The Pilgrim Jubilees

8. Stretch Out

8. Stretch Out C lay: "We went to Atlanta with Edna Gallmon Cooke, and Barney Parks got us a two hundred dollar guarantee. But the man [the promoter] wasn't going to pay us. Barney said, 'Well Edna's not going on until you pay them.' So the man paid up and we hit that stage. And we were like little wild children up there, man." Cleave: "At the City Auditorium. With the Swan Silvertones, the Davis Sisters, the Soul Stirrers, the Blind Boys [ofMississippi], the Swanee Quintet. Oh my goodness, you know that wassomething! We were the new guest group. And they had our record ["River of Jordan"] on a loudspeaker [mounted on a vehicle to publicize the program] going down the street. I went across the street from the hotel to the restaurant to have some breakfast, and they came by with the loudspeaker and the song playing.The man from Peacock, DaveClark, wassitting there. And when they went through playing our record, he asked the man at the restaurant, 'Do you know what group that is?' I said, 'I know them. That's the Pilgrim Jubilees. That's my group.' He said, 'I'd like to meet the group. Here's my card. I'm Dave Clark from Peacock Records.' I said to myself, look at this joker sitting up here pretending he's somebody. I took the card and I'm sitting there and all these people are coming in and 'Hi Mr. Clark', 'Hi Mr. Dave.' I said, 'Heyyy!' So I told him, 'My booking manager is 73 74 Stretck Out in the hotel, in room 212—I'll never forget the room. He says, Td like to meet with y'all and we'll get something together.1 " Major: "They brought me the news and I said, 'No, no. Not Peacock.' Because wewere down there. . . . But he came by the hotel and said, 'Do you want to record for Peacock?' I said, 'Everybody would like to record for Peacock, but they don't want no PilgrimJubilees.' He says, 'Forget that. Do you want to record?' I said, 'Yes.' 'If I send you a recording contract, will you sign it?' 'Yes.' When he went out, I said, 'That man is phony! Walking around with his funny-looking clothes and Stetson hats and stuff.' So we were out for about another week, and when I got home, there's the envelope from Peacock. Opened it up and there's a contract. Everybody'srejoicing . We didn't read anything. We didn't think about an attorney. Lordy,if you could record for Peacock, you were top stuff! Everybody in the group put their name on the dotted line, and we sent it on back to him, right quick." The skepticism about Dave Clark, while appearing to confirm that this was a groupwith a death wishwhen it came to recording success, wasunderstandable . He wore stylish and costly clothing in outrageous combinations —"If you didn't really know clothing, you would think he wasa bum," says Cleave—and had a speech impediment. But even in 1959 he was a legend in the recording industry,and his sixty years in music covered virtually every aspect of the business. Born in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1909, he graduated from college in 1934 and became a writer for Down Beat magazine . In 1936 he joined Jimmy Lunceford'sorchestra, initially as a musician, then as an advance man, going ahead of the band as it toured to publicize its performances. In 1939 he graduated from Juilliard School of Music and went into record promotions work. He joined Peacock in 1954 and stayed until 1971. His main job during this time waspromotions, but he also served as talent scout, producer, and songwriter and was as much identified with the label as wasits owner, Don Robey. "When I sayI want you,Mr. Robey's gonna call you," he told Cleave; the boast wasalso the truth. From Peacock, Clark went to Stax Records in Memphis until 1976, after which he joined the R&B and gospel label Malaco in Jackson, Mississippi, stayingthere until his death in 1995.1 The arrival of the contract ended any doubts about Clark. The Pilgrim Jubilees started preparing for their first Peacock recording session, even Stretck Out 75 rejecting bookings generated by their appearances with Edna Gallmon Cooke to allow more rehearsal time. The main song they worked on wasan up-tempo piece...