- Dennis Clifton
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Dennis Clifton (1953 – January 1, 2008) was an American musician and studio engineer.
Clifton was born and raised in Decatur, AL. He began playing guitar as a child, encouraged by his parents. He helped form his first rock/pop band at age 12. In his teen years he played rhythm guitar and sang lead vocals for The Surprise Package and Shawnee in Decatur. One of his formative influences was The Allman Brothers Band, whose engineer Johnny Sandlin was also from the Decatur area. The Allmans were known locally for their spirited performances in earlier groups that performed in the area, The Allman Joys and The Hourglass. It was from hearing Duane play slide guitar that Dennis became enthralled with the possibilities and took up the art. In 1970, Dennis made his first recording when Shawnee recorded a 45rpm with two original songs (HELP ME by Clarance Neatherley, and MOVIN' MAN by Dennis and Paul Marcontell). After graduating from Austin High School, he joined the Buddy Causey Band, traveling the Southeast band circuit. Through studio work, he was introduced to Larry Byrom, former guitarist in Steppenwolf, and the two formed the band FCC (Funky Communications Commission. Dennis was one of the principal songwriters for the band, whose greatest hit was "Baby I Want You" in the late 1970s.
After FCC disbanded, Clifton became a studio musician, playing guitar and adding background vocals for musicians in Nashville, Tennessee. Clifton also was a member of the bluegrass band, Cornbread Red, which produced bluegrass tribute albums to popular rock and alternative artists, such as Def Leppard, Linkin Park and Green Day.
A solo album THE BLUES HIGHWAY was released near the end of his life and can be found on such sites as CDBaby.com
He died on New Year's Day, 2008, after a long battle with cancer.
External links
Categories:- 2008 deaths
- 1953 births
- Deaths from cancer
- American music biography stubs
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