Singer Clarence Carter exemplified the gritty, earthy, R&B sound of the Muscle Shoals{1} influence. An American soul singer, his songs fused the poignancy of the blues with a wicked wit to create music deeply music rooted in the American South of the past and the present.

Born January 14, 1936, in Montgomery, AL, Carter was blind from birth. He immediately gravitated to music, teaching himself guitar by listening to the blues classics of John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Jimmy Reed. Carter attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and Alabama State College in Montgomery, graduating in August 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree in music.

In 1960, with blind classmate Calvin, Carter formed the duo Clarence & Calvin, signing to the Fairlane label to release, "I Wanna Dance But I Don't Know How," the following year.