Clarence Hollimon
Birthplace: Houston Birthdate: 10/24/1937 Deathdate: 4/23/2000 A product of Houston's Fifth Ward, Hollimon got his first break in 1954 when, at age 17, he toured with a top show band, the Bill Harvey Orchestra. After an influential stint with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Hollimon joined the Duke-Peacock hit factory in the late 1950s. In 1964, he took hi sophisticated jazzy blues technique to New York City, where he played on records by Dionne Warwick and Chuck Jackson and toured with Nancy Wilson. Hollimon and his wife Carol Fran, who started performing together in 1982, specialized in a Gulf Coast blues style that incorporated the swamp pop sounds of Fran's Louisiana roots. Together they released "Soul Sensation" in 1992 and "See There!" in 1994 on the Black Top label. They also served as cultural ambassadors, teaching African American folk songs to grade-school students and performing weeklong residencies at out-of-the-way places such as Clark...