Who was/is Loy Clingman ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
Loy Clingman
Despite life-long employment as a teacher, LOY CLINGMAN, from Williams, Arizona, built other careers as a singer-songwriter, producer-publisher, folk club owner and Grand Canyon tour guide. He most enjoyed playing guitar and writing Western songs in a similar vein to Lee Hazlewood. "It was kind of country folk," he recalled.
Clingman was signed to Hazlewood's VIV label in 1955. The following year Hazlewood recorded him singing I'm Low Low Low. The record came out first on Floyd Ramsey's LIBERTY BELL and then, by March 1957, on DOT. The A side, It's Nothing To Me, written by Pat Patterson aka Leon Payne, has seen versions by Jim Reeves (RCA), Sanford Clark (RAMCO), Buddy Long (DEMON) and the Coasters (ATCO).
In late 1957 Clingman acquired VIV from Hazlewood and managed the label for the rest of its 20 year existence. He helped produce the sessions at Viv Recorders, a studio he set up in Phoenix with Dick Wilson and Buddy Wheeler in 1958. Need You by Donnie Owens was an immediate hit and the biggest they ever had.
During the '60s he built a new studio in the car port of his West Phoenix home. He led a folk group, the Clingman Clan (records on 4 CORNERS, KAPP and TREY) and made solo records on CAPITOL, ELKO and RIMROCK.
Today, Clingman lives in Dewey, Arizona where he continues to work on music-related projects. I'm Low Low Low isn't our strongest selection (certain records, including Dick Lory's Cool It Baby and Tom Blair's Rock It, remain unavailable) but, what the heck, let's hear it for ... folkabilly!
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