Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell, Charlie McCoy inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame
Country music stars Charlie McCoy, left, Roy Clark, center, and Barbara Mandrell meet during a reception before being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday. (Associated Press photo)
Tulsa resident Roy Clark, along with singer Barbara Mandrell and musician Charlie McCoy, were inducted Sunday into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Medallion Ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., was at times emotional as stars paid tribute to the inductees, according to the Associated Press.
The three country icons were honored in a tribute that included performances by Oklahoma natives Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire, George Jones, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner, Michael McDonald, Rodney Crowell and others. With the inductions, the hall boasts 108 members.
Country music star Roy Clark performs after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday. (AP photo)
To honor Clark, guitarist Duane Eddy performed the instrumental “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” one of Clark’s signature tunes. Josh Turner sang “Thank God and Greyhound.” And Garth Brooks praised his fellow Oklahoman, saying Clark inspired him to chase his dream. Brooks described Clark as “a man who never stopped being a man from where he was from,” according to the AP.
Clark, 76, learned to play play the guitar, banjo and mandolin at a young age. He started on the path to fame on Jimmy Dean’s TV show “Town and Country Time” and took over the show when Dean left. He moved to Las Vegas in 1960 and became a regular at the Golden Nugget. Later, he toured and recorded with Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson and was a regular at the Frontier Hotel in Vegas.
In the ’60s he had top 10 hits with “Tips of My Fingers” and “Yesterday When I Was Young.” He also broke into TV, appearing on “The Tonight Show,” “The Jackie Gleason Show” and the “Beverly Hillbillies.”
In 1969, Clark and Buck Owens were picked by CBS to co-host “Hee Haw,” a country version of the series “Laugh-In.” He and Owens, who died in 2006, hosted “Hee Haw” for more than 20 years.
“We love you Roy Clark. We love you,” Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens told Clark as he formally inducted him into the hall. “Everytime you hit the stage you update country music 10 years, and that’s what it’s all about.”
The AP reports that Clark got emotional and said it was humbling to be mentioned alongside many of his musical heroes.
“Just to be associated yourself with the members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and imagine that your name will be said right along with all the list … ,” he said.
Clark entertained the audience with a couple of humorous stories and a song, “Yesterday When I Was Young.”
Country music star Barbara Mandrell speaks after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday. (AP photo)
Mandrell, 60, gave special thanks to her late father and longtime manager, Irby Mandrell, who died in March at age 84.
“Irby Mandrell was my manager as well as being my Daddy over my 38-year career. He taught me and guided me and directed me. It is his name, Mandrell, that I am blessed to have, and it’s the gracious loving public and the fans that made that name known and made it become popular,” she said in what the AP called an emotional speech. “So tonight I thank you with my entire being for putting my and my Daddy’s name into the Hall of Fame.”
According to the AP, Mandrell began her professional career in California when she was 11. She made her national TV debut on ABC with Red Foley’s “Five Star Jubilee.” Her first concert tour was with Johnny and June Carter Cash, Patsy Cline and George Jones.
She charted her first single in 1969, a remake of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” and went on to have a long run of country hits including “Midnight Oil,” “Married But Not to Each Other,” “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed” and “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”
At the height of her career, she acted in TV shows like the “The Rockford Files” and in 1980 teamed with her siblings to host “Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters” on NBC, which drew 40 million viewers a week and broadened her exposure beyond country music.
“I adore you with all my heart. You are my other big sister,” Reba McEntire told Mandrell. “I thank you for the things you taught me, not only musically but spiritually.
“And before I start balling like a baby, I’ll start singing,” McEntire said as she began “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” with Jones.
Bluegrass queen Alison Krauss sang “The Midnight Oil,” while Michael McDonald gave a bluesy take on “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right,” originally a soul song that Mandrell made into a No. 1 country hit. Her sister Louise sang “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed.”
Musician Charlie McCoy arrives to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday. (AP photo)
For McCoy, Rodney Crowell led a harmonica-heavy rendition of Roy Orbison’s “Candy Man.” McCoy, 68, is a multi-instrumentalist best known for his harmonica work, according to the AP.
McCoy’s first session was “Candy Man” in 1961. Since then, he’s recorded with Oklahoman Leon Russell, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Tanya Tucker and many more.
McCoy, who continues to record and perform, said when he first arrived in town he wanted to be a singer and didn’t know what a “session” was. But he learned fast watching a teenage Brenda Lee record “Sweet Nothin’s” with Nashville’s top studio musicians, known as the “A Team.”
“When I watched those Nashville A Team musicians work I said ‘To heck with singing, I want to do this,’” McCoy recalled.
Check after the break to see more photos of the Medallion Ceremony.
Roy Clark entering Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday
Roy Clark performs in 2006. (Associated Press photo)
Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell and Charlie McCoy are announced as the 2009 inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame at a press conference hosted by the Country Music Association on in February at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Tulsa resident Roy Clark to enter country music hall
Country music icon Roy Clark will be formally inducted Sunday into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The longtime Tulsa resident, along with singer Barbara Mandrell and musician Charlie McCoy, will enter the institution at the Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. The ceremony takes place during an annual reunion of the Hall of Fame membership.
“I’m honored to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame because I know or knew 90 percent of the people who are in here; they’re my friends. And the rest of them I don’t know are my heroes,” Clark said in February, when his induction into the hall was announced.
Clark, 76, learned to play the guitar, banjo and mandolin at a young age. By age 17, the Virginia native had won two national banjo championships, which earned him his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.
He became a regular on Jimmy Dean’s TV show “Town and Country Time” and took over the series when Dean left. Clark moved to Las Vegas in 1960 and became a fixture at the Golden Nugget. He later joined Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson as leader of her band.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Clark charted several Top 10 country singles, including “Tips of My Fingers,” “Yesterday When I Was Young,” and “If I Had It to Do All Over Again.”
He also ventured into acting, first with TV shows such as “The Tonight Show” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” and later in the movies “Uphill All the Way,” “Freeway” and “Gordy.” He finished filming the movie “Palo Pinto Gold” with Mel Tillis and Trent Willmon last year.
In 1969, Clark and Buck Owens were picked by CBS to co-host “Hee Haw,” a country version of the series “Laugh-In.” He and Owens, who died in 2006, hosted “Hee Haw” for more than 20 years.
In his six-decade career, Clark has won a Grammy and many other awards, gained a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and joined the Grand Ole Opry. He and Jackson, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, were inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
Clark and his wife Barbara have lived in Tulsa for many years; Roy Clark Elementary School in the Tulsa Union district is named for him.
He will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the “Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975″ category.
-BAM
BAM’s Country Music Minute: Brooks & Dunn, Dolly Parton, Roy Clark and more
I’m delivering news on Brooks & Dunn, Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton, Roy Clark, along with a list of the country stars playing Oklahoma this weekend, in today’s BAM’s Country Music Minute.
-BAM
Photo gallery: Roy Clark
”Hee Haw” co-hosts Buck Owens, left, and Roy Clark perform with other cast members during a taping of the show in 1986 in Nashville, Tenn. (Associated Press photo)
Click here to view a NewsOK photo gallery of Roy Clark’s career. On Wednesday, the Country Music Association announced that the longtime Tulsa resident would be added this year to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
-BAM
Biography: Roy Clark
From Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Country Music Hall of Fame 2009 inductee Roy Clark
Renowned country musician Roy Clark was born April 15, 1933 in Meherrin, Va., the son of two amateur musicians. He learned to play banjo, guitar and mandolin at a young age and often performed with his father as a teen. By age 17, he had won two national banjo championships, which earned him his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.
He became a regular on Jimmy Dean’s TV show “Town and Country Time,” taking over the series when Dean left. In 1960, Clark moved to Las Vegas and became a fixture at the Golden Nugget. He later was the leader of Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson’s band.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, Clark notched a series of Top 10 country singles, including “Tips of My Fingers,” “Yesterday When I Was Young,” “I Never Picked Cotton” and “If I Had It to Do All Over Again.”
He also branched out into acting, first with TV shows such as “The Tonight Show” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” and later in the movies “Uphill All the Way,” “Freeway” and “Gordy.” He finished filming the movie “Palo Pinto Gold” with Mel Tillis and Trent Willmon last year.
In 1969, he got the defining role in his career when CBS tapped Clark and Buck Owens to co-host “Hee Haw,” a country version of the series “Laugh-In.” He was the show’s co-host until 1992, when it neared the end of its more than 20-year run.
Over the course of his career, Clark has won a Grammy and numerous other awards, gained a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and joined the Grand Ole Opry. He and Jackson were inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
Clark and his wife Barbara have made their home in Tulsa for many years.
Clark will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the “Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975″ category.
-BAM
Roy Clark honored to join Country Music Hall of Fame
From left, Charlie McCoy, Barbara Mandrell and Roy Clark are announced as the 2009 inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame at a press conference hosted by the Country Music Association Wednesday at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by John Russell/CMA)
A version of this story ran in Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Roy Clark ‘honored’ to join Country Hall of Fame
Longtime Tulsan’s career includes a Grammy and several Top 10 singles
Prominent country musician Roy Clark feels honored to be joining what he calls “a very exclusive club”: the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The Country Music Association announced Wednesday that the longtime Tulsa resident will be among the Nashville, Tenn.-based institution’s 2009 inductees, along with singer Barbara Mandrell and musician Charlie McCoy. They will be formally inducted in spring.
“You’re so busy working all the time that you never think about it,” Clark, 75, said. “I’m honored to be in the Country Music Hall of Fame because I know or knew 90 percent of the people who are in here; they’re my friends. And the rest of them I don’t know are my heroes.”
His six-decade career includes a Grammy award and several Top 10 country singles. But the talented banjo, guitar and mandolin player is probably best known for co-hosting the TV variety show “Hee Haw” with Buck Owens for more than 20 years.
“I grew up listening (to) and watching Roy Clark, and what an impact he made on a lot of people’s lives back in the day when he was on ‘Hee Haw” and he and Buck Owens were ‘picking and grinning,’” said Beth Seim, executive director of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. “What an awesome thing that he is being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. I would say it’s long overdue.”
Clark and Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson were inducted into the state music hall of fame in 2000. Clark was the leader of Jackson’s band in the 1960s, playing on several of the singer’s recordings, including her rock hit “Let’s Have a Party.” Jackson , who lives in Oklahoma City, was selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.
Theresa Kiger, principal of Roy Clark Elementary School in the Tulsa Union district, said teachers will share the exciting news today with the student body. Last year, Clark played a benefit concert that raised $25,000 for the school’s music department; several students performed as his opening act.
“That money has been spent on after-school programs, specifically on guitar lessons and drum lessons for children. It’s also allowed us to have an after-school program that focuses on arts and drama,” she said. “Mr. Clark has been a strong supporter … and we’re so excited for him.”
-BAM
