Blind soul icon Clarence Carter dies at 90, famed for Slip Away and Patches
Clarence Carter, the blind Alabama soul singer behind hits such as Slip Away, Patches, and Back Door Santa, has died at 90 from pneumonia complications. Starting in the 1960s with Clarence & Calvin, he rose to fame with Tell Daddy and achieved major US and UK chart success with Slip Away and Patches. He mentored and later married Candi Staton in 1970, co-writing songs that helped launch her solo career. Carter remained a fixture in soul through the mid-1970s, had a late 1988 return with Strokin’, and his work has continued to influence and appear in films and samples.