i remember the first time i heard the the fool. it was in 1956. i was listening to my small zenith radio that had a big hole in one end of it, not much of a music box, but it got the sound out. that was good enough for me. i was living in ohio at the time. my family had moved there from alabama. i was tuned into a radio station in daytona, ohio, when the dj said, “here’s sanford clark and the fool.” the beginning licks on the guitar let me know i was hearing something special. then sanford began to sing: gather around me buddies; hold your glasses high and drink to a fool, a crazy fool who told his baby good-bye. from that moment on, i was hooked. i was pulled into the radio and into the heart of those haunting words. the song had a bluesy, rockin, shuffling beat to it, with sanford’s smooth echoing voice that left an impression on me that has lasted until this day and has become my all time favorite song. the fool has a real life meaning. a lesson for all of us. the next verse lets you know that the guy that sanford was singing about was in real trouble, when sanford sings: he needs her; he needs her so; he wonders why he ever let her go. sanford keeps repeating those haunting words reminding us that if you got something good you better hang onto it. now that’s real meaning! you get a sad empty feeling way down deep inside when you realize that the girl you love has found someone new. the song goes: she’s found a new love buddy; he’s a lucky guy; so drink to a fool, a crazy fool who told his baby good-bye. not many songs have a message delivered so purely as only sanford clark could do it with the fool. the guitar and sanford’s smooth easy voice tell a story in a song that very few recording artist have been able to do. the fool, is without a doubt one of the best songs ever recorded in the fifties. the composition is blues, but it also has a great country feel to it, perfect for any juke box in any honky tonk on any saturday night, however, it has a pop feel and the song fits perfectly into rock-n-roll.

sanford clark put so much feeling into the song that we all felt the pain. the fool sends cold chills up my spine, because we all know that what happened to the fool could happen to any of us. just think about breaking up with the best looking girl you ever dated, now buddy that would really be a fool thing to do. no doubt about it the fool is a class recording. i’ve never grown tired of hearing it, because it’s put together like a swiss watch the movements are perfect and when you blend it all together you have one of the top ten recordings of the twenty first century. the songs just that good. if i had to get rid of all my recordings in my studio, and i have hundreds of them, and could only keep one it would be the fool by sanford clark. when sanford clark walked out of the studio, after recording the fool, he didn’t ever need to record another song, because he had recorded the perfect song. few recording artist ever have an opportunity to make a recording that never grows old and stands the test of time as a classic, the fool is just that. sanford clark and his recording of the fool is the kind of material that makes rock-a-billy history. i tip my hat and i hold my glass high and i say thank you sanford clark for the fool.

~ Widmarc Clark