William Clarke was a follower and a good friend of George Harmonica Smith. His style can be described as "West Coast high energy harp blues", and oh boy, he was very good in it. The full extent of his talent had yet to be realized when he died at age 45, in 1996. Clarke's indie label recordings prior to sigining with Alligator are not easy to find. Nevertheless, the early recordings between 1978 and 1689 resulted in no less than six Handy Awards. Besides George Harmonia Smith, Clarke also played with other famous bluesmen such as Smokey Wilson and Shakey Jake Harris. Before that, he was befriended with people like T-Bone Walker, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson and Big Mama Thornton. Alligator boss Bruce Iglauer was clever enough to offer a deal to William Clarke, followed by some fine releases that every collector should have.

William was a true master with a reputation for energetic recordings that mixed elements of jazz with blues and swing. Ad the warm sound of a horn section which reminds of the golden days of Fats Domino, and you get the picture. "Groove Time" is a good example. Listen carefully to "The Complainers Boogie Woogie" or "Telephone Is Ringing", high energy tracks which will live forever. The song "Must Be Jelly" on the Alligator debute "Blowin' Like Hell" became a Handy winner for blues song of 1991. Clarke's last album "The Hard Way" is arguably his furtherst leap into jazz, without sacrificing his typical swing blues and jazz blues rhythms. Below you can watch a clip of ten minutes William Clarke in action. Let it load in and get yourself a fine cigar and a glass of Côtes du Rhône, after that, turn up the volume! See ya'll next week!

http://www.myspace.com/williamclarkeblues
http://www.angelfire.com/blues/williamclarke
http://www.bluesharp.ca/legends/wclark.html
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=27014
http://www.alligator.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistid=24
http://members.tripod.com/bluzharp/interview1.html

Video: William Clarke: My Last Goodbye - Lonesome Bedroom Blues

Blowin' Like Hell - Alligator 1990
Groove Time - Alligator 1994
The Hard Way - Alligator 1996

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