Harmonica Ace William Clarke
Harmonica Ace William Clarke
By Michael Erlewine
I have had the very good fortune to hear
great Chicago harp (harmonica) players
like Little Walter, Junior Wells, Big
Walter Horton, and others playing live in
the clubs of Chicago. Those days are
gone and I had given up hope of ever
hearing a new voice on amplified blues
harp again in my lifetime. Then came
William Clarke. Technically, Clarke is a
master of both the cross and chromatic
harps. He takes blues on the chromatic
up to and well beyond where Little
Walter left it years ago. But far more
important than the technique is the
music. Clarke plays straight-ahead
blues that is music to the ears and it
rocks.
William Clarke was born March 29, 1951
in Inglewood, California and became
turned onto blues during the 1960s,
oddly enough by hearing covers of blues
tunes by groups like the Rolling Stones.
Although he had played some guitar and
drums, Clarke started playing the
harmonica in 1967. He states that his
main early influences were Big Walter
Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells,
And Sonny Boy Williamson II. In mid-
1968 Clarke began listening to jazz
organists such as Jack McDuff, Jimmy
McGriff, Shirley Scott, and Richard
“Groove” Holmes. “This had a huge
influence on my playing, “ says Clarke,
“Along with jazz saxophonists Eddie
Lockjaw Davis, Gene Ammons, Lyne
Hope, and Willis Jackson, the
combination of listening and absorbing
the groves of tenor-sax-led organ trios
had an everlasting effect on my direction
in music. For my style, I incorporated
the hard core attitude and tone of the
classic Chicago harmonica players
along with the swinging and highly
rhythmic grooves of the organ trios and
to this I add my style and ideas and you
have the William Clarke sound.”
By the middle of 1969, Clarke was
spending a lot of time in the Los
Angeles ghetto clubs -- South-Central
Los Angeles. There he met T-Bone
Walker, Pee Wee Crayton, Shakey
Kake Harris, Big Joe Turner, Ironing
Board Sam, J.D. Nicholson, and George
“Harmonica” Smith, who would later
become his greatest influence on the
chromatic harp. Clarke would go from
one club until it closed at 2 AM, swtich
to an after-hours club from 2 AM to 6
AM, and then go to jam sessions that
could last until 11 AM -- and still hold
down a day job! Clarke spent 20 years
working as a machinist and family man
before launching his blues career.
Then Clarke began to see and listen
more to George “Harmonica” Smith -- a
veteran of the Muddy Waters band.
Clark says “To me George was bigger
than life. I was always afraid to start up
a conversation with him, not because I
thought he was mean, but because I
thought of him like a god on the
harmonica.” Around 1977, they became
friends and started performing together.
They worked together until Smith
passed away in 1983. Clarke was
George Smith’s protégé and he became
the godfather to Clark’s son Willie.
Clarke says “George and me were very
close friends and in a lot of ways he was
like a father to me “.
Clarke recorded a number of albums
prior to releasing his first CD. They are
 Harmonica Ace William Clarke
“Hittin’ Heavy” (Good Time, 1978),
“Blues from Los Angeles” (1980), “Can’t
You Hear Me Calling (Watch Dog,
1983), “Rockin’ the Boat” (Riviera,
1985), and “Tip of the Top” (Satch, 1987
-- nominated for a Handy award). He
won the 1991 Handy award for blues
song of the year, “Must Be Jelly,” and
has also received six W.C. Handy
Award nominations.
Clarke writes most of his own songs,
and many of them are real ear catchers.
He has a working-class background and
songs like “Gambling for my Bread” and
“Pawnshop Bound” are right on the
money -- just great tunes.
William Clarke (along with Big Walter
Horton and Paul Butterfield) has an
almost impeccable sense of which notes
to play. There are a lot of players out
there (white and black) that basically
play what’s on the records of the great
Chicago artists. Nothing wrong with this,
but no news there either. Clarke is an
original. Having heard him play live a
number of times, I’m can testify that
here is the real thing -- an extension of
the classic Chicago-style amplified harp
tradition into the present. Just listen to
those first two Alligator albums -- It’s all
on the CDs. Harmonica recording artist
Charlie Musselwhite says that Clarke is
his "favorite living harp player -- no
doubt about it." I am in total agreement
with Musselwhite. While most great
players are either dead or on the
decline, Clarke is available and cookin’
right now. He’s been playing about 200
gigs a year. Check him out.
(5 stars) Blowin’ Like Hell -- The title
says it all. William Clarke cooks on this
one, his first CD. And these are new
sounds. Songs like “Lollipop Mama,”
“Gambling for My Bread,” and
“Lonesome Bedroom Blues” (all written
by Clarke) are just great tunes. “Must Be
Jelly” won Clarke a W.C. Handy Award
for blues song of the year in 1991. I find
myself humming them. Clarke’s timing
and music right on the money. With the
great Alex Schultz on lead guitar. There
is no doubt that Clarke is one of the few
modern bluesmen who are exploring
and extending the amplified blues harp
tradition without violating any of its
principles. No one plays chromatic blues
harp with this kind of passion and sheer
conviction. Hear for yourself.-- Michael
Erlewine
(5 stars) Serious Intentions -- His
follow-up to “Blowin’ Like Hell” burns
with a ferocious intensity, particular for
his groundbreaking work on chromatic
harp and his ability to cover all styles
with remarkable elan. Again, he wrote
most of the songs and “Pawnshop
Bound,” “Tying to Stretch My Money,”
and “With a Tear in My Eye” and real
songs. Instrumentals like “Chasin’ the
Gator” feature Clarke . With Alex Schulz
on lead guitar. -- Cub Koda and Michael
Erlewine
(4 stars) William Clarke -- Groove
Time -- Here is Clarke, hot again. This
time he has added a horn section on
some cuts for this recording. No
problem. Alex Schultz is there on lead
guitar to make sure that this album
rocks. Clarke once again writes most of
the songs -- all 15 fat tracks. By this
time, his Alligator albums have a style
and feel (all his own) that one looks
forward to. Plenty of high-impact
amplified chromatic harmonica here of
the push-the-band-hard variety that
 Harmonica Ace William Clarke

Clarke does so well plus some tasty

acoustic thrown in too. -- Michael
Erlewine

(4 stars) The Hard Way -- His fourth

CD from Alligator is his jazziest and
bluesist recording to date. Clarke has
written half of the compositions and put
his own sound and style on those he did
not write. Highlights include ”The Boss”
(inspired by saxophonist Willis Jackson)
which is a fast jump that finds chromatic
harp riffing along with a horn section --
some interesting ideas. Other tunes are
the Benny Moten tune “Moten Swing,”
“My Mind is Working Overtime,” (a Latin-
tinged tune written by Clarke), and
“Letter from Home.”

-- Michael Erlewine

Michael@Erlewine.net