Style Innovator: Clarence White (7 June 1944 – 15 July 1973)

The more discerning music lover will already be familiar with Clarence White. As an innovator, his unique finger picking guitar style was honed from years of playing traditional acoustic country, bluegrass, and folk music with a number of bands, most notably The Kentucky Colonels, and working on high profile studio sessions during the mid to late 1960s. However, it was his move from acoustic to almost wholly electric guitar where Clarence White makes his greatest impact and the perceived wisdom is that he found his greatest creativity and freedom playing electric. So, in my humble opinion Clarence White did much more than introduce breath taking guitar playing to a rock audience, but he managed to influence and move forward two entire genres of music simultaneously.

Recording-wise Clarence White is probably best known for his work with The Byrds (Dr Byrd & Mr Hyde’, 1969 – and the aforementioned studio sessions), who he joined in 1967, and of course The Kentucky Colonels (1961-1965). However, for me any of his collaborations with Gib Guilbeau and Gene Parsons stand out; the Nashville West sessions (1967) remains on my list of desert island discs, and one record I recommend you listen to if you have not already done so.

                                    The Reasons (from left to right): Clarence White, Wayne Moore, Gene Parsons,Gib Guilbeau
                                                                  Photo courtesy of Alec Palao

CW - Grandma Funderbunk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3tl3APQtyo

Nashville West - Ode To Billie Joe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLTMu6uaqHI

Gosdin Brothers - Tell Me (listen to CW guitar at end)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDUKKaRw9wE

Style Icon: Evie Sands (26 February 1946)

Evie Sands is one of my favourite female recording artists. Gifted with a unique and powerful voice she was signed to the Red Bird/Blue Cat label in New York in 1965. That year she had hits with ‘Run Home To Your Mama’, ‘Take Me for a Little While’, and ‘Can’t Let You Go’ – see youtube link. Less prolific perhaps than most of her soul contemporaries during the 1960s, Evie Sands was one of a new rare breed of female singer songwriters and she went on to become an accomplished artist. If you are unfamiliar with Evie Sands, I recommend you check out her LP ‘Any Way That You Want Me’ (1970).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzleOI8W4yQ&feature=related

Style Icon: Rod Serling (25 December 1924 – 28 June 1975)

Rod Serling was the creator of one of my favourite sci-fi TV series, The Twilight Zone, which originally ran from 1959 to 1964. The programme, which featured short stories with often dystopian themes, will be the subject of a blog in the near future. However, Mr Serling definitely resides in the style zone wearing razor sharp suits, immaculately coiffured hair, and holding an ever smouldering cigarette.

Style Icon: Cool Cars in Film

The Series I Alfa Romeo Spider - The Graduate (1967) - Designed by Pininfarina, the Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto first went into production in 1966 and underwent several design and engine modifications until production of the Series 4 Spider ended in 1993. The early ‘Spider’ was famed for its elegant lines and beautiful lozenge shape and can be seen in the film tearing its way up to Berkeley to the sounds of Simon & Garfunkel.

Style Icon: Cool Cars in Film

Autobianchi Bianchina Cabriolet – The Pink Panther (1963) - The Bianchina was produced by the Italian automaker Autobianchi and was based on the Fiat 500. In my opinion the cabriolet version is probably the coolest microcar and looks no cooler than when being driven by a person wearing a gorilla suit.

 Image courtesy of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum (www.microcarmuseum.com)

Style Icon: Cool Cars in Film

The Sunbeam Alpine Series II – Dr. No (1962) - According to Wikipedia, the Alpine was produced principally for the US market and as one of the chief designers of the car, Ken Howes, had worked for Ford prior to joining the Rootes Group, it was bound to have some resemblance to the first generation of Ford Thunderbird’s. In Dr. No, the first Bond car can be seen out manouvering a 1939 LaSalle Funeral Coach full of baddies.

Style Icon: The Honda S500 (1963)

I have always had a penchant for European style sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s – the Series 3 Sunbeam Alpine sitting top of my list. Neat and nippy, smaller cars just seem to have an understated refinement and elegance when compared to their bulkier brasher equivalents in the United States during the same period.

I recall regularly passing the Honda dealership located at the junction of Camden Street and Camden Road and stopping to admire the 1963 Honda S500 convertible on display outside. All cherry red and chrome, the S500 had a unique charm and I imagined myself driving it around town, soft top down, listening to Booker T & The MG’s ‘Hip Hug-Her’ (1967). The dealership is long gone but I wonder what happened to that car ……