Every few months, footage of Roy Clark shredding through a classical guitar standard on The Odd Couple makes the rounds on social media.
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The episode, titled "The Roy Clark Show," first aired on Feb. 14, 1975-- over five years after Clark wowed listeners with "Yesterday When I Was Young."
Per IMDB, "Oscar's (Jack Klugman) old Army buddy Wild Willie Boggs (Clark) is a practical joking country & Western musician. Felix (Tony Randall) wants him to become a classical violinist."
After thrilling Oscar with a banjo cover of "Mountain Dew," Clark appeased Felix's fancier tastes with a Cuban flamenco tune, based on a popular recording by Ernesto Lecuona.
"Malagueña" (not to be confused with Mexican song "Malagueña Salerosa") was written as the sixth movement of Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona's Suite Andalucia (1933). Lecuona later added Spanish lyrics. It has become popular among jazz artists as well as marching bands and drum corps.
The term Malagueñas also refers to flamenco dance styles from Málaga in the southeast of Spain. These Spanish dances originally evolved from the fandango. If you're still trying to place the title, there's also Julio Romero de Torres' famous 1917 painting La Malagueña.
A song previously associated with its piano solo got adapted into a Spanish guitar showpiece in 1961 by Carlos Montoya.
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Other artists with noteworthy versions of the song include Puerto Rican guitarist Jose Feliciano plus Stan Kenton and Connie Francis.
As for Clark's acting chops, his small screen roles go beyond The Odd Couple and Hee Haw. Many fans might remember him as Cousin Roy and Mother Myrtle from The Beverly Hillbillies. The multi-instrumentalist also made guest appearances on Love, American Style; The Bold and The Beautiful and The Drew Carey Show.
In the latter, Clark was among several stars trying out for Carey and friends' band. Others auditioning read like a who's-who of rock 'n' roll: Slash, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, ZZ Top's Dusty Hill, Joey Ramone, Dave Mustaine and The Eagles' Joe Walsh.
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