A look at the legacy of Clarence Avant, legendary Black entertainment manager from NC

North Carolina native Clarence Avant helped shape the careers of legendary Black singers including Bill Withers, Sarah Vaughan, and countless others. The famed record executive, manager, and entrepreneur known as “The Black Godfather” passed away on Sunday at the age of 92. 

Born in a segregated hospital in North Carolina in 1931, Avant’s early childhood was spent in Greensboro — one of eight children raised by a single mother — where he eventually dropped out of high school and headed north. 

Avant’s influence gradually spread outside the music industry as well, supporting retired running back Jim Brown’s transition into acting, Henry Aaron’s into commercial success, and fundraising for Black politicians including Tom Bradley, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, and Barack Obama. 

WFDD’s David Ford has this look back at his legacy. He spoke with Piedmont Blues Preservation Society executive director Atiba Berkley.

Interview Highlights

On Clarence Avant the behind-the-scenes trailblazer:

"The way that the entertainment industry is set up, you pay attention to the people that are in your face. You want to see the next big star, you want to see the Bill Withers, you want to see the Sarah Vaughans, you want to see these people that are on stage that make you feel a certain type of way, but you don't necessarily think about the guy that got the contract written so that they could have a career. You don't think about the guy that found them, you know, in whatever circumstance and brought them to the mass public. But in entertainment, you know, as a sound engineer, I'm a background personnel. If everything's going right, nobody cares about who's sitting at the back of the room at that console. But the second, something goes wrong, everybody turns around and stares at me, right? The second, something sounds funny. So and same type of thing with the deal. I think he was so good at wheeling and dealing, and so good at probably the social aspects, but also the business aspects — because I understand he was a tough negotiator — that he didn't need to be seen, nothing was going wrong."

On Clarence Avant the man:

"The way he carried himself and the respect he commanded — you know, they're artists and producers that have paved the way. And especially as an African American dealing with like creative business and music business, it's really, really hard to find people to look up to that look like me. Now there are more than ever, you know, now there are CEOs of record labels and stuff like that. But I remember even 20 years ago, when I was trying to find sound engineers, and record A&Rs (artists & repertoire), as I was picking a path for myself, for the artists, and I couldn't find too many people that I was being referred to that were African American compared to the number of others. So just his ability to be charismatic, and his ability to stand strong as a representative. You know, I'm sure he was doing work he needed to do to be the person he is, right? He had a family to feed, he had a life to live. But I think he also cared about equity in a different way. And his work shows that by what he was able to do and how far he was able to go and the roads he was able to lay down for other folks."

On Avant's legacy:

"Oh, man, I mean, he worked with everybody ... somebody that might be similar to him, in some ways might be like a Quincy Jones. There's very few people that could have such a wide reach, and a sustained long career, and across genres. This guy worked with a lot of people. So it's really hard to like, put him in a box. I want to say he was just great. He was really talented. He had skills that were more on the corporate side and the social side of the creative industry. And that's tough to do. And to do it as one of the only minorities doing it in his industry during the time he was doing it. He was born in 1931. My grandmother was born in 1931. She passed five years ago, at 86 years old. He was doing this during a time when it was hard to do it. You gotta remember if he's 25 years old, getting into his career good, right? That's what '59, '60, '61 when he's in his mid 20s, building a career? ... He grew up seeing certain things and he's from North Carolina. He might have worked in the north and in L.A. but he came from a place where I'm sure it was very real — Climax, North Carolina 1931 when he was born, and he couldn't go to a water fountain. So, there were things that I think he was probably doing, and examples that he was setting that go a lot deeper probably than just what people know of his music. And I think that that's probably one of the things his family's proud of."

*Editor's Note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.