Mike Clark

News Obituary Article

CUMMING: Mike Clark, 63, had unbridled passion for music

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

Part of what made Mike Clark a great studio manager was that he understood the musician's point of view.

Years before he took over as co-owner and manager of Southern Tracks recording studio, the Atlanta native went straight from playing in the Brown High School rock band he formed with singer Tommy Roe to hitting the road with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars.

The ace drummer toured with Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson and the Drifters. He played drums on the Classics IV's "Traces" and Billy Joe Royal's "Cherry Hill Park" and produced Starbuck's 1970s hit "Moonlight Feels Right."

"Mike was every musician's best friend," said songwriter and producer Buddy Buie of Eufaula, Ala. "He tried to help musicians in any way he could."

Charles Michael Clark, 63, died of cancer Thursday at his Cumming residence. The body was cremated. The memorial service is 1 p.m. Feb. 13 at First Baptist Church of Woodstock. McDonald & Son Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Clark, who was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1999, joined Lowery Music in 1966, promoting records during the day and picking up session work at night. By 1979, he was managing Southern Tracks.

Artists with the studio's imprint on their work include Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Indigo Girls, Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Stone Temple Pilots, Outkast, Limp Bizkit, Kansas, Travis Tritt, Korn, Train, the Wallflowers and Third Day.

Southern Tracks' profile shot higher when Mr. Clark formed a close association with famed producer Brendan O'Brien, who works almost exclusively at Southern Tracks when he's in town.

When Bruce Springsteen settled in at the homey studio to work on "The Rising" for weeks on end, Mr. Clark was knocked out by the honor.

"When Springsteen decided to come here, I was like, 'God, he's recorded in all the palatial studios in the world, and now he's coming here to little ol' Atlanta,' " Mr. Clark said in a 2004 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. "But he just loved it."

"Mike was a very low-key guy who had no interest in self-promotion," said Mr. O'Brien of Atlanta. "He was just completely interested in making the artists happy and comfortable, and he realized if he did all that properly, his business would be successful. I found that very refreshing, especially in this business.

"Over the years, we've had famous people from all over the world in there and you would never know it, because Mike was not interested in that. He mainly just loved the idea that we made records there all the time with artists he liked, and he became friends with most of them."

Part of what attracted musicians was Mr. Clark's enviable collection of vintage microphones, said Jeff Calder, Southern Tracks' night manager.

There was more to it, though, than that. In between discussing his love of cars or the horses he raised, Mr. Clark encouraged camaraderie in the recording community and was a steady, gentle source of advice.

"Mike made Southern Tracks into something more than a collection of nice recording gear and great staff," said Mr. Calder of Atlanta. "In the studio, it's almost like you're on a submarine. It's easy to have blinders on about what's going on in the real world.

"But Mike was so bright and his interests were so diverse, he always had his eye on the bigger picture."

Survivors include his wife, Melissa Clark; a daughter, Courtney Clark of Nashville; a son, Chris Clark of Fitzgerald; a stepdaughter, Robyn Stephenson of Cumming; two stepsons, Travis Haynes of Cumming and Payton Haynes of Macon; and a brother, Randy Clark of Norcross.

© 2007 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution