Clarence Reid !
Clarence Reid was born 14th February, 1945. During the 60's, Clarence sang with the group the Del Mires, whom, at one point, had Paul Kelly as part of their line-up.
Reid teamed up with Willie Clarke, a fellow Miami songwriter and producer. They decided to pay legendary South Florida record producer Henry Stone a visit. Stone, who had been turning out hits for years, decided to take Reid and Clarke under his wing and show them how to make hit records.
Reid and Clarke, determined to make hit records, spent hours learning the ropes from Stone, which paid off for everybody concerned. As talent scouts, it was Reid and Clarke who first discovered a 12-year-old singer named Betty Wright in a Liberty City record store in 1966. As first-time producers, Reid and Clarke turned out T.K. Records’ first national hit with Betty Wright singing their 1968 single “Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do.”
During the summer of 1969, Reid finally cracked the national charts with the Reid- and Clarke-penned “Nobody But You Babe,” which climbed all the way to No. 7 on the Billboard black charts. During the next 10 years, Reid released countless singles for Stone’s Alston label. It was Reid and Clarke who penned Betty Wright’s 1971 No. 2 R&B gold single “Clean Up Woman,” as well as “What Can I Tell her,” a hit for both Miami soul singers J. P. Robinson and Timmy Thomas. In 1975, Reid and Clarke wrote Gwen McCrae’s No. 1 R&B gold single “Rockin’ Chair.”
During the 70s Reid went underground, only to resurface as masked recording artist Blowfly, writer and producer of highly X-rated party albums released on Stone’s Weird World label.
Sweet.
Clarence Reid - Nobody But You Babe
Clarence Reid - Tear You A New Heart
Comments
Anyone who can claim responsibility for Betty Wright wins a special place in my heart just for that.
jAKAsso!