Sue Cassidy Clark papers, 1960-1990

  • Identification1000/CLARK_1011
  • Title
    • Guide to the Sue Cassidy Clark papers
    • Clark, Sue Cassidy papers
  • LanguageEnglish
  • Date
    • 1960-1990
    • 1969-1973
  • OriginationClark, Sue C.
  • Physical Description
    • 36.00
    • 36 boxes
  • RepositoryCenter for Black Music Research 600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL, 60605-1996 URL: http://cbmr-webapps.colum.edu/archon Email: lmoses@colum.edu Phone: (312) 369-7559 Fax: (312) 369-8029
  • AbstractSue Cassidy Clark was a music journalist and photographer who specialized in soul, gospel, and rock music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Sue Cassidy Clark papers include Clark's recorded interviews, interview transcripts, photographs, published articles, correspondence, handwritten notes, clippings, promotional print material, and commercial sound recordings.

Sue Cassidy Clark, director of creative services for Command/Probe Records

Administrative History:

Sue Cassidy Clark was a music journalist and photographer who specialized in soul, gospel, and rock music in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She authored the books Rock: A World Bold as Love (Cowles, 1970) and The Superstars: In Their Own Words (Music Sales, 1972), and she contributed articles and record reviews to several periodicals, including Billboard, Black Stars, Creem, Hit Parader, Rolling Stone, Rock, Soul Illustrated, and Soul Sounds.

  • Names
    • Apollo Theater (New York, N.Y. : 125th Street)
    • Impressions (Musical Group)
    • Butler, Jerry
    • Clark, Sue C.
    • Mayfield, Curtis
  • Geographic CoverageNew York (City)
  • Subject
    • Journalism
    • Music Journalists
    • Musicians, Black
    • Popular music - 1981-1990
    • Popular music - 1991-2000

Most of the collection is open for public use. Some individuals restrict access to interviews.

Varies. See finding aid for restrictions on interviews.

Includes sound discs, photographs and photograph negatives, 45 rpm and 33 1/3 rpm and cassette recordings

The papers are arranged into seven series, “Artists,” “Other Topics,” “Periodicals,” “Printed Music, “Scrapbooks,” “Commercial Recordings,” and “Audio Interview Cassettes.”

The collection includes recorded interviews that Clark conducted with significant and influential African-American musicians, typed transcriptions of many of these interviews, copies of published articles, photographs, many of which were taken by Clark, correspondence, handwritten notes, research material (including clippings and promotional print material), and her collection of recordings.

Many of the individuals with whom Clark conducted interviews were musical pioneers, and the period in which the interviews took place was a time when American popular music was evolving rapidly. Clark's interviews with these artists provide a snapshot of many of them at their artistic and commercial peaks, and the questions she poses on such topics as the directions soul music was taking, the performers' relationship to their audiences, and the artists' reflections on other musicians (contemporary and past) provide considerable insight into the American musical landscape at that time. For a number of the musicians Clark interviewed, there are not many other recorded interviews in existence, and some of the musicians she interviewed are now deceased.