As a child he learned guitar and piano at the Taladega School for the Blind, although he probably gained just as much from listening avidly to the records of his early favourites such as John Lee Hooker. Relatively early success came with the release of 'Step By Step' on the Fame label, a Clarence and Calvin duet recorded with Calvin Scott.
When Scott injured himself in a car crash Carter went solo - he continued to record for Rick Hall's Fame label and consistently hit the R&B; charts with fine material such as 'Looking for A Fox', the great 'Slip Away', 'Too Weak To Fight', 'Snatching It Back' and, of course, 'Patches', many of which also crossed over onto the popular charts.
Songs such as 'Slip Away' should not be underestimated, a magnificent blues ballad the equal of any produced by some of Carter's more illustrious contemporaries. His own composition 'Tell Daddy' was a template for the rather better known 'Tell Mama' by Etta James.

He was also capable of interesting and innovative interpretations of songs made famous by others; take the classic soul ballad 'At The Dark End Of The Street' for example, which he prefaces with a cracking preaching monologue ('Makin' Love') as early as 1968 - quite early on in soul history for what amounts to around four minutes of preaching and thirty seconds of singing! And much of what he records he imbues with a fine sense of humour, rare in music that is also this passionate.

Clarence continued to record throughout the 80s and 90s, producing some intense blues - oriented work on the Iciban label, all worth searching out and enjoying. However, the material he recorded for Atlantic, especially between 1965 ('Step By Step') and 1970/71 ('Patches') is music to be treasured by any true soul lover. And fortunately for all of us, it has been lovingly compiled onto one excellent 21 track CD "Snatching It Back: The Best Of Clarence Carter" (Sequel Records). In the UK, it's even at mid price, so presumably it is everywhere else, which makes it an absolute steal!!