Acclaimed steel guitarist, yodeler, and songwriter (often of the risque brand) of the 1920s, '30s & '40s.
Clifford Raymond Carlisle, b. May 6, 1904 near Mount Eden, Spencer County, KY, d. April 2, 1983 in Lexington, KY. Born in a log cabin on a tobacco farm, Carlisle developed an early affinity for yodelling blues music and the Hawaiian guitar, which led to him becoming one of the best steel guitarists to play in country music. He is also considered a pioneer of the dobro and a fine yodeller and singer of most types of country songs, comedy and blues. In 1920, he first performed locally as a duo with his guitar-playing cousin Lillian Truax. During the 20s, he and singer/guitarist Wilbur Ball toured with vaudeville shows and in 1930 appeared on WHAS Louisville as the Lullaby Larkers. Mainly because of Carlisle's yodelling abilities, they first recorded for Gennett Records in 1930 and, in June 1931, with Carlisle playing steel guitar, they accompanied Jimmy Rodgers on two recordings in Louisville. During the 30s, Carlisle most likely made more recordings than any other artist with his yodels and vocals, in a style similar to Rodgers, being found on numerous labels including Bluebird Records, ARC, Decca Records and King Records. Between 1933 and 1936 he recorded several risqué ballads, including his self-penned 'Mouse's Ear Blues', sometimes using for these a pseudonym such as Bob Clifford or Amos Greene. He also popularised 'The Girl In The Blue Velvet Band'.
Around 1930, Carlisle began to appear with his younger brother Bill Carlisle as the Carlisles. They toured extensively throughout the Midwest and for some years were based at Charlotte or Knoxville. They also had their own barn dance stage show on WLAP Louisville. Cliff's son Tommy first performed with them when he was three years old and later recorded as Sonny Boy Tommy singing songs such as 'My Lovin' Cathleen' and 'Lonely Little Orphan Child'. He performed with them until he joined the US Army in World War II. (Later he worked in television). They recorded for RCA - Victor Records in 1936 but during their time together recorded for several major labels. Their song content changed over the years and they began to include gospel material in lieu of the risqué numbers. In 1946, their King recording of 'Rainbow At Midnight' became a number 5 hit on the US country charts. The brothers split amicably, around 1947, when Cliff basically retired. He continued to write and briefly came out of retirement in 1951 to appear with his brothers' group the Carlisles. In the 60s, he made some concert appearances with his brother and made some recordings for independent labels. In 1971, after a gap of 40 years, he even appeared with Wilbur Ball at the San Diego Folk Festival. In the late 70s, his health began to deteriorate and he died following a heart attack on April 2, 1983.
Some examples of Carlisle's excellent recordings may also be found on various compilation albums of old time music. Eminent authority Charles K. Wolfe summed up the career of both Carlisles by stating 'They were among Kentucky's first successful full-time country musicians, and their accomplishments are impressive by any standard.'
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By Jason Ankeny
White country bluesman Cliff Carlisle was among the most prolific recording artists of the 1930s; a blue yodeler in the tradition of Jimmie Rodgers, he helped pioneer the popularity of the Hawaiian steel guitar in country music, while the ribald imagery of his material established him among the wittiest and most reckless composers of his day. Born in Taylorsville, KY, on May 6, 1904, as a child Carlisle was enamored of the Hawaiian guitar recordings of Frank Ferera, and eventually placed a steel nut under the strings of his own guitar to achieve a similar sound. Rural blues was also an early influence, and while working on his family's farm he also absorbed the inspiration of old-timey string bands and sacred songs; he began his performing career at the age of 16, performing socials and local talent contests alongside a cousin, Lillian Truax. After Truax's marriage disbanded the duo, in 1924 Carlisle began collaborating with Wilber Ball, a construction worker who also played guitar and sang tenor harmony; over the course of the decade to follow, the duo regularly toured the vaudeville and tent show circuit, performing across the country as quite possibly the first blue yodeling duet team.
In 1930, Carlisle and Ball debuted on Louisville radio WHAS, a fledgling station their popularity helped establish; that same year Carlisle made his first recordings on the Gennett and Champion labels, virtually all of them firmly in the tradition of Jimmie Rodgers. In 1931, he and Ball actually recorded with the Singing Brakeman himself; that same year Carlisle also cut "Shanghai Rooster Yodel," the first in a series of ribald barnyard-themed outings that served him throughout his career, and might have influenced similar tracks by Charley Patton ("Banty Rooster Blues") and Howlin' Wolf ("Little Red Rooster"). Upon signing to ARC in late 1931, Carlisle's career truly took flight, as he landed a regular spot on Charlotte, NC, station WBT, followed by subsequent gigs at Chicago's WLS and Cincinnati's WLW. His younger brother, Bill, replaced Ball as rhythm guitarist circa 1934, and when Carlisle resumed recording in 1936 after a lengthy hiatus, his material became even saltier -- "Get Her By the Tail on a Down Hill Drag" was a classic barroom boast, while "That Nasty Swing" employed metaphorical imagery of surprising explicitness. (He typically recorded his more blue material under a variety of pseudonyms, including Bob Clifford and Amos Greene.)
During the mid-'30s, Carlisle's son -- billed as "Sonny Boy Tommy" -- began regularly appearing on live dates and recording sessions, a situation that often ran afoul of individual states' child labor laws. The recordings Carlisle made with his son were typically mild and innocuous, but his solo sides continued to get down and dirty -- "A Wild Cat Woman and a Tom Cat Man" offered a cartoonish portrait of domestic disputes, while the snarky "You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone" was later covered by Elvis Presley as "Just Because." In 1939, he recorded "Footprints in the Snow," later to become a bluegrass standard; the song offered clear proof that consumers' appetite for blue yodels was on the wane; in the years to follow, Carlisle was a regular on WMPS in Memphis, but by the early '50s he was essentially retired from the music industry, having recorded well over 300 sides during his heyday. He was rediscovered a decade later when the Rooftop Singers covered his "Tom Cat Blues," leading to a handful of reunion performances with Wilber Ball and even the recording of new material for the Rem label. Cliff Carlisle died in Lexington, KY, on April 2, 1983; he was 78.