Clifford Curry born 3 November 1936

Clifford Curry Jr.(November 3, 1936 – September 7, 2016) was an American beach music and R&B singer. Born into Gospel, raised on Rhythm & Blues, and singing and writing Rock & Roll until he was crowned “The King of Beach Music”, Clifford Curry’s musical contributions have touched the hearts and souls of millions of fans throughout the world.

Curry was born on November 3, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois. Clifford Curry grew up in rural East Tennessee in the 1940’s. During his boyhood he listened to his father’s collection of 78 records on an old RCA Victrola in their rustic home, along with his father, Clifford (Senior), his mother, Anna Mae Johnson Curry and younger brother, Floyd “Bud” Curry.

After grade school at Lyon’s Elementary, Curry attended Austin High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he was well known for three things: playing baseball, caddying at the exclusive Cherokee Country Club, and being an outstanding singer.

The Knoxville, TN, native joined the Echos while he still attended Austin High School in Knoxville; they had been around four years before Curry joined and backed Faye Adams on her number one R&B smash "Shake a Hand." The revamped group cut two records as the renamed Five Pennies for Savoy Records ("Mr. Moon" and "My Heart Trembles" in 1955 and 1956 respectively) and also waxed unreleased sides for Herald Records. Royalties, money, and the lack of, caused the group to splinter in different directions.

Curry and some other Knoxville cronies formed the Bingos, who cut a deal with Ernie Young's Excello Records. Excello issued the single on its Nasco subsidiary and renamed them the Hollyhocks; as before, nothing happened and the members disbanded into other ventures.

Curry found a stable gig with the Bubba Suggs Band in 1959, staying until 1964. The band played around their home base, Clarksville, TN, and backed up the major R&B acts that wheeled into their neck of the woods. He left after five years because Bubba couldn't vision much outside of Clarksville, neither could the other band members.

 

As Sweet Clifford he recorded for the Nashville-based Excello Records label, before beginning work with the Fabulous Six and the Contenders. In 1967, he had a hit on the US R&B chart with "She Shot A Hole In My Soul", which was written by Mac Gayden and performed by Mac and his band mates Kenny Buttrey and Norbert Putnam. They did the song just like the demo Mac had produced. Buzz Cason produced.

From 1967-69 Curry recorded seven more singles on Elf Records. None charted as high as his first success. Between 1970-73 he recorded three songs each on Abbott Records, Caprice and SSS but was most well known as one of thee voices of the Carolina Beach Music scene. In 1977, Curry recorded two singles on Buddah Records, “Body Shop” and “Moving In The Same Circles”. What made Curry’s music memorable was his cut in 1980, “Shag With Me” on Woodshed Records, followed by “Let’s Have A Party” (Archie Jordan).

Known as "The King Of Beach Music," Curry continued to play in the South-eastern United States with his brand of Carolina Beach Music, and was inducted into the Beach Music Hall of Fame in 1995, along with his peers Maurice Williams and Bill Pinkney. Curry regularly toured cities along the Carolina coast until medical problems curtailed his touring schedule.

Curry lived in Nashville for more than 20 years, but returned to Knoxville to be closer to family. In 2010, Curry was hospitalized for blood clots in his lungs and spent two months in the University of Tennessee Medical Centre. He later moved to Knoxville permanently.

In his later years he suffered from prostate cancer and diabetes and was hospitalized with a stroke. He died at the University of Tennessee Medical Centre in Knoxville on September 7, 2016 at the age of 79. 

(Info various, mainly edited from an article by Patricia Albrecht  & All Music)