Returning to Phoenix, he and his friend Al Casey met Lee Hazlewood, then a local DJ.
Clark, with Casey on guitar, recorded one of Hazlewood's songs, "The Fool", in Floyd Ramsey's Audio Recorders studio on MCI Records in 1956. Dot Records picked the song up for national distribution after a Philadelphia deejay tipped them off to it. The song became a hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 14 on the Country Singles chart, No. 5 on the R&B Singles chart, and No. 7 on the Billboard Top 100.
