on just about anything he chose to play. Whenever surfing the TV and coming across him performing, it ensured a stop on that channel where I'd watch while being completely dumbfounded at his skill.

He was truly a musicians musician. Rest in Peace, Roy

[Docreed2003]

28. RIP

[Mendocino]

31. A great picker

and a genuine nice guy. I'll take his corn over the what passes for "country" these days.

[Maxheader]

32. RIP Roy...You played the guitar like a genius..

[mahatmakanejeeves]

35. Washington Post: Roy Clark, country star who hosted 'Hee Haw' variety show, dies at 85

Obituaries

Roy Clark, country star who hosted ‘Hee Haw’ variety show, dies at 85

By Harrison Smith
Obituary writer
November 15 at 2:14 PM

Roy Clark, a country guitarist, singer and cornpone comedian who headlined the hit variety show “Hee Haw” and was known for crossover hits including “Yesterday, When I Was Young,” died Nov. 15 at his home in Tulsa. He was 85. ... The cause was complications of pneumonia, according to a statement from his publicists, Sandy Brokaw and Jeremy Westby.

While Mr. Clark often performed with the banjo, fiddle and mandolin, he was best known for his brilliance on the guitar. Flashy and quick-fingered, he was as adept on flamenco standards such as “Malagueña” as on country-pop songs like “Yesterday, When I Was Young,” written by French singer Charles Aznavour.

He played with bands in the Washington area in the 1950s before a gig performing alongside country singer Wanda Jackson helped launch him to prominence — and to a recording contract with Capitol Records — in the early 1960s.
....

A complete obituary will be published soon.

Harrison Smith is a reporter on The Washington Post's obituaries desk. Since joining the obituaries section in 2015, he has profiled big-game hunters, fallen dictators and Olympic champions. He sometimes covers the living as well, and previously co-founded the South Side Weekly, a community newspaper in Chicago. Follow https://twitter.com/harrisondsmith

[Owl]

36. Sad news. RIP

[Beacool]

39. He was a great musician.

Although I was never a big fan of "Hee Haw", I did enjoy listening to Roy play the banjo. He seemed like an easy going nice man.

My condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.

[BumRushDaShow]

40. Wow. I didn't even know he was still around

Haven't heard his name in years! Used to watch Hee Haw.

R.I.P.

[Archae]

43. Roy did an excellent version of "Orange Blossom Special."

[GumboYaYa]

45. RIP.....Roy's girlfriend lived next to my Mom in Nashville.

When Roy was around he was always playing a guitar. He was a great guy and insanely talented.