| Cliff Carlisle | |
| Birth Name: | Clifford Carlisle |
| Birth Date: | May 6, 1903 |
| Death Place: | Lexington, Kentucky |
| Origin: | Taylorsville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Instrument: | Steel guitar |
| Genre: | Country |
| Occupation: | Singer |
| Years Active: | 1920s–1950s |
Cliff Carlisle (May 6, 1903[1] – April 5, 1983) was an American country and blues musician, singer and songwriter. Carlisle was a yodeler and was a pioneer in the use of the Hawaiian steel guitar in country music. He was a brother of country music star Bill Carlisle.
Carlisle was born in Taylorsville, Kentucky and began performing locally with cousin Lillian Truax at age 16. Truax's marriage put an end to the group, and Carlisle began playing with Wilber Ball, a guitarist and tenor harmonizer. The two toured frequently around the U.S. playing vaudeville and circus venues in the 1920s.
Cliff and Ball first played at Louisville, Kentucky radio station WHAS-AM in 1930, which made them local stars, and later that year they recorded for Gennett Records and Champion Records. In 1931, they recorded with Jimmie Rodgers. Toward the end of 1931, Carlisle signed with ARC and was offered performance slots on several radio stations, including WBT-AM in Charlotte, North Carolina, WLS-AM in Chicago and WLW-AM in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cliff's brother Bill Carlisle became his guitarist after Ball left in 1934. During the 1930s Carlisle, who recorded a large amount of material despite a hiatus from 1934 to 1936, frequently released songs with sexual connotations including barnyard metaphors (which became something of a hallmark).
Carlisle toured with his son, "Sonny Boy Tommy," to occasional consternation from authorities in areas where this contravened local child labor laws. He continued to perform on WMPS-AM in Memphis, Tennessee for several years in the 1940s, but by the 1950s had retired from music.
In the 1960s, The Rooftop Singers covered his tune "Tom Cat Blues"; in its wake, Carlisle and Ball did a few reunion shows together and recorded for Rem Records. On April 2, 1983, Carlisle died at the age of 79 in Lexington, Kentucky.
Carlisle's 1933 song "Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad" is featured in the 2017 video game Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy.[2]
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor='#E0E0E0' colspan='4' align='center' | Gennett Records | ||
| 1930 | My Carolina Sunshine Girl / Down In Jail On My Knees | ||
| 1930 | Desert Blues / Blue Yodel No.6 | with Bill Carlisle | |
| 1930 (?) | I'm Lonely and Blue / I'm On My Way To Lonesome Valley | ||
| bgcolor='#E0E0E0' colspan='4' align='center' | Champion Records | ||
| 1930 | Just A Lonely Hobo / Virginia Blues | ||
| 1930 | Crazy Blues / Hobo Blues | B-side with Bill Carlisle | |
| 1930 | No Daddy Blues / Brakeman's Blues | Brakeman's Blues by Jimmie Rodgers | |
| 1931 | Box Car Blues / The Brakeman's Reply | under the pseudonym J. Boone | |
| 1931 | High Steppin' Mama / Alone and Lonesome | ||
| 1931 | Hobo Jack's Last Ride / The Written Letter | with Bill Carlisle as The Carlisle Brothers | |
| 1931 | Nobody Wants Me / The Plea Of A Mother | with Bill Carlisle as The Carlisle Brothers | |
| 1931 | Come Back Sweetheart / Memories That Haunt Me | with Bill Carlisle as The Carlisle Brothers | |
| 1931 | She's Waiting For Me / The Cowboy's Song | with Bill Carlisle as The Carlisle Brothers | |
| 1931 | The Fatal Run / Memories That Make Me Cry | with Bill Carlisle as The Carlisle Brothers | |
| bgcolor='#E0E0E0' colspan='4' align='center' | Conqueror Records | ||
| 1931 | Shanghai Rooster Yodel / Going Back To Alabama | ||
| 1931 | Memories That Make Me Cry / Dear Old Daddy | ||
| 1931 | Alone and Lonesome / Where Southern Roses Climb | ||
| 1931 | Box Car Yodel / Modern Mama | ||
| 1931 | Birmingham Jail No.2 / Just A Lonely Hobo | ||
| 1931 | The Written Letter / I Don't Mind | ||
| 1931 | My Rocky Mountain Sweetheart / Lonely Valley | ||
| 1931 | Guitar Blues / I Want A Good Woman | ||
| 1932 | Memories That Haunt Me / Seven Years With The Wrong Woman | ||
| 1932 (?) | Childhood Dreams / Memories That Make Me Cry | ||
| 1932 | The Brakeman's Reply / Hobo Jack's Last Ride | ||
| 1932 | Roll In Blue Moon / When It's Roundup Time In Texas | ||
| 1933 | The Rustler's Fate / The Little Dobie Shack | with Bill Carlisle as The Carlisle Brothers | |
| 1933 | Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad / Dang My Rowdy Soul | ||
| 1933 | Don't Marry The Wrong Woman / The Vacant Cabin Door | ||
| 1933 | Rambling Jack / Wreck Of Freight No. 52 | ||
| 1933 | Blue Eyes / On The Banks Of The Rio Grande | ||
| 1933 | I'm Glad I'm A Hobo / Gambling Dan | ||
| 1933 | That Ramshackle Shack On The Hill / End Of Memory Lane | with Bill Carlisle as The Carlisle Brothers | |
| 1933 | Looking For Tomorrow / Where Romance Calls | ||
| 1933 | Louisiana Blues / Fussin' Mama | A-side with Bill Carlisle | |
| 1933 | I'm Traveling Live Along / Sunshine and Daisies | ||
| 1934 | Hen Pecked Man / Chicken Roost Blues | ||
| bgcolor='#E0E0E0' colspan='4' align='center' | Montgomery Ward | ||
| 1936 | Rambling Yodeler / Cowboy Johnnie's Last Ride | ||
| 1936 | A Wild Cat Woman and A Tom Cat Man / Look Out, I'm Shifting Gears | ||
| 1936 | A Stretch Of 28 Years / My Lovin' Cathleen | ||
| 1936 | Handsome Blues / In A Box Car Around The World | B-side with Bill Carlisle | |
| 1936 (?) | When The Cactus Is In Bloom / My Lonely Boyhood Days | B-side under the pseudonym Lallaby Larkers | |
| 1936 | You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone / When The Evening Sun Goes Down | ||
| 1936 | Flower Of The Valley / A Little White Rose | with Sonny Boy Tommy (Tommy Carlisle) | |
| 1936 | I'm Saving Saturday Night For You / Waiting For A Ride | ||
| 1936 | It Takes An Old Hen To Deliver The Goods / When I Feel Froggie I'm Gonna Hop | ||
| 1936 | The Nasty Swing / It Ain't No Fault Of Mine | ||
| 1937 | Ridin' That Lonesome Trail / They Say It's The end Of The Trail | ||
| 1937 | There's A Lamp In The Window Tonight / New Memories Of You That Haunt Me | ||
| 1937 | Sweet As The Roses Of Spring / Just A Little Bit Of Loving From You | ||
| 1937 | Rocky Road / Pay Day Fight | ||
| 1937 | Cowboy's Dying Dream / Pan American Dream | ||
| 1937 | Waiting For A Ride / Your Saddle Is Empty Tonight | ||
| 1937 | When My Memory Lies / Lonely | ||
| 1937 | Rooster Blues / Troubled Minded Blues | ||
| 1937 | Blue Dreams / Hobo's Fate | ||
| bgcolor='#E0E0E0' colspan='4' align='center' | Bluebird Records | ||
| 1937 | Pan American Man / ? | ||
| 1937 | Riding The Blinds / New Memories Of You That Haunt Me | ||
| 1937 | Your Saddle Is Empty Tonight / Cowboy's Dying Dream | ||
| 1938 | Why Did The Blue Sky Turn Gray / The Shack By The Side Of The Road | ||
| bgcolor='#E0E0E0' colspan='4' align='center' | RCA Records | ||
| ? | A Mean Mama Don't Worry Me / Why Did It Have To Be Me? | ||
| ? | Devil's Train / Scars Upon My Heart | ||
| ? | Death By The Roadside / You Just Wait and See | ||
| ? | I Didn't Have Time / You Couldn't Be True If You Tried | ||
| ? | You Can't Erase A Memory / All The World Is Lonely | ||
| bgcolor='#E0E0E0' colspan='4' align='center' | Decca Records with Bill Carlisle | ||
| 1938 | Over By The Chrystal Sea / The Great Judgement Day | ||
| 1938 | Are You Going To Leave Me / The Girl I Left So Blues | ||
| 1938 | Wreck Of The Happy Valley / Weary Traveller with Sonny Boy Tommy | ||
| 1938 | Moonlight Blues / Big At The Little Bottom A | ||
| 1938 | Two Eyes In The Tennessee / Lonely Little Orphan Girl | ||
| 1938 | Trouble On My Mind / Nevada Johnnie | ||
| 1938 | No Drunkard Can Enter / I'm On My Way To The Promised Land | ||
| 1938 | When The Angels Carry Me Home / Home Of The Soul | with Sonny Boy Tommy | |
| 1938 | No Letter In The Mail Today / Drifting | ||
| 1938 | I'm Just A Rambling Man / Blue Dreams | ||
| 1938 | My Old Home Place / Flower Of My Dream | ||
| 1938 | Where Are The Pals Of Long Ago / When We Meet Again | ||
| 1938 | I'm Heading For Some Home, Sweet Home / If Jesus Should Come | ||
| 1938 | Wabash Cannonball / Sparkling Blue Eyes | as Carlisle's Kentucky Boys | |
| 1939 | Unclouded Sky / Far Beyond The Starry Sky | ||
| 1939 | Mouse Been Messin' Around / Ditty Wah Ditty | ||
| 1939 | Footprints In The Snow / My Little Sadie | ||
| 1939 | Roll On Old Troubles / I Dreamed I Searched Heaven | ||
| 1939 | Black Jack David / Makes No Differences What Live Will Bring | B-side as Carlisle Buckle Busters | |
| 1939 | Sally Let Your Bangs Hang / Little Pal |