Clarence White
Clarence White was the most influential bluegrass-into-country-rock guitarist of his generation, the flatpicker who reshaped the role of acoustic guitar in bluegrass with the Kentucky Colonels and the electric guitarist who anchored the Byrds' country-rock pivot. He died at 29, two months after the Byrds' final show, at the height of his powers.
- Born Clarence Joseph LeBlanc on June 7, 1944 in Lewiston, Maine, to a French-Canadian family; the family moved to Burbank, California in 1954 and changed the surname to White.
- Played in family bands the Three Little Country Boys and the Country Boys with brothers Roland (mandolin) and Eric Jr. (banjo); the group was renamed the Kentucky Colonels in September 1962 at Joe Maphis's suggestion.
- Anchored the Kentucky Colonels through the band's 1964 instrumental landmark Appalachian Swing! — widely cited as the album that established the modern flatpicking vocabulary on the bluegrass guitar.
- Worked Los Angeles studio sessions in the late 1960s for Ricky Nelson, the Monkees, and the Gosdin Brothers; played with Gene Parsons and Gib Guilbeau in Nashville West.
- Co-invented the Parsons/White StringBender (the "B-Bender") with Gene Parsons in 1967, a mechanism that lets a Telecaster guitar bend its B-string a whole step like a pedal steel.
- Joined the Byrds in 1968 after Gram Parsons departed, recording Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde (1969), Ballad of Easy Rider (1969), (Untitled) (1970), Byrdmaniax (1971), and Farther Along (1971); remained until the band's final show in February 1973.
- Recorded Muleskinner's 1973 album with Peter Rowan, David Grisman, Richard Greene, and Bill Keith; the record was released after his death.
- Killed by a drunk driver on July 15, 1973 in Palmdale, California while loading equipment after a New Kentucky Colonels show with brother Roland; inducted individually into the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2016, and again with the Kentucky Colonels in 2019.
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The Kentucky ColonelsPlayed on recordings with The Kentucky Colonels
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Clarence WhitePlayed on recording with Clarence White
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Country GazettePlayed on recording with Country Gazette