Clay Hammond (21 June 1936 – 4 February 2011) was an American R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer and songwriter. As well as recording in his own right, he is most notable for writing "

Part Time Love "Part Time Love" is a 1963 R&B song written by Clay Hammond and first recorded by Little Johnny Taylor. It was his second release and his most successful on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart. "Part Time Love" was number one on that chart for one ...

", a no.1

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

hit in 1963 for

Little Johnny Taylor Little Johnny Taylor (born Johnny Lamont Merrett; February 11, 1943 – May 17, 2002) was an American blues and soul singer. He made recordings throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and continued public performances through the 1980s and 1990s. Bi ...

Life and career

Clayton Hammond Jr. was born in Groesbeck, Texas. In 1956 he became a founding member of the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

group

The Mighty Clouds of Joy The Mighty Clouds of Joy are an American traditional gospel music quartet. Joe Ligon Bio: Willie Joe Ligon was born on October 11, 1936, and died on December 11, 2016 (80 years, 2 months). He dedicated his life to Jesus making many hit songs ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, with Little Johnny Taylor and others. His younger brother, Walter Hammond, became a member of vocal group

The Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. Paul Mooney, ''Clay Hammond - Sad News RIP'', Soul-Source.co.uk, 6 February 2011
/ref> Clay Hammond made his first recording in 1959 for the Tag label, and then formed a trio, The Three Friends, who recorded for the Cal-Gold and

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

labels in 1961, with little success. He also recorded with his brother Walter as the Hammond Brothers. Clay Hammond discography at SoulfulKindaMusic.net
Retrieved 11 March 2014 In 1963, his song "Part Time Love", recorded by Little Johnny Taylor, reached the top of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B chart and no.19 on the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

. He continued to write songs, but with much less success, as well as recording singles for a variety of small labels. He joined

Kent Records Kent Records was a Los Angeles-based record label, launched in 1958 by the Bihari brothers. It was subsidiary of Crown Records Corporation. Kent was a follow-up to Modern Records which ceased operations in 1958. The label reissued Modern's singles, ...

in 1966, and his four singles for that label, including "I'll Make It Up To You", are among his most well-known;

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

wrote that they "mixed Southern soul, gospel, and blues styles, yet also had a somewhat lighter and poppier production aura than much Southern soul, perhaps because they were recorded in Los Angeles." Biography by Richie Unterberger at Allmusic.com
Retrieved 11 March 2014 After leaving Kent in 1969 Hammond issued further singles, but in 1981 joined

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group

The Rivingtons The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 - January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (d. November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and bas ...

as their lead vocalist, replacing Carl White. He also spent some time in a version of

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...

. He continued to record as a solo singer for various small labels up to the mid 1990s, and released several albums including ''Come Into These Arms Of Love'' (P-Vine, 1981), ''Streets Will Love You'' ( Evejim, 1983), and ''Hard To Explain'' (White Ent., 1993). Clay Hammond at SoulBluesMusic
Retrieved 11 March 2014 His recordings for the Kent label were reissued on CD. In 2000 he appeared at the Blues Estafette festival in the Netherlands, and in 2001 and 2010 he performed at the Sweet Soul Festival in Porretta,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He died in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas in 2011 at the age of 74."Obituary: Clay Hammond", ''Juke Blues'' no.71, 2011, p.59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Clay 1936 births 2011 deaths People from Groesbeck, Texas American rhythm and blues singers American soul musicians Songwriters from Texas African-American male songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers