Sanford Clark (October 24, 1935 – July 4, 2021)^[1] was an Americancountry-rockabilly singer and guitarist, best known for his 1956 hit "The Fool".

Clark was born inTulsa,Oklahoma, and was raised inPhoenix,Arizona, from the age of 9. He first began performing in the Phoenix area in the early 1950s. He spent time in theAir Force in theSouth Pacific; he formed a band there which won atalent show inHawaii.^[2] Returning to Phoenix, he and his friendAl Casey metLee Hazlewood, then a localDJ. Clark, with Casey on guitar, recorded one of Hazlewood's songs, "The Fool", in Floyd Ramsey's Audio Recorders studio on MCI Records in 1956.Dot Records picked the song up for national distribution after a Philadelphiadeejay tipped them off to it. The song became a hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 14 on the Country Singles chart, No. 5 on the R&B Singles chart, and No. 7 on theBillboard Top 100.^[3] Following the song's success, Clark opened on tour forRay Price andRoy Orbison.^[2]

Clark's 1957 follow-up single, "The Cheat", gave him a second minor hit, peaking at No. 74 Pop.^[3] He and Dot Records' owner Randy Wood quarreled over the singer's image, and he eventually signed toJamie Records in 1958, continuing to work with Hazlewood. In 1959 Clark recorded a song, "Son of a Gun", about the son of a western gunslinger. This song is also referenced inKeith Richards' bookLife, published in October 2010. He credits the song as being one of the first songs he learned and performed on stage prior to forming theRolling Stones.

Moving toHollywood, he recorded for several other labels and had several almost-comebacks; his 1964 version of Hazlewood's "Houston" was eclipsed byDean Martin's version, and in 1965 he re-recorded "The Fool" withWaylon Jennings on guitar.^[2] Hazlewood, by now an established songwriter, signed Clark to his own label,LHI, on which Clark released "The Black Widow" b/w "The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp" in 1967, and "Farm Labor Camp #2" and the albumReturn of the Fool in 1968.

A few years later Clark left the music business and worked in construction, though he occasionally recorded in later decades on his own label, Desert Sun Records.

On July 4 2021 Clark's publicist and fellow performer, Johnny Vallis, said that Clark died at Mercy Hospital inJoplin, Missouri, where he had been receiving cancer treatment before contractingCOVID-19 amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic in Missouri, according to NewsTalkKZRG radio.^[4]

Clark's most popular and well-known song, "The Fool", was featured in theNetflix filmWin It All (2017) and theFocus Features filmDallas Buyers Club (2013). His song "Calling All Hearts" has been played in various TV and film productions including theNBC seriesAquarius: Episode 107, theABC seriesNashville: Episode 310,^[5] theFXX seriesIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Episode 1209, and in the20th Century Fox film,Walking with Dinosaurs (2013).^[6] His song "The Big Lie" was featured in theFX seriesJustified: Episode 409, in theFreestyle Releasing filmFrom the Rough (2011), and inSony Pictures Home Entertainment filmThe Driftless Area (2015).^[7] "Bad Case of You" was featured in theAmazon Studios seriesTransparent episodes 308 and 310.^[8]

^[9]

• Rockabilly Hall of Fame entryArchived 2021-02-18 at theWayback Machine
• Sanford Clark discography atDiscogs
• Sanford Clark atIMDb

• 1935 births
• 2021 deaths
• Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma
• American country singer-songwriters
• American rockabilly musicians
• Country musicians from Oklahoma
• Dot Records artists
• Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
• Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Missouri

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