The “Golden Hits Of The 50s”
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CLIFF DEYOUNG
“MY SWEET LADY”
(John Denver)
MCA 40156
No. 17 March 23, 1974
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Cliff DeYoung was the lead vocalist with Clear Light, an early Los Angeles folk-rock band. In addition to
De Young, the mid-’60s unit comprised Doug Lubahn (bass), Mike Ney (drums), Ralph Schuckett (key
boards), Bob Seal (guitar), and Dallas Taylor (drums). They impressed Paul Rothchild, the big cheese at
Elektra Records who went on to produce the Doors. And for two years, Clear Light dazzled the Sunset
Strip scene with their psychedelicized/folkie repertory. Rothchild ordered up one critically acclaimed
debut–and departure–album, plus a lone single, “Black Rose.” Nothing charted, and the band folded.
Lubahn remained alive and active. He went on to do session work for the Doors, Dreams, JOHN
PHILLIPS, and Billy Squier; in the ’80s, he was a member of the group Riff Raff. Taylor, in addition to
being a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and of Stills’ Manassas outfit, has recorded with Buddy
Guy, Sammy Hagar, GRAHAM NASH, and Stephen Stills. Most prolific of the Clear Light crew has been
Ralph Schuckett: his keyboard services have been used by late-legend David Blue, James Cotton, the Four
Tops, Hall & Oates, and Carole King, to name a few. As for Cliff DeYoung, he became an actor.
DeYoung was born in Los Angeles, on February 12, 1946. Shortly after Cliff’s fling with Clear Light, Holly
wood beckoned. In addition to his TV work in the short-lived “Sunshine” series (1975), the “Centennial”
(1978) mini-series, and the “King” and “Robert Kennedy and His Times” made-for-TV flicks, Cliff has
appeared in films like Harry and Tonto (1974), Blue Collar (1978), The Hunger (1983), Protocol (1984),
FIX (1985), and Glory (1989), Flashback (1990).
DeYoung’s return to the disk world in 1974 was confined to a solo album and a year’s worth of singles–
among them, his “Sunshine” spinoff, “My Sweet Lady.”