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Playing For JESUS,LC. WILLIAMS U12, SHO-BUD PRO1,CARVIN TL60

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Playing For JESUS,LC. WILLIAMS U12, SHO-BUD PRO1,CARVIN TL60

..George, can you tell us anything more about Clifton Clowers?...

..here's some info from a Claude King site that says the person and the place that Kilgore wrote about were in Arkansas...

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His biggest of these was a song that had been written by Merle Kilgore titled Wolverton Mountain. Kilgore was a former Shreveport disk jockey who had had some success as a country singer/songwriter and who became known for writing hit songs for others, such as Johnny Horton's Johnny Reb and later, Johnny Cash's Ring Of Fire. Wolverton Mountain was a song about a young man who wanted to climb Wolverton Mountain to gain the heart of a young girl who lived there, but who would face a formidable obstacle in her father, Clifton Clowers. The song is based on an actual person by that name and an actual place in Arkansas. It became a #1 country hit and reached the top ten on the pop charts in the Summer of 1962. There was an answer song, (I'm The Girl On) Wolverton Mountain, released by JoAnn Campbell later the same year.

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[This message was edited by Pat Burns on 13 June 2003 at 06:57 PM.]

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Clowers, Clifton T. b. October 30, 1891 d. August 15, 1994
Clifton T. Clowers of Woolverton Mountain, became a Conway County legend as a result of a popular song written by Merle Kilgore and was performed by many artists including Bing Crosby. The song "Woolverton Mountain," warns would-be suitors to stay away from the mountain where Clifton Clowers was protecting his pretty young daughter because "he's mighty handy with a gun and a knife." He was the son of Jefferson Davis Clowers and Mary Prince Clowers. He was a World War I veteran and a member of the Mountain View Baptist Church where he was a deacon for several years. Survivors at the time of his death include three sons, Guy Clowers of Howell, Mich., Ted Clowers of Joplin, Mo., and Burl Clowers of Modesto, Calif.; two daughters, Virginia Green of Hurricane, W. Va., and Burlene Moore of Clinton, Ark.; 15 grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; 14 step-great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; and six step-great-great-grandchildren.
Woolverton Mountain Cemetery, Conway County, Arkansas, USA

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...and here's a look at part of the USGS topographic map, shows it as "Woolverton Mountain", with 2 "o's", on the border of Conway and Van Buren Counties in Arkansas, just outside the village of Formosa..

[This message was edited by Pat Burns on 13 June 2003 at 06:55 PM.]

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two daughters, Virginia Green of Hurricane, W. Va., and Burlene Moore of Clinton, Ark.

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According to that, at least a couple of fellers must have made it up the Mountain successfully.

Lem

[This message was edited by Lem Smith on 16 June 2003 at 09:28 AM.]

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I started out, one Sunday morning
With a man they called Big Dave
Meanest man in the state of Georgia
They'll never find us 'cause we're lost
In Miller's Cave

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A friend who played lead guitar with us in those days recently sent me a tape of a show we did at the Verdun NCO Club in France. That friend was Larry Ribinson and the singer was Johnny Johnson. We're going to try and have a reunion of sorts about the end of this month. The song as Johnny introduced it was a Hank Snow number but I think I've heard it a lot of times since then by others singers as it is quite well known.

I know I was humming it for years before it left my head. The line that ends each verse goes: In Miller's Cave was accentuated by our accodian player, Ski, who would turn the Swiss Echo Unit we used on voice to a lot of repeats for a ghostly effect.;

We did a show with Ray Price once at the Verdun NCO Club and he liked our vocal sound so much he used our PA and said he was going to have to get him one of those units but I don't know that he did or not.

Regards, Paul

[This message was edited by Paul Graupp on 16 June 2003 at 12:40 PM.]