Renfro Valley Entertainers
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| 1922 - 1998 |
Renfro Valley offers a tribute to Old Joe Clark.
In the mid-'30s, country music was just a baby. Jimmy Rodgers was singing "'T" for
Texas," the Carter Family was picking "Wildwood Flower," and
Manuel D. Clark was a teenager. He gave the home folks in and around
Johnson City, Tennessee the first glimpse of the talent he was about
to unleash on the world. As a tap dancing, guitar-strumming, mountain
balladeer, Manuel "Speedy" Clark joined the ranks of a local
band that was playing the schoolhouses and theaters throughout East Tennessee.
After twelve years of learning his craft as an all around entertainer,
he then made his way to the Renfro Valley Barn Dance.
Mr. John Lair, Renfro Valley's founder, recognized this young man's
potential as a full-time comic and helped him develop an old man character
he called "Uncle Joe Clark." Soon, he adopted the label of "Old
Joe Clark," after a popular fiddle song of the day.
Old Joe's fame grew over radio, television, and movies. Old Joe appeared
in such classics as Country Music on Broadway Second Fiddle to a Steel
Guitar and Marshall of Sleepy Hollow. He played stints on the Grand Ole
Opry with illustrious performers of the day such as Bill Monroe. Old
Joe Clark, had over-shadowed the character in the famous song. He shared
some of the same attributes, however: an irresistibly, ornery attitude,
hilarious country humor, and a fantastic lick on the five-string banjo.
You won't find a single performer on the Renfro Valley stage who was
more loved and respected than Old Joe Clark. Younger performers and comedians
looked up to Old Joe as a model of a successful entertainer. His antics
and country humor served to bring happiness not only to his fellow entertainers,
but to everyone who crossed his path. He has brightened lives and put
smiles on faces with his music and laughter.
We will all miss you, Old Joe Clark.
