HE INVENTED A GUITAR DEVICE THAT CHANGED COUNTRY MUSIC FOREVER — THEN WAS KILLED BY A DRUNK DRIVER LOADING HIS GEAR. Clarence White could do things on a Telecaster that nobody had heard before. Born in 1944, he was already a bluegrass prodigy by 15 — then joined The Byrds and helped turn country-rock into something real. Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Untitled. He was the secret weapon on records people still study. With his friend Gene Parsons, he built the StringBender — a device installed inside his guitar that bent strings to mimic pedal steel. Players still use it today. Then on July 14, 1973 — just 29 years old — he was loading equipment after a show in Palmdale, California when a drunk driver struck and killed him in the parking lot. Some musicians change the sound of an instrument. Clarence White changed what a guitar could even do — and never got to hear how far his invention traveled.
HE INVENTED A GUITAR DEVICE THAT CHANGED COUNTRY MUSIC FOREVER — THEN DIED BEFORE THE WORLD COULD FULLY CATCH UP…