b. Christine Clark, 1st February 1946, Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A.
Chris Clark is one of a small number of White performers who recorded for the Motown imprint during the Sixties.
Her records are sought after, and much appreciated by the Northern Soul fan base within the scene.
Christine Clark joined Motown Records as a receptionist in 1964.
Her singing career originally began on the nightclub circuit in and around San Francisco, before signing to Tamla Motown as one of the labels few white singers (alongside Kiki Dee).
Her vocal stylings led her to becoming fondly nicknamed 'The White Negress' by British fans.
She is remembered for her 1965 single 'Do Right Baby Do Right' (penned by Berry Gordy, Jr.) and 1966's 'Love's Gone Bad' (number 105 pop, and number 41 R&B, penned by Holland-Dozier-Holland), for the VIP subsidiary label.
Chris relocated to Tamla in 1967, where she found some success with the song 'From Head To Toe'.
Another of her notable songs was the 1967 single 'I Want To Go Back There Again' (a Berry Gordy, Jr penned song).
The same year, she released an album called 'Soul Sounds' on the Motown label.
The album featured twelve songs including a rare, Berry Gordy Jnr penned, Motown ballad called 'If You Should Walk Away'.
Chris was seen by some as the U.S.'s answer to Dusty Springfield.
She also dated Berry Gordy Jnr. at the time.
cc rides again
Chris Clark recorded one more album for Motown on its newly created rock label Weed called 'C.C. Rides Again' (released in 1969).
It remains the only album ever released on the label.
In 1969, she became the Vice-President of Motown's film division, co-writing the screenplay for 'Lady Sings The Blues' in 1971, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
In 1981, she was appointed Vice-President of Motown Productions, overseeing the company's creative affairs.
In 1982 she married Academy Award-winning screenwriter and novelist Ernest Tidyman.
He died of a perforated ulcer in 1984.
Chris Clark left the organization in 1989 and re-recorded 'From Head To Toe' with U.K. producer Ian Levine for Motor City Records in 1991.
In recent years, she has become an art photographer and has exhibited her work mainly to art dealers and at a few galleries.
She still performs on stage at times in clubs in the United States and in Europe, and resides in Santa Rosa, California.
2009
Albums:
Soul Sounds (Tamla 1967)
CC Rides Again (Weed 1969)
Chris Clark Collection (Universal 2005)
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