Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, o… Read Full Bio ↴Kenny Clarke (born Kenneth Clarke Spearman, later aka, Liaqat Ali Salaam, on January 9, 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-died January 26, 1985 in Paris, France) was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming. As the house drummer at Minton's Playhouse in the early 1940's, he participated in the after hours jams that led to the birth of modern jazz. He is credited with creating the modern role of the ride cymbal as the primary timekeeper. Before, drummers kept time on the snare drum ("digging coal", Clarke called it) with heavy support from the bass drum. With Clarke time was played on the cymbal and the bass and snare were used more for punctuation. For this, "every drummer" Ed Thigpen said, "owes him a debt of gratitude." Clarke was nicknamed "Klook" or "Klook-mop" for the style he innovated.

Clarke was a founder member of the Modern Jazz Quartet (as the Milt Jackson Quartet) in 1951 and also participated in many recording sessions as house drummer for Savoy Records. Connie Kay took his place in the MJQ in 1955 and from 1956 Clarke was resident in France where he regularly worked with visiting American musicians in Paris, in particular forming a working trio, known as "The Bosses", with Bud Powell and Pierre Michelot.

Later in 1961, with Belgian pianist Francy Boland he formed a regular big band featuring leading European and ex-patriate American musicians, including among many others, Johnny Griffin and Ronnie Scott on tenor saxes. The big band, which had been the idea of Italian producer Gigi Campi, lasted for eleven years.

volcano
Kenny Clarke Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Got my motor runnin'
Little girl, are you comin'
Keep your candle burning bright

Soon as you are ready
Hold that ladder steady
Come tread softly through the night

Don't leave me in the dark
Like a ghost rider in your yard
Carving names in bark along the boulevard

I'd be a bushwhacker
Even be your hijacker
Keep your candle burning bright

When we cross that railroad track
There'll be no turning back
Come tread softly through the night

Don't leave me sitting here
Up on top of your fence
I'm like an alley cat up here, without a lick of sense

Volcano--I'm about to blow
Volcano--Gonna overflow
Volcano--Look out below

Don't leave me empty-handed
Like a villain in the woods
Prowling around the grounds, trying to make off with the goods

Volcano--I'm about to blow

Volcano--Gonna overflow
Volcano--Look out below

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Kenny Clarke Francy Boland Big Band's song "Volcano" depict a man's urgent desire for his lover to join him in a passionate and possibly dangerous escapade. The metaphor of a volcano is used throughout the song as a symbol of the man's intense feelings and mounting desire. He urges his lover to "keep your candle burning bright" and "come tread softly through the night," emphasizing the need for secrecy and hidden passion. He also uses vivid imagery of being a "ghost rider in your yard" and carving "names in bark along the boulevard" to convey the sense of wildness and risk inherent in their relationship.

The chorus of the song reinforces the metaphor of the volcano, with the man's desire reaching a boiling point: "Volcano--I'm about to blow / Volcano--Gonna overflow / Volcano--Look out below." He doesn't want to be left "sitting here / up on top of your fence," feeling like a trapped animal, and urges his partner not to leave him "empty-handed / like a villain in the woods." Overall, the lyrics to "Volcano" paint a picture of a passionate but risky liaison, where the intense desire and excitement are just as likely to lead to explosive results as to satisfaction.

volcanoKenny Clarke Lyrics

volcano
Kenny Clarke Lyrics