From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Mar 1, 2002  1:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Cliffie Stone
 
CLIFFIE STONE (By Shaun Mather)

Born Clifford Gilpin Snyder, 1 March, 1917, Stockton, California
Died 17 January, 1998, Santa Clarita, California

Cliffie Stone was one of the most influential people on the development
of the California country music scene of the 40's and 50's. Born into a
musical family (his father was the entertainer Herman the Hermit) he
played the local circuit as a bass player, comedian and show host before
hooking up with Capitol Records. He served as an A&R exceutive at
the company for two decades and in that time helped the careers of
countless performers, the highlights being Tennessee Ernie Ford (who
he managed for over 10 years) and Hank Thompson. He also wrote
songs including Divorce Me C.O.D., So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed
and Silver Stars, Purple Sage, Eyes of Blue. The following decades saw
him move into publishing, owning his own label and writing books on the
music business, before he passed away following a heart-attack.