SANFORD CLARK
Sanford Clark found fleeting fame with his rendition of the Lee Hazlewood song "The Fool." With a vocal style that blended elements of Johnny Cash with Ricky Nelson, Clark released the song in 1956, and it eventually peaked in the Top Ten of the pop charts and in the Top 15 of the country charts — his first and only hit.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1935 - at an early age he and his family moved to Phoenix. He got his first guitar when he was 12 years old. He played around Phoenix until 1953, then he was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force for four years. He then moved to Johnston Island in the Pacific where he played music when he was off-duty. The Air Force assigned back home in Phoenix where returned to playing clubs again. Al Casey (Guitarist) a friend since school told local disc jockey Lee Hazlewood to go listen to Sanford. Hazlewood was impressed with Sanford's voice. He was looking for somebody to record a song he had just written. About a week later he took Sanford into Floyd Ramsey's studio with Al Casey. They recorded "The Fool". Hazlewood gave his wife (Naomi Ford) the songwriting credit for "The Fool", because it was a time when you couldn't be a producer, manager and writer at the same time. Sanford stated that he felt they were a mix between Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and just trying to get something a little different with there sound. People often wonder how the "drum sound" was made on the recording. They found a piece of split bamboo and beat it on the guitar case, then Casey insisted that the drummer use a drumstick.
Nothing happened with the song. After the session, Sanford went back to the Air Force only for a short stay, he got an early discharge. Then he got a job delivering Canada Dry soft drinks around Phoenix. It was at that time that things started to happen with the record. Up to that point the record was on a local label MCI, and a disc jockey had sent the single to Randy Wood at Dot Records. It was at that point that Sanford signed with Dot. Dot re-released "The Fool" that summer, August "The Fool" was a top ten hit (1956). The flip-side was "Lonesome For A Letter". At this point they needed a follow up single. "Don't Care", "Usta Be My Baby" (excellent Rockabilly guitar by Al Casey), "Why Did I Choose You?" (unreleased at the time). Late that year Al Casey and Sanford returned to Phoenix and recorded "A Cheat" another Hazlewood song. It deserved a better response than it received. It had the same mystery that "The Fool" had and Al Casey's guitar complimented Sanford's vocals. By the time it came out, Elvis dominated the charts, so it was hard for anyone to get a hit on to the charts. The last of the Phoenix sessions had songs like "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" a novelty song by Louis Jordan. Completely unsuitable for Sanford's relaxed singing style. It also had produced an excellent rocker "OOO Baby" (another song written by Hazlewood) and the great version of Merle Travis'"Nine Pound Hammer".
Sanford started recording in Hollywood in 1957. Most of the songs from those sessions were unreleased at the time, but were excellent songs which should have been issued. Even with Randy Wood's experiments, Sanford turned out some cool sounds. "Loo Be Doo" was a real slick rocker with a hot Saxophone solo. "Cross Eyed Alley Cat" (unreleased at the time), was an example of the influence Sanford's vocal style had on performers like Ricky Nelson. Comparing Rick's version with Sanford's is proof of that. "Love Charms" recorded around the same period was closer to "The Fool/A Cheat" style. Al Casey played rhythm, backed by Duane Eddy's acoustic strumming. In November of 1957 he recorded "The Man Who Made An Angel Cry" a great Johnny Cash sound-a-like recording. At his last session for Dot, Sanford recorded "Travelin' Man" (not the Ricky Nelson hit). With the records not selling and the strange material Randy Wood wanted him to cut, it was a time for a change.
Early in 1958 Sanford left Dot and joined Jamie Records. Duane Eddy at this point had already had a hit with "Rebel Rouser". In May Sanford & Duane recorded two sides "Still As The Night" and "Sing 'Em Some Blues". It did not sell. That summer Al quit touring with Sanford to join Duane on his tour as a bass player. Early in 1959 they didn't have any better success with "Bad Luck" and "My Jealousy". The next session in May seem to go the same way, the song "New Kind Of Fool" seemed to be another trade on "The Fool". "Son Of A Gun" was a cowboy number, a complete play on words. "Run Boy Run" an excellent song with the flavor of Johnny Cash. Nice sound with just guitar and bass. His last Jamie session was on March 17, 1960, "Pledging My Love" and "Go On Home" was very interesting because of the distorting guitar, Al Casey got the sound before fuzztones and effects as we know it now. The ten Jamie sides were all commercial failures at the time. Some hit the charts. [By: Johnny Vallis rockabillyhall.com]Listen up folks! This ain't no Bear Family big fat collection, but hand-picked Mr.Eliminator selection of Sanford's best 50's cuts. So I focused on more rockin tunes, tryin' to avoid some lame stuff. And now it's an pretty cool overview of this Rockabilly/Country cat 50's stuff. Ya know... you better Dig!!!
