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Dee Clark (November 7, 1938 – December 7, 1990) was an American soul music singer and songwriter best known for a string of R&B and pop chart-topper in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the song "Raindrops", which became a million-seller in the United States in 1961.
Clark embarked on a solo career in 1957, initially following the styles of Clyde McPhatter and Little Richard. When Little Richard temporarily abandoned his music career to study the Bible, Clark fulfilled Richard's remaining live dates and also recorded with his backing band, the Upsetters. Over the next four years he landed several moderate hits, two of which ("Just Keep It Up" and "Hey Little Girl") reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100). His records for Abner and Vee-Jay were orchestrated by Riley Hampton. His biggest single, "Raindrops", was a dramatic ballad with a mid-tempo Latin beat that was augmented by heavy rain and thunder sound effects and Clark's swooping falsetto. It was released in the spring of 1961 and became his biggest hit, soaring to number two on the pop record chart and number three on the R&B charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. "Raindrops" was also an international success, reaching number one in New Zealand and reaching the top ten in South Africa and Belgium, and selling well in Japan. "Raindrops" remains a staple on oldies and adult standards radio station to this day, and has also been covered by several other artists in the years since, including David Cassidy, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Narvel Felts, who took the song to number 30 on the country chart in 1974. Clark himself recorded an updated version of "Raindrops" in 1973.
However, Clark's biggest hit was also his last. The follow-up to "Raindrops", "Don't Walk Away from Me", was a flop, and he made the pop charts in America only twice more, with "I'm Going Back to School" (1962) and "Crossfire Time" (1963). By the time "Crossfire Time" came out, Clark had moved from Vee-Jay to the Ewart Abner label.
Afterwards, Clark performed mostly on the oldies circuit. By the late 1980s, he was in dire straits financially, living at The Lone Oaks motel in Toccoa, Georgia. Despite suffering a stroke in 1987 that left him partially paralyzed and with a mild speech impediment, he continued to perform until his death on December 7, 1990, in Smyrna, Georgia, from a heart attack at the age of 52. His last concert was with the Jimmy Gilstrap Band at the Portman Lounge in Anderson, South Carolina.
(1993). 9780851127330, Guinness Publishing. ISBN 9780851127330 Though he continued to record for Constellation through 1966, none of his records charted nationally. He had considerable local success in Chicago with such standout recordings as "Come Closer" (1964), the double-sided hit of "Warm Summer Breezes" and "Heartbreak" (1964), and "TCB" (1965). He later recorded for the Columbia Records, Wand Records, Liberty Records and Rocky labels, without success. Clark had a brief revival in 1975 when his disco song "Ride a Wild Horse" became a surprise Top 30 hit in the UK Singles Chart, becoming his first chart hit in the UK since "Just Keep It Up".
Discography
Albums
1959 How About That Vee-Jay Records Dee Clark 1960 You're Lookin' Good Vee-Jay Records 1961 Hold On....It's Dee Clark 1962 Best Of Dee Clark
Singles
1957 "Gloria" — — — Vee-Jay Records "Kangaroo Hop" You're Lookin' Good "Seven Nights" — — — "24 Boy Friends" Dee Clark 1958 "Oh Little Girl" — — — "Wondering" — "Nobody but You" 21 3 — Vee-Jay Records "When I Call On You" Dee Clark 1959 "Just Keep It Up" 18 9 26 "Whispering Grass" "Hey Little Girl" 20 2 — "If It Wasn’t for Love" "How About That" 33 10 — "Blues Get Off My Shoulder" How About That 1960 "At My Front Door" 56 — — "Cling A Ling" "You're Looking Good" 43 — — Vee-Jay Records "Gloria" You're Lookin' Good "Your Friends" 34 30 — "Because I Love You" Hold On....It's Dee Clark 1961 "Raindrops" 2 3 — "I Want to Love You" "Don’t Walk Away From Me" 104 — — "You’re Telling Our Secrets" — 1962 "You Are Like the Wind" — — — "Drums in My Heart" — "Dance on Little Girl" — — — "Fever" — "I'm Going Back to School" 52 18 — "Nobody but You" — 1963 "Shook up Over You" 125 — — "I'm a Soldier Boy" — "How Is He Treating You" — — — "The Jones Brothers" — "Walking My Dog" — — — "Nobody But Me" — "Crossfire Time" 92 — — Constellation "I'm Going Home" — 1964 "That’s My Girl" — — — "It's Raining" — "Come Closer" — — — "That's My Girl" — "Heartbreak" 119 — — "Warm Summer Breezes" — 1965 "In My Apartment" — — — "I Ain’t Gonna Be Your Fool" — "T.C.B." 132 — — "It's Impossible" — "I Can't Run Away" — — — "She's My Baby" — "Hot Potato" — — — "I Don't Need (Nobody Like You)" — 1966 "I'm Goin' Home" — — — "Ole Fashun Love" — 1967 "Lost Girl" — — — Columbia Records "In These Very Tender Moments" — 1968 "Nobody but You - PT. 1" — — — Wand Records "Nobody but You - PT. 2" — 1970 "Where Did All the Good Times Go" — — — Liberty Records "24 Hours of Loneliness" — 1971 "Old Time Religion" — — — United Artists "You Can Make Me Feel Good" — 1973 "Raindrops "73"" — — — Warner Records "Happy Man" — 1975 "Ride a Wild Horse" — — 16 Chelsea Records "Ride a Wild Horse" (Instrumental) —
External links
Categories: 1938 Births, 1990 Deaths, 20th-century African-american Male Singers, 20th-century American Male Singers, 20th-century American Singers, American Pop Musicians, American Soul Singers, People From Blytheville, Arkansas, People From Toccoa, Georgia, Singers From Chicago, Allied International Records Artists, Vee-jay Records Artists, Wand Records Artists, Singers From Arkansas
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