Gary James' Interview With
Jimmy Clanton



He is best known for hit records like "Just A Dream", "Go Jimmy Go", "Venus In Blue Jeans", "Don't Look At Me" and "Because I Do". "Just A Dream" and "Venus In Blue Jeans" went Gold. He was inducted into the Museum of the Gulf Coast Hall Of Fame, whose past inductees include the likes of Janis Joplin, ZZ Top and B.J. Thomas. On April 14th, 2007 he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame. The gentleman we are talking about is Mr. Jimmy Clanton.

Q - Jimmy, you had your first hit record only two years after forming your band?!

A - That is very accurate, yes. My first band was called The Dixiecats and we just kind of played for our own enjoyment in our own little neighborhood, but by the time I made seventeen, not quite eighteen, in Louisiana you could get into a place that served alcohol at eighteen. So, I had played with another little band as a guitar player because that's really what I wanted to be, a good, good guitar player. Singing was not on my agenda. What happened was a fella named Dick Holler came to me. He was a couple of years older than me; by the time I turned eighteen he said to me, "Look, I've got the contacts for all these different dance halls and clubs. I want to switch from Easy Listening to the Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm And Blues sound. I've already heard about you around town, that you are the best White guitar player there is." It just so happened I probably was by then. So he said, "I've got the contacts." Well, I started doing that and by the time I had just turned eighteen I was going to L.S.U. I was going to be a geologist. That all changed later. So, I would play music on the weekends, but we started becoming so popular, the group was called The Rockets, that eventually I did a little, simple math and realized I'm making a whole lot more money playing music. It's going to take me four to five years for my degree in Geology. So I thought I would put the Geology on the back burner and I took up the music. So, that's how that went. I went from The Dixiecats right to The Rockets. We really became the most well known, White, Rhythm And Blues, Swamp Pop band in that greater Gulf Coast area.

Q - How did you go from being in a band like The Rockets to having a hit record? Was that a big adjustment?

A - It was an incredible adjustment because as I said I only wanted to be guitar player. I had only played with this big band for a little while, but I overheard a conversation that I never forgot. It's out of context, but I heard the bandleader say to one of the other members, "Well, I'd pay him five dollars a night more because he sings," and I never forgot that. I didn't think in terms of being a singer. I just knew singing from the church hymnals at my grandma's fire and brimstone Baptist church in Alabama. When Dick Holler from The Rockets hired me he was always doing all the singing. So, one time I went to him and said, "You know what Dick? You're doing all the singing. You're gonna get hoarse. I wouldn't mind doing a song or two here and there. However, the band I used to play with, the guy that sang got five dollars a night more." We have to remember, five dollars in 1957 went a long way.

Q - Yes it did.

A - (laughs) And so he said, "Well, let me think about it. Why don't we give it a shot. Why don't you try out a song?" So, I said okay. There was a fella named Arthur Neville. He was one of The Neville Brothers and he recorded a song on the Speciality label called "Ooh-Wee Baby". I'll never forget it. So, I learned that song and I said, "Okay Dick, we'll give it a try and see how you like things." So, I'll never forget the first night. He said, "Okay, do the song." And so I got up and started singing this song, "Ooh-Wee Baby". It was a real typical Louisiana Swamp Pop song. And lo and behold everybody in the place, girls and guys, all started gravitating up towards the front of the bandstand right there under me, looking at me, watching me. They all just stared. I could almost read the lips of this guy. This one guy said to the other guy down there in front, "This kid can sing!" And I thought, wow! Okay. This might be something that's gonna work out real nicely. Well, the bottom line is Dick Holler saw how popular I became so quickly as the featured singer really in the band and then one day a girl who had dated Dick said to him; this is Baton Rouge. I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. That was ninety miles from New Orleans. She said to Dick, "There's a recording studio in New Orleans and a guy I had dated for awhile mentioned that for $25 you can rent a whole hour of recording time and you guys can hear what your band sounds like." So, Dick was still the featured singer. So, we go to New Orleans. Dick does most of the singing. He said, "Okay, that's it." Well, the engineer came on the microphone and said, "Look, you still got six minutes you paid for. You don't have anything else?" This is kind of like a script from Happy Days, I must admit. Dick said, "No, I don't have anything else," and he looked over at me and said, "Jimmy, do you have anything?" Well, it just so happened that I was dating a girl. She was really my first love. She and I were having a lot of arguments about different things. Out of the clear blue, I'll never forget this, in the living room of my house, I had never done this before in my life, I ended up writing a song. We have to remember in 1957, 1958, the cassette recorder had not been invented. So I had to memorize everything. So, somehow or another, not only did I remember the song, but I had it memorized. Dick said, "Why don't you go ahead and put it down. We've got six minutes." So, I put it down. It was a song called "I Trusted You". It really was about my girlfriend.

Q - Songwriting must have come easy for you then.

A - Well, it was easy for that first song. After I recorded that first song in the studio I just forgot about it. Johnny Vincent, who owned Ace Records; I got a call about ten days later, he said, "I'm Johnny Vincent. I own a record company called Ace Records." I knew what company that was because he had a big hit with Huey 'Piano' Smith And The Clowns called "Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu". He had another bit hit with "Don't You Just Know It." So, I recognized that label and he said, "I overheard you singing when I came into the studio, ready to do a session." He said, "I'd like to talk to you about that song and about you." I said, "What? Man!" So, I drove to New Orleans and he just came right out and said, "I would like to sign you to a contract and put out a record on you. In fact, that song you wrote, 'I Trusted You'." So, we did. He said, "I don't want The Rockets. I just want you." So, we recorded the song with a New Orleans band which was mostly made up of Fats Domino's band and all of the real good New Orleans musicians. I said, "I want to stay with the band." So, I went back to Baton Rouge. They put out that record and it got us a lot of gigs along the Gulf Coast. So, I said, "Well, that's great." For about three months at least I was the first White, original artist that had that tag of Swamp Pop. I was the first White kid who recorded down there. Years later a good many others did, but I was the first. I didn't realize that. So, the record comes out. We get a lot of engagements from it. It's played locally. Then I got to the next step and here's where everything bursts open. Johnny Vincent called me and said, "It's time to do another session." (laughs) "Do you have any other songs you wrote?" And I thought, no, but I can start doing that. I did not realize that I had a gift for writing songs. I was such a good guitar player. I knew how to put together chords. I knew how to play any song. You could hum it, I could play it. About two minutes later I said, "Okay. I have some songs." I go to New Orleans. We record several songs. Songs that I'd written and said, "Here's a ballad I wrote." I played it and it was really stepping stone. I'll never forget it. The main saxophone player looked over at me when I played that and said, "That is a hit!" Well, it didn't occur to me. That song he talked about and called a hit we ended up recording and it was a song called "Just A Dream". Now, we put that song out. We're singing it at all the dance halls along the Gulf Coast. Then in April of 1958 Johnny Vincent calls me and says. "I want you to pack a suitcase. I'm sending you to Philadelphia." Well, that was the same as telling me I'm going to Venus or Mars. I'd never been in an airplane. I'd never been out of the Gulf Coast. Philadelphia just sounded like a trillion miles away. He said, "There's a new program. It's a big hit. It's called American Bandstand and I've got you a spot on that show for you to do 'Just A Dream', okay?"

Q - What kind of guy was Dick Clark? How did you find him to be?

A - Well, I found him to be just absolutely pretty much business as usual. He was very much a businessman and he knew what he was doing. He knew where he wanted to go and he knew how to get there and it was simply to play all these songs of these different artists and put them up on his show. As those song became popular he started doing the bus trips all over America. Well, what happened was, as soon as I flew to Philadelphia; we have to remember there was no such thing as a photo copy machine. There was no e-mail. There was not internet. There was only regular mail. And so I come to find out, I was told later I was a very good looking kid. They introduced me. I come on American Bandstand and it seemed like all the girls wanted a piece of me. (laughs) The next day after I did a lip-synch of that song, Johnny Vincent get orders for over 100,000 copies of "Just A Dream", the day after. In no time at all I was just astounded. I was in such demand by the major show producers, Alan Freed, Dick Clark. You name it. Everybody wanted me. A major booking agency in New York signed me and immediately wanted to put together bus tours with me on. That's how the whole thing started and it was literally, I have to admit, stardom overnight.

Q - Would that booking agency have been G.A.C.? (General Artists Corporation)

A - That is correct.

Q - That was the big agency for Rock 'n' Roll performers.

A - Yes, it was.

Q - So you did these Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars tours. Who were you on the bus with, riding all over the country?

A - Well, back in that day anybody who was anybody in music was on those tours. We have to remember, in 1958 you only had about eight major record companies and you only had about, technically speaking, about thirty big, big stars. That was it. There was no television exposure for anybody if you weren't on a record company and had a big hit. There was no such thing as getting started with YouTube, America's Got Talent, American Idol. None of that was around. So if you didn't have a hit on a big record company you weren't even played on the radio and you weren't seen on Dick Clark. So, there was only about thirty of us in the whole music business that were 'names'. So, me and Bobby Rydell actually came later. Fabian came later. It was mainly me, Buddy Holly, Clyde McPhatter And The Drifters, The Cadillacs. Paul Anka was on some of 'em, Frankie Avalon and me about the same time. Jimmy Beaumont And The Skyliners, Dion And The Belmonts. We were really the major, major, big star names in 1958. So, we just barnstormed all over America because there was a nothing bigger than us. It was really amazing. The smallest towns in America, everything would shut down when we came to town. It was amazing. All over America.

Q - You were on the ground floor of Rock 'n' Roll.

A - That is correct. I really was. Once "Just A Dream" hit, G.A.C. said Alan Freed called. "He wants you on his big show. He wants you on his radio program." I became Alan Freed's favorite White, male vocalist. Nobody was his favorite like me. Me and Jackie Wilson. Jackie Wilson was his favorite Black, male artist. He would have me and Jackie come in days ahead of time for his big show just to hang out with him on his radio program. Then one day after all these big shows between 1958 and 1959 mainly with Alan Freed, he walked over to me backstage at one of his shows and said, "I'm getting ready to go to Hollywood." I think he felt it was his most iconic, best Rock 'n' Roll movie he had ever done and he said, "I want you to play the lead in it." So, that's how I ended up playing the lead in Go Johnny Go, Alan Freed's iconic Rock 'n' Roll movie.

Q - You were managed by Cosimo Matassa. I've never heard of him. Did he do right by you?

A - Cosimo Matassa owned the recording studio that I recorded at in New Orleans. It became the iconic recording studio down South. This was way before Muscle Shoals. This was the iconic Swamp Pop where Lloyd Price, Professor Longhair, Tommy Ridgley, The Neville Brothers, myself, Frankie Ford, Huey 'Piano' Smith (recorded). There were artists that were Louisiana Swamp Pop artists and so that studio became iconic in that respect. To be quite honest with you, I was totally obligated to let Cosimo be my manager because otherwise I had no career, period. So, the truth of the matter is, he was probably just a silent knight in the background because he never did anything. I pretty much took over my own leadership with the recording company, Johnny Vincent, with the booking agency and so there was really no need for Cosimo. I did have a publicist. I pretty much was guided by myself. However, I did let Mr. Matassa handle my bank account and I will stop the interview at this point by simply saying that was the biggest mistake of my life.

Q - After the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, his guitar and clothing were still on the bus. You actually got to play Buddy Holly's guitar. How long before his family asked where his belongings were?

A - This is obviously something I have no clue about. You have to remember I'm nineteen years old. I'm on a rocket ship with a career that I never planned, asked about, I never prepared for and I'm just astounded at how things are going. The way the Buddy Holly crash happened with me taking over is that there was a knock at the hotel door. I was on a major, seven week tour. I had a week to go on that tour and the promoter knocked on my door with a very somber look on his face. He explained what happened with Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens and said they insist this tour go on even though Dion And The Belmonts were the only act alive on it. And so I think the promoters, to be quite honest about it, wanted to just cash in some how or another with this. They wanted to finish out the tour and they just wanted other big name artists do fill in. The promoter asked, "Would you be willing to leave this tour and go and finish out that tour?" I said yes, I would 'cause I knew those guys. That's how when I got on the bus and saw Buddy's guitar and all his stuff back there, I thought to myself how in the world am I supposed to entertain as Jimmy Clanton under such heavy, heavy, somber feelings that's going on? So indeed I did "Just Like A Dream" and "My Own True Love". Then I played Buddy's guitar and did a tribute to him, but after that tour I went my own way in my own career. I don't have a clue as to what happened to his stuff or what people did with it. I don't know. I never asked. I never thought about it. It was none of my business after that.

Q - You said you knew those guys. Did you spend enough time to get to know the personality of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper?

A - As I said, I had traveled with everybody who was anybody. So anybody who had a hit record, eventually they were on a tour that I was on. So, I did a tour with Buddy Holly obviously. I did shows with The Big Bopper and I did Alan Freed shows with Ritchie Valens. So, I knew these guys on a one on one, personal basis, absolutely.

Q - And I take it you like all three of them?

A - Oh, yeah. I got along with everybody really. I don't think there's one person in the business that I did a show with that I did not get along with. Really, everybody got along with each other. You've got to remember, this is 1958, 1959. There was a different camaraderie and fellowship with all of us artists. Me and Tony Williams with The Platters. We hung out together. We were personal friends. Me and Clyde McPhatter of the original Drifters, we were personal friends. Things changed when the English Invasion came. There was no longer those bus trips and those big shows with Alan Freed where we had that camaraderie. That all changed and it was never able to come back and be the same way.

Q - When The Beatles hit, they were playing the bigger arenas like Shea Stadium.

A - Yeah. It was all different. They didn't tour with groups like with us like we did back in that day. I never met them. I understand that Brian Hyland and Tommy Roe had done a show over in England and met The Beatles. I had never been overseas so I did not know them. I just knew what happened to the music of my era overnight. That's what I know.

Q - Did the name The Beatles or The Rolling Stones ever come up in any conversation with someone you were talking to? Did you hear about what was going on in England at the time?

A - Well of course. I was very well aware of it because I knew many, many of the disc jockeys all over America. I knew overnight if you weren't British you couldn't even get a record played. That's what happened because the English Invasion was The Beatles and they opened the door for all the rest of them. You name it, The Who and every English group you can think of, they came on in and just took over. That's exactly what happened. I didn't keep up with it because I ended up putting together a traveling road show that kept to my own roots. I knew the music that I grew up with. I knew what I did best and I stuck with that. It was Swamp Pop, Louisiana, Jimmy Clanton sound. I never changed that because I didn't know how to change it. It didn't go well for several years, but then something major happened. People don't talk about this, but this is major. Here's what happened; In 1969 a promoter who worked for a small agency came over to me. I was in New York City. His name was Richard Nader. Richard said to me, "Jimmy, I just don't believe that our music has been done away with by all the English Invasion." By this time you had the Heavy Metal and you had Woodstock and the Vietnam protesters, Hippies and the longhairs and their music. Buffalo Springfield, etc, etc. He said, "I just don't feel that our music had totally died. I am going to do something incredible. I want to know if you would be on it? I'm going to put together a revival of our music with the artists of our day of the '50s. I'm going to do it Madison Square Garden in 1969." I agreed. It was me, Chuck Berry, and I don't remember who else was on it. But I do remember this. Our show in 1969 at Madison Square Garden sold out. The next thing I knew you had all of these East Coast, small town promoters starting to find these different groups. They had all become firemen and policemen. They were doing little gigs on the weekend. All these promoters started trying to find these groups and that's how the resurgence began to happen. But the defining moment was that Madison Square Garden show in 1969 and I was on it.

Q - Go back for a minute when you were talking to all these disc jockey's about what was gong on in England. When you heard The Beatles' music or saw their photo, did you get the idea this was going to be the next big thing in music?

A - To be honest with you, myself and a couple of the guys from the '50s, the ones that really started in the '50s, not '60s, to me the '50s was the epitome of, if you want to use Doo Wop, fine. What I felt was when Beatlemania came I thought that I was in a bad dream that was never going to end. When I realized that everything had changed overnight, I was shell shocked. So was most of my fellow artists. Most of 'em just found day jobs because there was no demand for any of us. It was British, British, British. Dave Clark Five, etc, etc, etc. Record stopped selling. I didn't know what was going to happen. I just went into, I guess you could say a time of hibernation. I put together a little road show and just played little hotel clubs for several years throughout America. I really felt like it was over. Most of the guys I did shows with thought it was over. I could go on and on and on about this, on how the resurgence came to where my popularity not only came back, but surged to as great as it was in the '50s. That really was because of Facebook and YouTube.

Q - In 1961 you were drafted and spent two years in the Army. What were you doing in the Army? Did thy have you singing? Did your commanding officers know who you were?

A - (laughs) Have you heard something that's slipped out?

Q - No. I have not.

A - You're asking good questions. I have to commend you. It's funny because the first thing that happened when I was in the chow line, you have your last name up there on your Army shirt, the first time going through the chow line in front of like four hundred of the guys, I hear this loud, loud, boisterous voice, "Who's this guy Clanton? Where's Clanton?" And it was this huge, huge, three hundred, fifty pound cook. Man, everybody shut up and by the time I got through he said, "So, you're Clanton, huh? Well, we're gonna see how this big time singer, teen idol does. In the alphabet when C comes up, I'm gonna have you in here and you're gonna work your butt off." Man, he began to put me down and sure enough, I had KP, which means kitchen patrol. At two o'clock in the morning I'm washing dishes. At five o'clock I'm back out on basic training. I thought I'd died and gone to Hell. All of a sudden, after about the third week, my basic training sergeant was from the Philippians, and he came over and we just talked. I said I was in the Philippians before I came into the Army. He went, "What? You in Philippians?" I said yeah. "Really? You tell me about this." So, I began to tell him who I was, how many shows I did in Manila. The next thing you know he starts giving me favor, showing me how to do certain things. He came over and said, "Look, you put your mind to being the best soldier shooting on the range and all the things we're training you," and he said, "I make you Squad Leader. You become Squad Leader. You no more have to do KP." So, I had this little black thing around my harness and I came through the chow line the next week and I looked at that big guy and said, "You see this? I'm Squad Leader. You ain't gonna see me in here, baby, 'cause you're the reason I'm gonna make sure that I'm the best soldier in my group." And that's exactly what happened. But when I went into my second week of training, word got down to me from the commanding officer and he said, "Look, there's a little band here on the base. They play little shows for us at the dance. What would it take for you to do some singing?" I said, "Well, I'll tell you what would really work. You give me a three day pass and I'll be glad to do a few songs." So, the bottom line is, I'd get a three day pass and I'd just hang out and have a good time somewhere, you know? Then, I was shipped back to Fort Polk, Louisiana. As soon as I got back there the same thing happened. The commanding officer got word to me, "Look, there's a band here on post. What would it take for you to do some singing at some of our parties?" Well, by now I knew how to work the system, baby. (laughs) I said, "The best way to do this is, you put together for me two, 3 day passes back to back and I'll be glad to do a whole show for you." He said, "Wait. Two 3 day passes back to back?" I said, "That's right Captain." Well, lo and behold I call my booking agency and I said, "Look, I got such and such a time off. Can you get me a booking?" And lo and behold they got me a booking in Canada. I flew up somewhere in Canada and made $1,000 for a one night show and I had two 3 day passes. Then I flew back down to Louisiana and went back to base.

Q - You must have learned a lot from Dick Clark.

A - I learned a lot from how they plan the work and work the plan. I learned a lot, believe me.

Q - You knew Elvis Presley pretty well, did you?

A - Yes, I did. The way I got to meet him was really interesting. We were on a bus tour and I was in Memphis. This is in '59. We were finishing out a show there and I asked around "Does anybody know if Elvis is in town?" Lo and behold word came back to me, "Yeah, Elvis is in town." I said, "Is there anyway anybody can figure out if he'd let us come and visit?" Well, lo and behold this phone call led to that and we found out that Elvis said, "Yes, come on over." So, a few of us got in an automobile, and I don't remember who was with me. All I know is we got there and the security guard opened the gate and we drove up and I was the first one out of the car. I walked up the steps and knocked on the door of Graceland and lo and behold Elvis opens the door. I'm so glad that this occurred before he got into bad shape with prescription drugs. The guy was in fantastic shape. He looked great. He had this yachting captain hat on. I'll never forget, he looked down at me and this was astounding, this is Elvis Presley, and he said, "Well Jimmy, if I'd known you were coming I would have had 'Just A Dream' on my record player." That shocked me to the core. Here's the guy that everybody calls the greatest. He's like the iconic icon and says that to me. He gave me a tour of the house. We fellowshipped for quite awhile and I've got some great stories about Elvis and they're going to be in my book by the way.

Q - You're writing your autobiography?

A - I am writing my autobiography.

Q - Good for you! You should be writing your story.

A - In some ways I was blessed because I was right at the beginning. So, my stories are the poignant stories of behind the scenes before everybody and his brother started making records is the truth of the matter, you know?

Q - Elvis spent two years in the Army, from 1958 to 1960. Was he home on leave?

A - I'm not sure. I guess. The next thing I know, two years later I'm doing my second movie called Teenage Millionaire and I got a day off. The guy who was in the movie with me, a friend of mine who played my bodyguard, an ex-middle-weight boxing champion, Rocky Graziano, he was from New York City and he came over and said, "Jimmy, I know you're friends with Elvis. I just found out that Elvis is across town and he's working on Blue Hawaii. We got a day off. Man, let's go over there. Would you please introduce me?" I said, "Well, we'll see if we can get in." So, sure enough we drove across town, got a cab to the studio where he was. The security guards let me and Rocky through and lo and behold Elvis was on break. He was very hospitable, very kind, very gracious. So, I introduced him to Rocky. Do you know, it's amazing. I've got a picture with Elvis. If Rocky had not pushed to get a picture of the three of us together, not only would I not have a picture with Elvis, but do you know it never even occurred to me to get his autograph? (laughs) I just never did.

Q - I've seen that photo of the three of you.

A - Have you? Where'd you see that?

Q - It's online.

A - Yeah, it is. That's correct. That's on the set of Blue Hawaii.

Q - When was the last time you saw Elvis?

A - That was it. He had to get back to work. I went back across town to finish my movie and then I came back to Louisiana where I lived, but that was the last time I saw him.

Q - Jimmy, you have given me one incredible interview!

A - I'd just like to say once all of that Payola stuff hit in 1959, Alan Freed plain old got the shaft. I can tell you that right now. I won't go into other things, but I know a lot that went on. I want it to be in print. Alan Freed was always the most upright standing guy with me. A class guy. He never asked for a penny from my record company to play my records. He never asked me for a penny under the table for the shows. Nothing like that. He never did that. He was just the greatest. To me, the best era of my music world was '58, and '59, maybe part of '60. Then things changed. You had Beatlemania and it never came back the way it was between '57 and '59. So, I was so thankful that I had the best part of the music era behind the scenes with all the people, Alan Freed, me, and Clyde McPhatter of The Drifters. Me and Tony Williams from The Platters. Lloyd Price. My gosh, it was wonderful! I would also like to add that I'm a very dedicated Bible believer Christian and I'm not ashamed to say it.

Q - Well now, that is one area I didn't get into in the interview so far. I thought maybe I shouldn't ask.

A - Ask me.

Q - You look like a clean living guy. In the era that you came up in there certainly weren't the hard drugs that we saw later on. So, what happened to you? What were you doing or not doing?

A - Well, I'm gonna have to get ahead of this. First of all, by 1981 through visitations from the God of the Universe, not only spiritually, but I've had four visitations personally, physically, I found out in 1981 after this incredible meeting with God. I found out when he spoke to me, one on one, the God of this Universe said, "Before the world was formed I knew you. Before you were formed I knew you. Before you were formed in your mother's womb I knew you and I called you and sent you a part unto myself as a prophet." That's when I knew that even when I was in the day of the music there were certain things I would just not get involved in and not realizing it because the Hand of God was already upon my life even back then.

Q - But, others around you were partaking in what, drinking?

A - Well, it was very, very sad. My precious, precious friend, the most incredible vocal voice of any male vocalist on that era, Tony Williams of The Platters, through alcohol, literally drank himself to death. I saw this with my own eyes. It's very true that alcohol was the predominant reason that many, many of them died too soon. It's a known fact that Jackie Wilson would not give up burning the candle at both ends. That's what destroyed him. Same thing with Clyde McPhatter. Yes, it's a shame that that's exactly what happened to so many of them. Frankie Ford. A great, great singer. An artist on Ace Records. He died before his time. Alcohol I feel was probably a very dominant factor in his death. At one time back then I drank a lot, it's really just 1958 and 1959. You know, drinking beer on the bus tours, but I never got into anything heavier than that. By the time I was in my early twenties I hardly drank at all. I've just been blessed, my health, my voice. God has blessed me, but I can see why. I was set apart and I left music altogether in 1980. I never got back into music 'til 1994. I was in full-time ministry all over America, preaching, praying and prophesying. Talk about a story sir, there's one. I've got nothing but the supernatural miracles to talk about.

Official Website: www.JimmyClanton.com

© Gary James. All rights reserved.