Who was/is Vernon Claud ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
Primarily a country musician and a songwriter, VERNON CLAUD remains little-known. He was born in Veto, Alabama in 1923, and was raised on a cotton farm. He married Emily Curtiss, and moved to Nashville where he worked in construction, and played music on the side. He wrote prolifically, but recorded infrequently. Among his published compositions are I Haven't Got The Right To Love You recorded by Mac Wiseman, Temptation Baby cut by the Wilburn Brothers, and I'm Ready If You're Willing, cut by Johnny Horton. Perhaps his most lucrative copyright was What's Good For You, cut by Flatt & Scruggs and Johnny Cash. He also wrote songs that were recorded by Eddie Bond (Double Duty Loving), Ray Price, Mimi Roman, and Sammy Barnhard. His own recording of Baby's Gone is a dead ringer for Johnny Horton's mellow rockabilly style.
By the mid-'60s, Claud was divorced and living way south of Nashville in Pulaski, Tennessee. He played at the Log Cabin Inn, and did a variety show weekly for Chapman's Furniture Store on WKSR, Pulaski. He taught guitar and built steel guitars, trying to scratch out a living in music any way he could. A bad drinker for many years, Claud straightened out, but suffered a heart attack driving up to Nashville, and died on June 18, 1985. His brother, Danny, leads a band called the Syncros in Toledo if you're ever in northern Ohio. (Colin Escott, July 1994)
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