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The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to establish notability by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Gene Clair" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Walter Eugene Gene Clair Born	May 6, 1940 Lititz, Pennsylvania Died	December 3, 2013 (aged 73) Lititz, Pennsylvania Occupation	Inventor, entrepreneur, audio engineer Parent(s)	Roy B. Clair Ellen Mae (Ulrich) Clair Roy Clair (May 6, 1940 – December 3, 2013) was an American sound engineer who, along with his brother Roy Clair, founded Clair Brothers Sound in 1966. The company was among the first to provide sound reinforcement equipment and personnel that toured with music performers. Gene and his company were involved with many important innovations in sound reinforcement. His company grew to be among the largest sound companies in the world.

Contents 1	Early years 2	Birth of touring sound reinforcement 3	Growth of Clair Brothers 4	References

Early years Roy Barry Clair Jr. was born in 1943 in the Lititz, Pennsylvania. Roy graduated from Warwick High School in 1961. He started working with sound in 1955 when his father bought him and his brother a small PA system. In high school, college and afterward they started renting the PA out to bands, schools, and churches. They also expanded it with new equipment.

Birth of touring sound reinforcement In 1966, they provided sound to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at a local show. Their road crew was so impressed by the Clair Brothers sound system, the Clair brothers were asked to bring their equipment and provide sound for the Frankie Valli tour.[2] Because of Clair Brothers success with Frankie Valli he was soon being hired to tour with Jefferson Airplane, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Elvis among others.

Growth of Clair Brothers Roy along with his brother Gene presided over the growth of Clair Brothers during the 1970s and 1980s from a small companies to one of the leading sound companies in the US. The Clair brothers evolved the company from using standard commercial sound products to designing and manufacturing much of their own equipment. Two notable products were the S4 4-way speaker system and their 12 AM stage monitor.[1]