The Everlovin' Soul of Roy Clark

AMG Review of The Everlovin' Soul of Roy Clark

Greg Adams
All Music Guide

What do you make of a completely serious, string-laden version of "Me and Bobby McGee" that ends with a kazoo solo? That is by far the biggest surprise on The Everlovin' Soul of Roy Clark, a 1969 album of pop allads on which Clark makes even Rex Griffin's country classic "The Last Letter" sound like a lounge singer's orch song. "Right or Left at Oak Street," a melancholy piece about an ambivalent family man, was a minor hit, as was the conversational "Then She's a Lover." Clark delivers a contemplative reading of Paul Weston's 1951 hit "Morningside of the Mountain" years before Donny & Marie Osmond made it a hit again, and "Unchained Melody" is well suited to Clark's style. A gospel song, "Say Amen," wraps up an album that tries, in the grand MOR tradition, to offer something for everyone while offending no one.