From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Feb 27, 2002  1:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Clarence Garlow
 
CLARENCE GARLOW

Born 27 February 1911, Welsh, Louisiana
Died 24 July 1986, Beaumont, Texas

Vocalist / guitarist / accordionist / violinist

Garlow, a black Cajun, was the first zydeco performer to have a hit
on the national R&B charts : "Bon Ton Roula" (# 7) in 1950, on the
Macy's label. Before becoming a professional blues/R&B artist in 1949,
he had worked as a mailman in Texas. Shortly after the hit, Macy's
(primarily a hillbilly label) collapsed, forcing Garlow to arrange one-shot
deals with tiny labels. In 1953 he was signed by the prestigious Aladdin
label of Hollywood, for which he cut "New Bon-Ton Roulay". But his best
record was cut for the Flair label, "Route 90"/"Crawfishin'" (1953), with
rousing accompaniment from the Maxwell Davis band. Back from the
West Coast he recorded for Jay Miller and Eddie Shuler, but for Garlow
the musical good times had rolled to a grinding halt. Withdrawing from
performing, Garlow concentrated on his disc jockey duties at KJET Beaumont.
In 1979 he had retired from music altogether and was happily involved
in "TV repair, seafood sales, and invisible vinyl repair." It was a strange
assortment of jobs, but his approach to music had been just as eclectic,
from zydeco, city blues, and swamp-blues to R&B and rock 'n' roll.

Further reading: John Broven, South to Louisiana (1983).
"Route 90" and "Crawfishin'" are available on the Ace CD "Long Gone
Daddies" (Ace 768), released in 2000.