Clyde McCoy

Clyde McCoy (December 29, 1903 in Ashland, Kentucky – June 11, 1990 in Memphis, Tennessee), was a jazz trumpet player whose popularity spanned seven decades. He is best remembered for his theme song, "Sugar Blues", written by Clarence Williams and Lucy Fletcher. The song hit in 1931 and 1935, in Columbia and Decca versions, and returned to Billboard magazine's Country (Hillbilly) chart in 1941. It was also played with vocals, by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Fats Waller and Ella Fitzgerald. Johnny Mercer had a vocal hit in 1947.

McCoy was a member of one of the families of the Hatfield-McCoy feud,^[1] and was based at various times in Los Angeles, New York City, and at Chicago's Drake Hotel, where he first performed "Sugar Blues" in 1930. He co-founded Down Beat magazine in 1935, ^[2] and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6426 Hollywood Boulevard.

McCoy developed a signature "wah-wah" sound in the late 1920s by fluttering a Harmon mute in the bell of his trumpet. In 1967, this distinctive sound was replicated for electric guitar with the introduction of the Vox Clyde McCoy Wah-Wah Pedal, the most significant guitar effect of its time.^[2] The Wah-wah pedal was invented by a young engineer named Brad Plunkett,^[3] who worked for the Thomas Organ Company, Vox/JMI’s U.S. counterpart. The wah circuit basically sprang from the 3-position midrange voicing function used on the Vox Super Beatle amplifier.

Vox cleverly packaged the circuit into an enclosure with a rocker pedal attached to the pot (which controlled the frequency of the resonant peak) and named the new device after Clyde McCoy. Early versions of the Clyde McCoy pedal featured an image of McCoy on the bottom panel,^[4] which soon gave way to his signature only before Thomas Organ changed the name of the pedal to Cry Baby. Thomas Organ’s failure to trademark the Cry Baby name soon led to the market being flooded with Cry Baby imitations from various parts of the world, including Italy, where the McCoy pedals were originally made.^[3]

Clyde McCoy died in Memphis in 1990 at age 86.

References

1. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Clyde McCoy: Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/clyde-mccoy-p11154. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Clyde McCoy's biography
3. ^ ^{a b} Guitar Player : The Complete Electric Guitar Package
4. ^ images of re-issued McCoy pedal

Persondata
Name	Maccoy, Clyde
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 29, 1903
Place of birth
Date of death	June 11, 1990
Place of death