Who was/is Clarence Green ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
Clarence Green
Clearly, guitar talent ran rampant in the Green household. Cal Green wasn’t the only young fretsman in the home primed to set Houston ablaze with his bone-cutting licks; his older brother Clarence possessed the same mindset. And no wonder; their mother played the same instrument in church.
Clarence, born June 17, 1934 (a year before Cal), was born in Houston and grew up in its Fifth Ward. He formed a duo in the early ‘50s with Albert Redeaux called Blues For Two that eventually expanded to include singers such as Johnny Copeland, Joe Hughes, and Lavelle White. Clarence debuted on wax in 1959 with Old Grandpa on the C&P logo, which showed enough local promise that it ended up on Chess. After the band with Redeaux broke up in the early ‘60s, Green did some session work for Don Robey’s Duke/Peacock empire in Houston.
Red Light, originally out on the Bright Star label in 1962 with a Green vocal, Puppy Dog, on the reverse (Nat Dove tickled the ivories), summons up a gospelized fervor in its rave-up excitement, the horns blasting and Clarence engaging in some hot staccato picking. Green moved on to the Shomar and Lynn labels for one-offs, then settled in at Duke for three mid-‘60s platters with his band, the Rhythmaires, beginning with Keep A Workin’. After a falling-out with Robey, Green went back to recording for small logos: Master, Rhythmaires (assumedly his own label), and Pope
While Cal emigrated to L.A., Clarence kept the Rhythmaires going in Houston (Trudy Lynn was one of his longtime vocalists). Green died March 13, 1997 after suffering a stroke less than two weeks earlier onstage that left him in a coma.
Bill Dahl
Chicago, Illinois
Electric Blues 1939-2005. - The Definitive Collection!
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