[edit] Career
At a young age, he was interested in music but his primary interest was athletics. He purchased a guitar at the age of 12 and although he learned to play it, most of his time was devoted to sport. This eventually resulted in being offered a baseball scholarship to the University of Idaho at Moscow.
King later returned to Shreveport and joined the Louisiana Hayride, a popular TV and radio show broadcast in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, produced in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Louisiana Hayride ranked second only to the Grand Ole Opry in terms of television and radio importance in the early 1950s to the 1960s and King was frequently billed on the same shows with other famous legends such as Elvis Presley, John Ritter's father, Tex Ritter, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells, Jimmie Davis, Slim Whitman, Faron Young, Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves, George Jones and Lefty Frizzell, among many others who became big music stars in the 1960s.
King recorded a few songs for Gotham Records, although none were successful. In 1961, he became more serious about a musical career and signed with the Nashville, Tennessee division of Columbia Records. He struck immediately, cutting "Big River, Big Man", a country Top 10 and even a small pop crossover success. He soon followed with "The Comancheros" inspired by the movie of the same title, starring John Wayne. It was a Top 10 country hit in late 1961, also crossing over to the pop charts.
King made his "career" recording in the spring of 1962. "Wolverton Mountain", written with Nashville veteran Merle Kilgore, was based on a real character, Clifton Clowers, who lived on Wolverton Mountain in Arkansas. The song became an immediate hit, going to No.1 for nine weeks during its 26-week run on the Billboard Country charts. It was also a pop Top 10.
King followed up that year with an American Civil War song, "The Burning Of Atlanta" which also went Top 10 on the country charts and again generated a lot of interest on the pop lists. In late 1962, he recorded "I've Got The World By The Tail" which narrowly missed the country Top 10.
He had another good year in 1963, scoring three solid country hits with "Sheepskin Valley", "Building a Bridge" and "Hey Lucille!". The hits continued in 1964 with "Sam Hill" and in 1965 he was back in the Top 10 with "Tiger Woman", co-written by Merle Kilgore. King also did well that year with "Little Buddy". His smooth country style continued to find a flavor throughout the decade, especially songs like "Catch a Little Raindrop" and the Top 10 "All For The Love Of A Girl" in 1969. His singles continued to hit the country charts through 1972. He left the label in 1973 after having accomplished 29 hits.
Besides a successful career recording and touring, King also performed as an actor in several movies, and like his nephew, Chris Aable, King is also among a minority of actors who are members in both the Screen Actors Guild and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He appeared in the 1982 television miniseries The Blue and the Gray and appeared in several feature films. King is no relation to another actor by the same name, born in 1875 in England.
In 1981, Arkansas Governor Frank D. White paid tribute to King and his big 1962 hit by declaring August 7 "Wolverton Mountain Day". By that time, King had almost retired from recording.
After being absent from recording for over 20 years, King recently released a new CD called Cowboy in the White House. Most of the songs were written or co-written by him. Elvis Presley's guitarist, James Burton performed guitar for the release.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_King"
She Knows Why
Claude King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And she knows why I feel the way I do
She gave me love and took it away blue sky has turned to a solid grey
And she knows why I feel the way I do
Well I know I'm a walkin' down the lovesick trails been walked down by many before
But when she sees my side of tracks she'll know I've learned the score
I pick my tears put 'em on the shelf keep my heartaches to myself
[ guitar ]
When she finds somebody new he'll find out what I went through
And she knows why I feel the way I do
She gave me love and took it away blue skies had turned to a solid grey
And she knows why I feel the way I do
Well I know I'm a walkin' down...
She knows why I feel the way I do
The lyrics to Claude King's song "She Knows Why" are about heartbreak and the pain that comes with it. The singer is telling a story about a woman who he loved and who gave him love in return, but then took it away. He is feeling very sad and down, as represented by the blue skies turning solid grey. However, he finds comfort in the fact that she knows why he feels this way. The singer states that he knows he is not the only one to have experienced this kind of heartbreak, but when the woman eventually sees things from his perspective, she will understand all the pain he is going through.
The singer expresses that he is trying to move on from the situation, keeping his heartaches to himself and placing his tears on the shelf. He also hints that the woman will eventually find somebody else and when she does, that person will also discover what he went through. The song ends on the same note it began on, with the statement that she knows why the singer feels the way he does, implying that she is aware of the pain she has caused him.
Line by Line Meaning
I have a story I'd like to tell broken heart's knowin' only too well
I want to share my tale of heartbreak with someone who understands.
And she knows why I feel the way I do
The person I'm talking about understands my pain.
She gave me love and took it away blue sky has turned to a solid grey
The same person who understands my pain is also the one who caused it by taking away the love they gave to me.
Well I know I'm a walkin' down the lovesick trails been walked down by many before
I know I'm not alone in experiencing heartbreak and that many others have gone through the same thing as me.
But when she sees my side of tracks she'll know I've learned the score
If the person who hurt me could see things from my perspective, they would understand that I have gained insight from this experience and have learned from it.
I pick my tears put 'em on the shelf keep my heartaches to myself
I try to hide my sadness and pain from others, and keep it to myself.
When she finds somebody new he'll find out what I went through
The person who caused me heartbreak will eventually experience it themselves when they enter a new relationship.
She knows why I feel the way I do
The person who caused my pain understands the emotions I'm experiencing.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Frank Childs
I dig the way Claude does this, more honky tonk than rockabilly. But if I think about it Johnny Horton is great too! I'm thankful to those who put up these videos of different artists and versions of songs 🎵
Ste.
Love this early version by Claude and it was well covered by Johnny Horton but sadly Kings latter version is is too syrupy... I have always been a fan of old country music (pre 60's) of all kinds but it was a shame that the Nashville sound lost all the blues and heart felt sincerity of the early stuff... It was still pretty decent for a while but like most modern music it has lost it's way, probably beyond repair...