Patches ~ Clarence Carter

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Clarence Carter attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and Alabama State College in Montgomery, graduating in August 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. His professional music career began with friend Calvin Scott, signing to the Fairlane Records label to release "I Wanna Dance But I Don't Know How" the following year. After the 1962 release of "I Don't Know (School Girl)," Carter and Scott left Fairlane Records for Duke Records, renaming themselves the CL Boys for their label debut, "Hey." In all, the duo cut four Duke singles, none of them generating more than a shrug at radio. In 1965, they travelled to Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to record "Step by Step" and its flip side, "Rooster Knees and Rice."[2] Atlantic Records took notice and released "Step by Step" on its Atco Records subsidiary, but it flopped. In 1966, Carter and Scott and group were in an automobile accident that left Scott injured. Carter continued as a solo act, signing to the Fame Records label for 1967's "Tell Daddy," which inspired Etta James' response record, "Tell Mama." Several more solid singles followed, until Carter released "Slip Away," which hit number 6 on the Pop Charts. "Too Weak to Fight" hit number 13. Several more soul singles followed, like "Snatching It Back," "At The Dark End of the Street," "The Feeling Is Right," "Doing Our Thing" and "Patches." "Patches", (first recorded by Chairmen of the Board), was a UK number 2 and a US number 4 in 1970, and was nominated for a Grammy in 1972. I was born and raised down in Alabama On a farm way back up in the woods I was so ragged that folks used to call me Patches Papa used to tease me about it 'Cause deep down inside he was hurt 'Cause he'd done all he could My papa was a great old man I can see him with a shovel in his hands, see Education he never had He did wonders when the times got bad The little money from the crops he raised Barely paid the bills we made For, life had kick him down to the ground When he tried to get up Life would kick him back down One day Papa called me to his dyin' bed Put his hands on my shoulders And in his tears he said He said, Patches I'm dependin' on you, son To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you Two days later Papa passed away, and I became a man that day So I told Mama I was gonna quit school, but She said that was Daddy's strictest rule So ev'ry mornin' 'fore I went to school I fed the chickens and I chopped wood too Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on I wanted to leave, just run away from home But I would remember what my daddy said With tears in his eyes on his dyin' bed He said, Patches I'm dependin' on you, son I tried to do my best It's up to you to do the rest Then one day a strong rain came And washed all the crops away And at the age of 13 I thought I was carryin' the weight of the Whole world on my shoulders And you know, Mama knew What I was goin' through, 'cause Ev'ry day I had to work the fields 'Cause that's the only way we got our meals You see, I was the oldest of the family And ev'rybody else depended on me Ev'ry night I heard my Mama pray Lord, give him the strength to face another day So years have passed and all the kids are grown The angels took Mama to a brand new home Lord knows, people, I shedded tears But my daddy's voice kept me through the years Sing Patches, I'm dependin' on you, son To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you Oh, I can still hear Papa's voice sayin' Patches, I'm dependin' on you, son I've tried to do my best It's up to you to do the rest I can still hear Papa, what he said Patches...

Category: Music
Uploaded: May 17th, 2008 @ 4:14 pm
Author: fuzulgrut

Length: 03:12
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Views: 52,428

Tags: carter clarence patches soul

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