Clarence Joseph LeBlanc was born on June 7, 1944 in Lewiston, Maine. At the age of 10 his family moved to California Shortly after Clarence and his brothers, Roland and Eric started a band by the name of, “Three Little Country Boys.”After performing on the radio regularly they were noticed by a country singer named Joe Maphis. The boys changed their name to the Kentucky Colonels in 1962 and continued their rise in success, but when the British music craze hit America, the boys were hit hard. It wasn’t long before American music came back in the spotlight again. Popularity in the Kentucky Colonels began to flourish again only to disband later, because of discrepancies in the band, their last show was played Halloween night in 1965. After the breakup of the Colonels, White began to play as a stand-in guitarist for Gene Parsons in a band called Nashville West, playing The Monkees covers. He played alongside with bands such as International Submarine Band and Flying Burrito Brothers. Whites band played a mix between country and rock with a twist of modern pop. Soon, White was approached by The Byrds to play on their upcoming album, The Notorious Byrd Brothers and Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
In 1968 after a departure of two of the original band members White was asked to help reconstruct and become an official member of The Byrds until the band finally broke up in 1973. After the breakup White and a couple original band members tried to continue to play music, but they had a hard time of people taking them seriously while playing on stage. Still struggling, the band remained on the road for most of the year, but finally due to poor business decisions the band had no choice to call it quits. However, White did pull together with fellow band members and a few other friends, Ry Cooder and Jackson Brown to release one last album called “Farther Along.”
After the breakup of The Byrds, White joined other musicians, Peter Rowan, David Grisman, Richard Green and Bill Keith to make up the super band called the Muleskinner. Muleskinner played on various TV broadcasts and several tours and shows. Their sound was a bit different from the original Bluegrass therefore; they made the name of Newgrass because of its contemporary sound. Sadly, on July 15th 1973 while loading up equipment White was hit and killed by a drunk driver. The remaining band members were torn from this tragic happening, Gram Parsons lead a singalong of their song “Farther Along” at Whites funeral. The band finished a song White was working on right before he was killed and was played as a tribute to White. His brothers and sisters Roland, Eric, JoAnne, and Rosemarie remain along with his daughter Michelle and his five grandchildren.
BIOGRAPHY – Clarence White
