THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,652) Clarence Carter — “You Can’t Miss What You Can’t Measure”
One of Clarence Carter’s (see #296) classic cheating songs. “My favourite Clarence Carter song . . . Perfect Southern Soul”. (michaelhinchcliffe7213, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4wtG2szSN0)
“But as sure as you can do it, brother She can do it too” “But as sure as you do it now, sister He might do it too”
Jason Ankeny gives us some history:
Clarence Carter exemplified the gritty, earthy sound of Muscle Shoals R&B, fusing the devastating poignancy of the blues with a wicked, lascivious wit to create deeply soulful music rooted in the American South of the past and the present. Born . . . in Montgomery, AL, Carter was blind from birth. He immediately gravitated to music, teaching himself guitar by listening to the blues classics . . . . He majored in music at Alabama State University, learning to transcribe charts and arrangements in Braille. With blind classmate Calvin Scott, Carter in 1960 formed the duo Clarence & Calvin, signing to the Fairlane label . . . . [They] left Fairlane for the Duke imprint, renaming themselves the C & C Boys . . . In all, the duo cut four Duke singles, none of them generating more than a shrug at radio . . . . [They] spent the first half of 1966 headlining Birmingham’s 2728 Club. One Friday night in June while returning home from the nightspot, the group suffered an auto accident that left Scott critically injured, initiating an ugly falling-out with Carter over the resulting medical bill. In the meantime, Carter continued as a solo act, signing to [the] Fame label for 1967’s “Tell Daddy,” which inspired Etta James’ [see #316, 498, 1,585] response record, “Tell Mama.” The superb popcorn-soul effort “Thread the Needle” proved a minor crossover hit . . . . Carter [went] to Atlantic with “Looking for a Fox,” issued in early 1968. . . . [and] prov[ing] the first of many singles to slyly reference the singer’s visual impairment, not to mention showcasing the libidinous impulses that dominate many of his most popular records. . . . “Slip Away,” a superior cheating ballad[, ] . . . . was a Top Ten hit, and its follow-up, “Too Weak to Fight,” also went gold, solidifying Carter’s newfound commercial appeal. He ended 1968 with a superbly funky Christmas single, the raunchy “Back Door Santa,” [see #296] . . . . The percolating “Snatching It Back” was Carter’s first Atlantic release of 1969 . . . . Subsequent singles . . . were only marginally successful, but in 1970 Carter returned to the Top Ten with the sentimental “Patches,” his biggest hit to date. . . . Carter left Atlantic in 1972, returning to Fame with “Back in Your Arms Again.” Released in 1973, the leering “Sixty Minute Man” proved a novelty hit, but in 1975 he attempted to reignite his career at ABC, releasing “Take It All Off” and “Dear Abby” to little notice.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/clarence-carter-mn0000148477#biography
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