On this day (August 15) in 1994, Clifton Clowers died in his Arkansas home at the age of 102. He was the subject of “Wolverton Mountain,” which was a career-defining hit for Claude King in 1962. When the song was at its peak, tourists traveled to Wolverton Mountain in Arkansas to seek out and meet Clowers, who lived on a small farm.
Merle Kilgore, who was Clowers’ nephew, wrote the song in 1959. At the time, he had no intention of publishing or recording it. Instead, he’d written it as a gift for his uncle. Clowers, a talented musician, helped spark Kilgore’s love of country music.
“He was just as dry as can be. He said, ‘Well, I think you’ve wrote yourself a hit,’” Kilgore said of Clowers’ reaction to the song. He explained that he’d just written the song for Clowers “as a joke.” The older man told him “You ought to think about that for a hit.” He pitched the song to George Jones and Johnny Horton not long after he wrote it. They both passed. Neither wanted to record a “mountain song.”
Then, after he moved to Nashville, King and his manager, Tillman Franks, approached Kilgore and asked if he had any new songs. More specifically, they wanted to capitalize on the popularity of folk music. They needed a mountain song. King revised the lyrics and released it as a single in March 1962. It spent nine weeks at the top of the country chart and went to No. 6 on the Hot 100.
The Real Clifton Clowers from Wolverton Mountain
The lyrics of “Wolverton Mountain” got some things right about Clifton Clowers, according to an article written by his grandson, Buck Green. He lived on Wolverton Mountain for most of his life. However, he and his wife had two daughters. They also had four sons. In the article, Green recalls arguing with his cousins about whose mom was the pretty daughter from the song.
Clowers was a farmer. He grew crops and raised livestock to feed his family. On the weekends, he would walk into town and cut hair to earn money to buy staples like flour, sugar, and coffee. He was also, as the song said, handy with a gun and knife, but in a much less menacing way. Clowers said he wished they’d left that line out of the song. “I never used those tools for that purpose. I just used them to hunt and whittle,” he said.
When the song was popular, people would travel to Wolverton Mountain to meet the Clifton Clowers. He didn’t mind, nor did he let the attention inflate his ego. Eventually he started carving turkey calls and other small trinkets as souvenirs. “I think he even started selling them and making extra money,” Green wrote. “But, knowing him, he probably gave away more than he sold.”
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Clowers was asked many times to share the secret to the kind of longevity that allowed him to still work in his garden at 100 years old. “A firm belief in God. No alcohol or tobacco,” was always his reply.
Featured Image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
The post 32 Years Ago Today, the World Lost the Mountain Man Immortalized in Claude King’s 1962 Crossover Smash “Wolverton Mountain” appeared first on American Songwriter.
Go To Source | Author: Clayton Edwards