Together Again, Roy Clark & Doug Gabriel
Feature: October 2002 - November 2002

ROY’S BACK AND STILL BELIEVABLE!
By Arline Chandler

Back in the early 1960s when Roy Clark’s first hit, The Tips of My Fingers, topped both country and pop charts, the accomplished musician had no plan to break new ground in the music industry. “We didn’t call it a crossover then. We just wanted to be believable,” he says in his typical manner of sharing success with the musicians who back him.

As a headliner on Hee-Haw, the longest running syndicated series in television history, Roy Clark again impacted the course of musical entertainment. While two generations grew up, he made himself at home in America’s living rooms. His self-described “good ole Roy” personality played down his musical virtuosity to identify with the men in his audience. And the women? “I remind mothers and daughters of their brothers or sons,” says Roy with a laugh. As a man who laughs at himself and genuinely smiles back at his fans, Roy Clark was a natural for the Midwestern audiences filtering into Branson back in the early 1980s, when he opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theater. Setting the scene for an influx of his contemporaries in both country and pop, Branson had now exploded from a summer get-away into a national phenomenon as reported on CBS’ Sixty Minutes! After a fourteen year run on his own stage, Clark officially sold his theater in 1997. Now, based from his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he continues to tour, record and perform on television. During 1999, the master of strings played engagements at Lowe’s BransonTown USA. To the applause of all ages, the 2001 and 2002 seasons brought Roy back to the Branson he helped create teaming with Doug Gabriel at the newly named Legends Theatre. “It pays to be nice to people,” he says in jest. “I remember when Doug Gabriel worked for me!”

Although Clark jokes about being nice to hedge his opportunities, his congeniality comes naturally. Known among his peers as a “good guy,” he admits that his success didn’t follow some sweeping scheme. Raised in Washington DC as the son of a musician who played in a square dance band, Clark immersed himself in different kinds of music. “Music was my salvation. The thing I loved most and did best,” recalls Roy. “I played whatever happened to be fun: country, jazz, pop, and early rock n’ roll. Touring with country legends, Hank Williams & Grandpa Jones, he was invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, which later led to shows with Red Foley and Ernest Tubb. In the 1950s, he joined Jimmy Dean, appearing in clubs, on radio and television and even backing up the rock n’ roll king, Elvis Presley on his Heartbreak Hotel.

Approaching the age of 30, Clark still played behind the stars. An invitation to open for Wanda Jackson at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas proved to be his big break. A road tour stretching over 345 consecutive nights took him full circle back to Las Vegas in 1962 where Roy appeared as a headliner and recording star with his debut album The Lightning Fingers Of Roy Clark. Throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, Roy Clark’s vocal recordings landed on Billboard’s Top 40 Country lists with his Alabama Jubilee winning a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance. From his first appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “American Bandstand,” Roy projected a jovial attitude along with countrified jokes. “My sense of humor’s a blessing,” Clark states. “It’s always spontaneous.” Surrounded by his band of talented young people, unrestrained fun happens as he tells his Roy’s Toys band members “let’s not do it correct...let’s do it right!”

A consummate musician, no matter the genre, Roy Clark became the first country artist to headline at the Montreux International Jazz Festival, but the highlight of his career, he says, was the pioneering, sold-out 1976 tour of the then Soviet Union. “Even though they didn’t know the words, there were tears in their eyes when I played Yesterday, When I Was Young,” he says. “Folks in that country said we wouldn’t realize in our lifetime the good we’d accomplished just because of our pickin’ around,” but when Roy returned to Russia in 1988, he was honored as a hero.

Though Roy doesn’t read music, he’s the rare entertainer worthy of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Academy of Country Music’s Pioneer Award, first country artist inducted into the Entertainers Hall of Fame and 63rd member of the Grand Ole Opry.

DESTINY’S DUO RIDES AGAIN...
...A Visit with Doug Gabriel and Roy Clark
By Paul L. Antus

Yet, within the larger scenario, are legends like Roy Clark and his Branson host, Doug Gabriel, created before audiences and media or are they pre-destined before birth to hold that tenure? Bestowed early on with a musical virtuosity realized only by ‘the great ones,’ it becomes evident that both Doug and Roy were always pursued by music, as child prodigies, to be melody’s perfect chaperones and conveyance. So now, as Doug and Roy’s lyrics float easily upon their tunes and passions, from country and jazz to Broadway, any showcase featuring this duo can only be our access into the verve of music played at its quintessential best. Hence, destiny plays its part defining this backstage as more than a place where guitars are tuned, muscles limbered and voices exercised. Today, our Branson’s Review backstage becomes an Our Town of time chronicled long before the Legends Theatre ever existed...returning us to childhoods when practice was making perfect. On this backstage, homes hold loving moms and dads who, recognizing their children’s early talent, either bought them a Sears Roebuck guitar or built them one out of an old Thunderbird muffler and called it a ‘Mufftar!

So in the beginning...Doug Gabriel was already singing at the age of three. “I always felt God wanted me to entertain and that he had given me the ability at a very early age. I’d sing anywhere. My mom and dad tell me I used to sing for quarters at wedding receptions...and do it table by table! I even remember the day I crawled up on my dad’s lap telling him that I was going to be a famous singer someday.” So it was in those early days that Don and Dorothy Gabriel would tell their son that he could achieve anything he wanted just by putting his mind to it. Recalls Doug, “They’d say to me, ‘Keep it under prayer and God will open the doors to you,’ and that’s exactly what He’s done for me.”

Beginning to sing professionally at the age of ten, Doug and his brother, Donnie, were now on the road with their band, The New Relations, doing lead-in concert work, singing at conventions and of course working the grueling club circuit. Says Doug, “It was really a hard road doing all those clubs.” But after Doug and his wife, Cheryl, met in church and married in 1982, they became attracted to Branson as a town where they would not only settle but entertain. Only this time, after fifteen years of being ‘on the road,’ the audiences would be coming to them. Once here, Doug was to open on Branson’s original Starlite Theatre stage where Shoji Tabuchi, John Paul Codey, Cliff Wagner, Johnny Long and a list of other talents were then performing. Says Doug, “At that time, I was working on other people’s shows and it wasn’t until 1994, that I opened my own morning show at the Jim Stafford Theatre.

For a young Roy Clark...music was always there as his father, Hester, was already a musician in his own right. In those early days, Roy would always choose to stay to listen to his father plucking the tenor banjo rather than going outside to catch fireflies with the rest of the kids. Indeed, music was even then beginning to stir the emotion within Roy’s heart. Says Roy, “It would be too surreal a conversation for me to try and explain what that attraction was.” Music was a lot of things to Roy; more tangibly though, not only was it the unique sound of each instrument, but the fragrance emitted by its wood as Roy could only stand level with it. Back then, Roy’s fascination with stringed instruments was peaked when a neighbor handed him his guitar and as Roy raked his fingers across its strings, recalls Roy, “It was like a light switch went off inside me. It was like a sound I had never heard before and it was then that I knew I would have to learn how to play the guitar and I became obsessed!”

Enter the Sears Roebuck catalogue...or the Christmas ‘Wish Book’ as it was then known...with the only thing Roy desiring was that Silvertone guitar on page 805. On Christmas morning, when Roy received the guitar, two learning books and a Smith’s Three Hundred Chords for Guitar and How To Use Them, “I took that guitar up to my room and started playing until my fingers bled. It was how I found out that if you soaked your fingers in ice water, they’d become numb and you could get right back to playing the guitar. That’s how obsessed I was! I played until I fell asleep at night and the first thing I did in the morning.” Two weeks after Roy received that guitar, he began playing at dances with his dad whom he called his ‘built-in’ guitar teacher. Recalls Roy, “When I was having problems or was curious about something, I’d go to my dad and he’d straighten me out.” Later, as Roy’s instrumental vocabulary grew in those early days of ‘all-night’ club dates, he began taking chances in front of audiences by first picking up a trumpet, then playing piano, percussion, bass, steel guitar, cello, fiddle, banjo and anything else that could be found on stage. “I had always been attracted by sounds so I never picked up an instrument thinking it was going to enhance my chances of being a better entertainer. I did it because I was truly intrigued with its sound.” Consequently, Roy was always making deals at pawn shops as he’d trade one instrument for another...getting a little bit proficient at one...bringing it back...and then trading it for another.

“My singing voice came as added baggage,” responds Roy mirthfully. “My proficiency and reason for signing with a major record label was chiefly as an instrumentalist. It took me quite a while to have the nerve to ‘get out front’ and be the one at the microphone. I guess it was the realization that if I was talking to people and they were listening, I’d better have something with merit to say.” Indeed, it would be one the hardest things for Roy to adjust to before his tender singing voice was ever to be realized. “I’m still to this day a shy person.” Continues Roy, “What I do on stage is one thing, but when it comes to one-on-one situations, it’s a different story. I remember the only time I held my hand up in school was to make a joke. I was the class clown and if I could do something with laughter, I could get away with my bigger problem. Being serious on the other hand, made me feel handicapped. Even with my instrumentals, I always felt that I had to make a joke out of it while always being the first to laugh at myself.”

The Crossroads: But to say that the pathway into world notoriety was an easy one...it wasn’t. For example, Doug had been doing music all his life, and was now auditioning at every Branson show imaginable. “I couldn’t get a job!” recalls Doug, “and I was praying, ‘Okay Lord, what are you saying to me?’ It was at that point that I had to resolve myself with the belief that God’s will was better than mine and that I had to be willing to give up what I loved the most, my music.” Doug then gave all his dreams up to the Lord and accepted a job in Des Moines, Iowa as a diamond salesman. Says Doug, “I remember that so well as everything on my resume was music related. I never had any experience doing anything else but music and that employer looked at me saying, ‘I see here that all you’ve ever done is entertain,’ to which Doug responded, ‘Well, yes sir, entertaining is selling yourself.’ To which the employer queried, ‘So how do I know you’re not going back into music?’ ‘Trust me,’ retorted Doug.

Three months later, the Lord gave Doug back his heart’s desire. Getting a call from Branson’s famous Chisai Childs, one of its foremost talents and agent to the stars, she asked Doug if he would want to audition before a live audience who would either give Doug Gabriel their overwhelming vote of approval...or not! They did, and from that moment on, Doug was hired to take his place in Branson history. Says Doug, “So coming up in a year, I’m going to be celebrating my tenth year anniversary of having my own show and I’m going to make a big deal over it. ‘Doing your own show in Branson for ten years is truly an accomplishment!”

As for Roy, “In my early days, rather than music, I wanted to do everything else....I wanted to be a boxer; I wanted to play baseball...but I kept falling back into music. Music was always there waiting for me; calling to me, ‘Roy, when are ya gonna’ straighten-up and commit?’ And I’d say, ‘But I wanna play baseball,’ and music seemed to say, ‘then I’ll wait.’ Music’s always been what I’ve done best.” Continues Roy, “Once I committed myself to it though, I began playing music for the sake of playing music. You never want to play music thinking you’re going to be a big star someday like an Elvis Presley or that the world’s gonna bow down before your feet, applaud and love you. If you do that, your using music and music isn’t to be used like that. Music is to be absorbed by you and to become a part of your life. As a fifteen year old kid playing music on the back porch, I know that kid will never be any happier even though he’s known throughout the world. My happiest moments have always been when I’m playing music for music’s sake.”

Indeed, it was that time when Roy went to the Soviet Union and played music with his English lyrics that Roy discovered that even though the audience didn’t understand the words, they felt the emotion of the music. Says Roy, “Music is the world’s universal language and I say to all the young people out there, play music to enjoy and be absorbed by it. Music will make your life so much easier. When I’d come off the road after maybe a month of playing two shows a night from California to Florida, I was totally worn out but never too tired to play music. My guitar is always by my lounging chair at home to pick up and play and my lovely wife, Barbara will come up and say to me, ‘Don’t you ever get tired?’ ‘No,’ is my response. I’ll never get tired of playing music. I don’t necessarily sit and play songs but I do noodle around, playing little bits and pieces of things just to hear the fun of its sound. It’s my therapy!”

Making Music: “You’re going to be surprised,” says Doug, “but when I’m writing full songs myself, lyrics and melody come together at the same time. However, with that song I just sang in the show with Cheryl this morning, Just Love Me, I co-wrote it with the lyric writer, Vern Dailey, who first sent me the lyrics to which I then added the tune. He writes the same way I do. He has his lyrics already structured into a verse, chorus, bridge and however way I’d write them. In the end, it’s very easy for me to come-in and lay a tune over his lyrics. I hope to be doing some pretty big things with Vern.”
For Roy, music’s composition can begin with that simple noodlin’ on the guitar in the ‘comfy room’ of his and Barbara’s Tulsa home. There, music finds Roy and his guitar with chances being good that another of his ‘noodles’ will become part of our music history. “Every now and then,” says Roy, “you get that ‘magic song’ that comes to you where the music and lyrics just meld together; where you can play it instrumentally and hear the emotion of the lyrics even without hearing the actual lyrics. When you can get that combination of melody and lyric, then you know you’ve got a song that will never be forgotten.” Continues Roy, “There are some great inspirational songs out there that have been written in ten to fifteen minutes ‘cause once the composer gets one line out, the passion takes over from there.”
For Doug Gabriel, Roy Clark is at the top of his inspirational list along with Elvis Presley, Wayne Newton, Englebert Humperdink, Tom Jones, Kenny Rogers and Roy Orbison. Never having a voice lesson in his life, Doug believes that the reason certain artists achieve their stature is because they worked their craft. “You have to keep singing,” says Doug. “If I were to stop and not use the gift of voice and music that God gave me, things would go downhill very fast. You have to keep workin’ it. I don’t care who anybody is, the Lord gives us all different talents, gifts and abilities that we have to use to the best of our ability. I look at other people and marvel at the things they do like fix a car or be a doctor. I wish I could do that but I can’t. I’m a performer, an entertainer, and I’ve got to exalt that gift. That’s what makes the world go ‘round.”

“Music is one of the greatest gifts of life.” adds Roy. “You don’t necessarily have to play music but just listen and enjoy it. It’ll take a lot of the rough spots out of your life and make things go smoother. Continues Roy,“ I’m just so glad that music never gave up on me while I was chasing all those other youthful dreams. Music will always be my center.”

In that same vein, Doug feels that entertainers or people in the limelight will sometimes be misunderstood for having made what they do look so easy that a public might ask why they make such a good living doing something so easy. Says Doug, “It’s not easy...and those people have got to understand that it takes months of hard work to put together a show. Do we have fun doing it? Sure do”...And that’s the best part of what Doug and Roy do almost everyday...uplift people who might be having that bad day. Says Doug, “My job as an entertainer is to help people forget their problems, even if it’s just for an hour. If I fail, then I haven’t done my job.” As God’s entertainer, Doug’s other purpose is to get people to think about eternity and about the wonderful gifts God has given them. Says Doug, “My job is to entertain people, but my main purpose in this life is to share the message of Jesus Christ with as many people as I can.” For Doug, the best gifts ever bestowed on him by the Lord were his parents, Don & Dorothy, being Cheryl Gabriel’s husband and father to their three children...Joshua, Jordan and Jasmine. Says Doug, “Cheryl has been the biggest blessing to me as she’s stood by me through so many things and I don’t deserve anyone as wonderful as her. I look at what Dad and Mom have gone through and I’ve never seen two people with such a focus on serving Christ. I want to be like them in every way; the way they were with me. We could talk to my parents about anything without them ever getting upset. That’s what I want to be like for my kids, that they’ll always want to come to me and talk about anything. The rewards and everything that we’ve won over the years are gratifying too. After you put a lot work into the shows, we’ve won Best Morning Show four times, Best Male Vocalist six times, Entertainer of the Year and some other ones. And every year it happens, I can’t believe it!”

Doug and Roy’s message to the young wanna-bees starts with Doug saying, “First, find out what God wants you to be. Because it’s so competitive out there, ya gotta work your craft even if you have to do it for nothing. Give God His glory back to Him and see where He leads you. Also, be willing to accept the whatevers. That’s the hard part. When I was willing to give-up music to sell diamonds, I was satisfied. I was actually enjoying that job because I had given it all over to the Lord, I didn’t miss music at all. If the Lord wants you to do something, he’s going to give you the means to do it.”
“Back when I was gaining weight,” says Roy, “when I was doing less exercise, less sports and playing more music, I got to the point that I was blaming my guitar and my music for the paunch I had developed. One day I was standing in front of a mirror with my guitar trying to coverup my excess weight nonchalantly; standing at an angle where I didn’t look as big as I obviously was. Then it finally hit me. I looked at that guitar and I said to myself, ‘How selfish can you be? If it wasn’t for this gift of guitar, you’d have nothing!’ It was at that point that I realized I was the one at fault, not my guitar or music...and the proof of it all was that I was the one gaining the weight.” It was from that very personal moment, that Roy realized how one starts looking for excuses to obfuscate their real issues, denying truths as one begins to play the blame game. Now, as Roy wipes down the guitar strings after every use and hand-carries the guitar wherever he goes, another Roy Clark chapter if not course correction had transpired.

An Epilogue: “As I see myself,” says Doug,“It’s you who are there as a servant to your audiences and not the other way around. I’m no different from anybody else nor do I consider myself better than anybody else just because I’m doing what I’m doing. I can’t stand when I see entertainers become that way because it’s the people that make an entertainer. You’re there for them. You can love what you do but keep your head on right. You’re only there because God has allowed you your success. Here’s Roy Clark, a living legend known throughout the entire world, and he’s as humble a man as you would ever want to meet, willing to put his name with mine. He’s amazing. What I say about him before the audiences is so true...that we’ve remained friends from the days I was working for him; got to know each other, stayed in contact with each other and it’s now an answer to prayer that we’ve come together again. It’s been a blessing and I’m just so thankful.. The Lord has allowed me to entertain in a family place that’s drawing entertainers like Roy to His purpose. It’s a blessing to be working with Roy Clark again and I feel the Lord has put us together again. We’re both having a good time.” BR

As an exclusive to the Branson’s Review Magazine, Doug wouId like to announce that Roy and he are already working on show dates for another Roy & Doug partnership in 2003.
For more information on both the Doug Gabriel & Roy Clark Show, please call 417 337 8300 or 800 374 7469 or go online at www.douggabriel.com