Roy Clark Archives - Bluegrass Today

Roy Clark’s funeral to be streamed live online

A Celebration of Life ceremony is scheduled for today at noon (EST) for the late Roy Clark, who passed away last week at 85.

The memorial is open to the public, and will be held at the Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow, OK. It will be streamed live from the church web site and Facebook page.

In lieu of flowers, the Clark family has requested donations in his name to the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Roy was a long-time supporter of their efforts, and headlined a charity golf tournament to benefit the hospital for several years. St Jude was so thankful, they named a floor after him.

Family and friends will meet for a private remembrance later this evening.

Roy Clark passes

The bluegrass and banjo playing world has lost a great champion today, as we note the passing of singer and multi-instrumentalist, Roy Clark. The smiling face of the banjo for so many Americans as a host on Hee-Haw for nearly 25 years, Clark shared his musical skills widely during his career, appearing regularly on other TV programs, and helping to bring the phrase “pickin’ and grinnin'” into the English lexicon.

Clark was 85 years of age, and died from complications of pneumonia at his home in Tulsa, OK.

He had been inducted into the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame in 2017, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.

Roy got his start in the business in 1947, and by 1955 he was a regular performer on Jimmy Dean’s television show from Washington, DC. He was born in Prince Edward County, VA, but grew up successively in New York City and Washington, DC. As a young man he pursued both professional sports and musical entertainment, switching to music when he was able to play The Grand Ole Opry at only 17.

Later he worked in Vegas as a guitarist, supporting country star Wanda Jackson, when he was given the chance to host a daytime country-themed show for NBC. This led to the Hee-Haw program on CBS. The network cancelled the show after three seasons, but it went on to be a huge success directly syndicated to local stations.

After Hee-Haw, where Roy both played and sang, and performed in a recurring comedy routine with co-host Buck Owens using his banjo, Clark opened a theater in Branson, MO where he worked in the ’80s and ’90s, until his retirement and a move to Tulsa.

His prominence on Hee-Haw led to his serving as a semi-regular fill-in host for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show.

Though Hee-Haw was primarily a county music show, with live performances from the biggest stars in Nashville, Clark always saw to it that bluegrass was featured as well. Perhaps its most iconic segment was the Pickin’ and Grinnin’ bit, where he and Owens alternated corny jokes with a verse and chorus of Cripple Creek.

A memorial celebration will be held in Tulsa in the next few days, though details have not yet been announced.

R.I.P., Roy Clark.

Roy Clark speaks at the American Banjo Museum

This story about Roy Clark’s press conference at the American Banjo Museum is a contribution from Pam Tucker with Walkers Folk Mania Media.

I’m a pickin… and I’m a grinnin. Words that will forever echo in my memories. Sunday evenings at home were spent in front of a Zenith console TV, watching Hee Haw with the family. Never in my mind did I contemplate that I would one day be interviewing co-host Roy Clark, but last Thursday I had the opportunity to shake hands, and talk to him. As we sat in the middle of two original Hee Haw costumes, Roy shared some of his memories with me and an array of other reporters at the opening of a new exhibit honoring his career at the American Banjo Museum, which is located in the Bricktown section of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

As his sparkling blue eyes, and his smile reiterated, Roy Clark is more than a super picker extraordinaire. Clark is the son of a musician, who followed his dream and chased rainbows to be the superb entertainer we all know today. It all began on April 15, 1933, when Roy Linden Clark was born in Meherrin, Virginia. At 14, he began to pick on the banjo, mandolin and guitar. One year later, he had won 2 national banjo championships.

Roy was more than a musician, he was an athlete as well. He dabbled in baseball and boxing as a boy. However, his music career took off at 17 when he took center stage at The Grand Old Opry.

Clark said, when asked how long he has been on television, “I’ve been on TV longer than Bob Hope. While I was still living at home, I was on television in 1947.” Most known for his co-hosting of Hee Haw, Roy has more to his background than a family oriented variety show. By 1955, Clark was a regular on Jimmy Dean’s Washington D.C. television program. Dean fired Clark for excessive tardiness, but this didn’t hold Roy back. In fact, he soared to even further heights. When asked about the relationship with rockabilly star, Wanda Jackson, Roy said, “She’s a sweetheart. She got me connected with Capital records on a trip to Las Vegas. Being on the road is hard for a musician, especially for a lady, living out of a suitcase.”

Clark states he has over 100 mandolins, banjos, guitars, and steel guitars in his private collection although none of his instruments are named, they are numbered so he knows what he has. He has brought with him today, a banjo that will be on display this summer at the American Banjo Museum. “This banjo has taken me a lot of places. And has seen a lot of things.”

Roy had airtime on the Muppets, Beverly Hillbillies, Odd Couple and Jackie Gleason shows, but is most known for his co-hosting stint on Hee Haw. The show only aired for 3 years on CBS, but continued in direct syndication for another two decades. Still today it appears regularly in reruns. Clark’s Hee Haw contributions brought bluegrass music to the forefront and showcased the many different genres of country music.

Roy now lives in Tulsa Oklahoma. Clark said, “Oklahoma is centrally located, easy to travel from coast to coast, and to Nashville. So, I would have to say I chose Oklahoma because it’s easy.” Easy or not, Oklahoma and Oklahomans are thrilled to have Roy Clark as a resident, neighbor and entertainer. Yes, today, Roy is still a pickin’ and a grinnin’.

Photos by Budd Walker and M. King.

Roy Clark exhibit at the American Banjo Museum

The American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City has announced the opening this week of America’s Super Picker – Roy Clark, their exhibit showcasing the career of the popular multi-instrumentalist and singer from Virginia. Many music fans in the US know Roy primarily from his time as a co-host of Hee Haw on television, but he had a successful performing career both before and after TV. He now lives in Oklahoma not far from the museum.

Consisting of photographs and artifacts from the personal collection of this recent inductee to the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame, the exhibit will officially open on Thursday, April 6. Starting at 5:00 p.m., Clark will hold a press conference at the museum, after which the ceremonial opening of the exhibit will commence. ABM officers will deliver brief remarks, as will Clark, before hosting a VIP Meet and Greet with members and special guests.

The museum boasts the world’s largest collection of banjos on public display, in over 21,000 square feet of displays, ranging from primitive instruments like the ones made by African slaves, through the Minstrel era banjos, up to the genre-defining banjos from the early 20th century up to the present day.

The Roy Clark exhibit is scheduled to be open through March of 2018. Visitors can tour the American Banjo Museum Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission is only $6 for adults, with discounts for seniors, military, and students. Children under 5 may attend at no charge.