William Clarke

William Clarke stood as the foremost successor to Chicago’s tradition of amplified blues harmonica, bringing the first genuinely new approach to the instrument in many years. He rose to prominence within blues communities throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, only for his career to end abruptly with his death in 1996. A student and admirer of George “Harmonica” Smith, Clarke mastered both the diatonic harp and the chromatic harp—the instrument most associated with Smith and Little Walter—demonstrating exceptional technical command. Rather than merely recycling phrases from earlier Chicago players, he forged an individual style and phrasing that extended the lessons received from Smith.

Born March 29, 1951, in Inglewood, a South Central Los Angeles suburb, Clarke grew up in a blue-collar household after his parents relocated from Kentucky. As a teenager he experimented with guitar and drums while absorbing rock & roll, yet the early Rolling Stones recordings eventually directed him toward the blues. He began playing harmonica in 1967, balancing the instrument with daytime work as a machinist and gradually entering the Los Angeles blues circuit. Early influences included Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells, James Cotton, and Sonny Boy Williamson II; soon afterward he absorbed elements of 1960s soul-jazz, adapting saxophone and organ lines to his playing. Frequent appearances in South Central clubs often required him to shuttle between venues for continuous performances, during which he encountered West Coast figures such as T-Bone Walker, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson, Big Mama Thornton, and George “Harmonica” Smith, who became his principal instructor.

Clarke and Smith began performing and recording together in 1977, maintaining the partnership until Smith’s passing in 1983. In the intervening years Clarke contributed to sessions by Smokey Wilson and Shakey Jake Harris while issuing several albums on small labels, beginning with 1978’s Hittin’ Heavy and followed by 1980’s Blues From Los Angeles. The 1983 release Can’t You Hear Me Calling represented a more substantial debut, though his artistic direction crystallized with 1987’s Tip of the Top, a Smith tribute issued by Satch that received a W.C. Handy Award nomination. That same year Clarke left his machinist position; he then documented a live set, Rockin’ the Boat, in 1988. Although none of these recordings enjoyed nationwide distribution, his profile expanded beyond Los Angeles.

After submitting a demo to Alligator Records, Clarke secured a contract and delivered his label debut, Blowin’ Like Hell, in 1990. The album drew widespread praise and positioned him as a fully realized amplified-harmonica stylist. Extensive touring across the United States and Europe followed, and “Must Be Jelly” earned him the 1991 W.C. Handy Award for Blues Song of the Year. Serious Intentions, released in 1992, matched the earlier record’s intensity. Groove Time (1994) introduced a horn section that highlighted the jazz and swing aspects already present in his work, a direction pursued further on the more ambitious and jazz-inflected The Hard Way in 1996.

Clarke’s health, however, had begun to decline; years of demanding road life took a toll on his large frame. He collapsed onstage in Indianapolis during March 1996 and received a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Although he lost weight and adopted a sober lifestyle, the prior damage proved irreversible. After resuming heavy touring he collapsed again in Fresno, entered the hospital with a bleeding ulcer, and died the following day, November 2, 1996, when surgery proved unsuccessful. He was 45. Posthumously The Hard Way garnered three W.C. Handy Awards—Album of the Year, Song of the Year for “Fishing Blues,” and Instrumentalist of the Year for harmonica. In 1999 Alligator issued the retrospective Deluxe Edition.