Misplaced Pages

Darrell Puckett (born August 10, 1956), known professionally as Darrell Clanton, is an American country music artist. In the mid-1980s, he recorded for Audiograph and Warner Bros. Records, charting three singles on the Billboard country charts. The highest of the three was "Lonesome 7-7203," which reached No. 24 on the country charts in 1984.

Biography

Puckett was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and raised in South Pasadena, Florida. He attended Boca Ciega High School and toured the area as a member of several bands.

He moved to Nashville, Tennessee at age 22, where he found work as an assistant to Pete Drake, a session musician. He also began working as a songwriter for material recorded by B.J. Thomas, Charlie Louvin and Bobby Vinton. Puckett also recorded a demo for Justin Tubb, who encouraged him to pursue a career as a recording artist. After Puckett signed to Warner Bros. Records, label executives then suggested that he change his surname to Clanton, after the town of Clanton, Alabama.

Clanton released his debut single, a cover version of Hawkshaw Hawkins's "Lonesome 7-7203" (written by Justin Tubb) in late 1983. By February 1984, Clanton's version peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard country singles charts and No. 21 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks charts.

In 1984, Clanton was nominated for Top New Male Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards. In March 1984, he charted his second single, "I'll Take as Much of You as I Can Get", which peaked at No. 75, followed by "I Forgot that I Don't Live Here Anymore" at No. 56. The latter song was boycotted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and he exited the label.

Clanton performed at the Grand Ole Opry three times in 1984, and was booked to open for Lynn Anderson and Hank Williams, Jr. He found work as a music producer, but returned to Florida with his fiancée in 2003.

Clanton's 2005 self-released album is titled Someplace Sunny. Several of his songs were included in a collection of albums titled Stars of the Grand Ole Opry, including the Wilburn Brothers and Jean Shepard. Since the 2000s, he has resumed playing at local bars in the Tampa Bay area (he lives in Clearwater).

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
2. ^ Cristina Silva (May 22, 2007). "Floridian: Off the Charts". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
3. ^ Dave Shelton (March 30, 2005). "'One-hit wonder' roams area beaches: Darrell Clanton returns to Tampa Bay after making it big in the music industry". Largo Leader. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
4. "RPM Country Tracks listing for February 4, 1984". RPM. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
5. "Biography". The Dune Doctor. Archived from the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2010.

External links

• Darrell Clanton Archived October 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

• 1956 births
• American country singer-songwriters
• Musicians from Indianapolis
• Warner Records artists
• Living people
• Country musicians from Indiana
• People from South Pasadena, Florida
• Country musicians from Florida
• Singer-songwriters from Indiana
• Singer-songwriters from Florida
• Audiograph artists