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https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/clarence-carter-strokin- singer-1235266836/

Clarence Carter, Singer-Producer Who Scored Hits With rCyPatchesrCO and rCyStrokinrCO,rCO Dead at 90

The blind Southern soul star was renowned for being as bawdy as he was poignant on songs like rCLSlip AwayrCY and rCLToo Weak to FightrCY

By Jon Blistein May 14, 2026

Clarence Carter, the blind Southern soul star whose songs were often as emotionally profound as they were delightfully bawdy, died Wednesday, May
13. He was 90.

Rodney Hall, president of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where
Carter frequently recorded, confirmed the news to Rolling Stone. A spokesperson for Candi Staton, the singer and Carters ex-wife, said Carter
was recently diagnosed with 4 prostate cancer.

Carter was a constant presence on the R&B charts during his late-Sixties
and 1970s heyday, and he twice crossed over into the upper echelons of the
pop charts. His two Top 10 hits, rCLSlip AwayrCY and rCLPatches,rCY exemplified
his ability to navigate the raw and ribald.

rCLSlip Away,rCY which arrived in 1968 and peaked at Number Six, was a yearning appeal to adultery that managed to excavate some genuine vulnerability buried deep within the sin. And 1970rCOs rCLPatchesrCY rCo which peaked at Number Four and won the Grammy for Best R&B Song rCo was a
stirring saga about an Alabama boy who cares for his family amid the indignities of an indifferent world. The songrCOs titular hero repeatedly returns to his fatherrCOs final words for resilience, which Carter belts
with world-weary resolve on the chorus: rCLPatches, IrCOm depending on you son/To pull the family through/My son, itrCOs all left up to you.rCY

rCLI think rCyPatchesrCO really etched me into the music world,rCY Carter said in
2010. rCLWhere people are probably going to remember me for a long time to come. Which I always wanted rCo but I never knew it would happen that way.rCY

The same year rCLSlip AwayrCY came out, Carter also scored a novelty Christmas hit with the wickedly raunchy rCLBack Door Santa.rCY His equally libidinous 1986 song rCLStrokinrCOrCY became a cult favorite and later featured in movies like Eddie MurphyrCOs The Nutty Professor and William FriedkinrCOs Killer Joe. (Friedkin, an avowed fan, once called rCLStrokinrCOrCY rCLone of the great American songs,rCY and Carter the rCLMozart of Southern Music.rCY)

CarterrCOs sense of humor and fun was always key to his approach to music.
In a 2011 radio interview, he noted the perception of blues music as
focused on the solemn, somber side of life. rCLBut you could also sing the blues about something happy,rCY Carter countered, adding: rCLIn general, most people think of the blues as something sad and rCyI wish I hadnrCOt done that,rCO and this kind of thing. But I donrCOt. Usually, when I go to my show, yourCOre gonna hear me sing more up-tunes that you dance by than yourCOre gonna hear me sing songs that yourCOll cry about.rCY

Carter was born Jan. 14, 1936 in Montgomery, Alabama. As a kid, he was
gifted a guitar for Christmas and taught himself how to play by listening
to other peoplesrCO records and copying what he heard. Carter attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, and later studied music at
Alabama State College, graduating in 1960.

For his first professional project, Carter linked up with another blind student, Calvin Scott, to form the duo Clarence & Calvin, later known as
the C&C Boys. The duo released a handful of singles during the early
Sixties, but failed to make any real headway. In 1965, they traveled to
Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where they cut several songs at Rick HallrCOs FAME Studios. One, rCLStep By Step,rCY earned the attention of Jerry Wexler, who released it on the Atlantic imprint, Atco, though it too failed to chart.

Not long after, Carter and Scott were involved in a car crash that left
the latter severely injured. A dispute over medical bills led to the
grouprCOs demise, with the two embarking on separate solo careers. Carter continued to work with Hall and his FAME label, releasing his debut
single, rCLTell Daddy,rCY in 1967. It was a modest success that turned into a major one after Etta James cut a response called rCLTell MamarCY that peaked at Number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Carter was soon turning out hits of his own, often backed by the
celebrated session players at FAME. Carter would write all the
arrangements in braille and then have them transcribed for the others.
Duane Allman, a FAME player in his pre-Allman Brothers Band days, said of Carter in a 1971 Rolling Stone article, rCLHerCOs the most amazingly perceptive man I ever met.rCY

In 1968, Carter returned to Atlantic as a solo artist, and the success of rCLSlip AwayrCY was buoyed by hits like the Gold-certified rCLToo Weak to FightrCY
and rCLLooking for a Fox.rCY Over the next two years, he placed seven songs in the Top 10 of the R&B charts, including rCLSnatching it Back,rCY rCLThe Feeling
Is Right,rCY rCLDoinrCO Our Thing,rCY and rCLI CanrCOt Leave You Alone.rCY His b-sides,
too, frequently became favorites, chief among them a take on James CarrrCOs classic, rCLThe Dark End of the Street,rCY reworked in quintessential Carter fashion as, rCLMaking Love (At the Dark End of the Street).rCY

After the pinnacle of rCLPatches,rCY Carter continued to work regularly, but never had the same kind of commercial appeal. He left Atlantic, returned
to the Fame label, and scored a minor hit in 1973 with rCLSixty Minute Man.rCY After that, he jumped to ABC Records, but a career revival failed to materialized.

In 1970, Carter also married one of his backing singers, Candi Staton;
they had one child together before divorcing in 1973. Years later, in her memoir, Staton wrote about an incident during their relationship where
Carter allegedly beat her.

In the early Eighties, Carter released several albums, and even built a
studio in the basement of his Atlanta home, where he taught himself how to program keyboards and work with computers. As he told Rolling Stone in
1986, rCLI think I got another Top Ten record in me. With the right amount
of exposure, I know I could have it.rCY

A massive smash never arrived, but rCLStrokinrCO,rCY released that same year, did sell a 1.5 million copies, despite being too raunchy for radio (it primarily gained traction thanks to jukebox plays). The track helped
anchor a late career resurgence for Carter, who released several albums on
the independent Atlanta label, Ichiban Records, many of which placed on
the R&B Albums Chart.

Carter continued to write, record, and release music rCo as well as tour rCo well into his Eighties. His last record, Mr. Old School, arrived in
January 2020 on his own Cee Gee Entertainment label, while in 2024, he
dropped a new single, rCLDanger Point.rCY

In a 1998 interview with The New York Times, Carter spoke about the persistence that seemed to define his long and successful career. rCLGive me
a challenge and yourCOll make me work,rCY he said. rCYIrCOm determined to do what
folks say I canrCOt, and it has to do with a lot of factors, especially when yourCOre blind. I remember hearing a lady say to my mother one day when I
was a kid, rCyI guess yourCOre going to have to take care of him the rest of your life.rCO I never forgot that because I was determined that before the lady left this earth sherCOd know my mom wouldnrCOt have to take care of me.rCY


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