This is what I wrote in my column today:
When I was a kid – this was back in the Cretaceous when the remote consisted of Dad yelling: “Andrew, come change the channel.” – Hee Haw would come on every Saturday night. There would appear that graphic of a loopy donkey and then we would see Roy Clark on banjo and Buck Owens on guitar “a-pickin’ and a-grinnin’.”
Sadly, Mr. Clark is no more. He died at his Tulsa home of complications caused by pneumonia.
I had the pleasure of seeing him perform three times in Linton. Mr. Clark, “Superpicker,” was an amazing guitarist to put it mildly. I’d watch his hands and couldn’t really tell what he was doing on the guitar. It was also very generous of him to return to Linton after Phil Harris’ death to honor his friend and help people out.
RIP, Mr. Clark, there have been very few musicians like you, and you entertained millions.
Linton is in Indiana, and there used to be a charity fete headed by Phil Harris. Roy Clark and some others carried on the fete for some years as a tribute to Mr. Harris. He could not only play the guitar, violin, and banjo, he could play the mandolin and several other instruments. A local Dixieland band used to open for him when he appeared at Linton. I’ve been told by people who attended the VIP parties that he picked up a trumpet and blew Dixieland as well as the cats in the band.
He was an awesome talent.