Francis Clay (November 16, 1923 – January 21, 2008) was an American jazz and blues drummer, best known for his work behind
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
in the 1950s and 1960s, and as an original member of the
James Cotton
James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.
...
band. Clay's jazz-influenced style is cited as an influence by many of the
British Invasion
The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...
rock 'n' rollers of the 1960s such as
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.
Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...
and
Ronnie Wood
Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group.
Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...
of the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
and
Faces
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...
, respectively.
Born and raised in
Rock Island, Illinois, he started playing jazz, professionally at the age of 15, played drums behind many of the biggest names of 20th century popular American music.
In his career, Clay claimed to have backed
Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick, January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper and vedette famous for her striptease act. Also an actress, author, and playwright, her 1957 memoir was adapted into ...
, and played with
Jay McShann
James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson (trumpeter), Bernard A ...
and
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
early on and with
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
while in New York's
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
. He can be heard on recordings including
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...
's ''Live at the Cafe Au Go-Go'' and can be seen and heard on documents from the Waters band's 1960
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...
appearance,
and on albums issued by the
Arhoolie label by
Big Mama Thornton
Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...
and
Lightning Hopkins
Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...
, among many others.
Clay made his home in San Francisco in the late 1960s and became a part of the music scene in the Bay Area throughout the rest of his life. His birthday parties at the Biscuits and Blues nightclub were an annual gathering of the tribe, and he was known also as "the ambassador" at the annual
San Francisco Blues Festival
The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was the one of the longest running blues festival in the United States.
History
Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the ...
, where he was the subject of a tribute in 2007, and mourned in 2008.
Clay claimed to have been deprived of recognition for his compositional contributions to the Waters oeuvre. Songs he claimed to have composed and/or arranged included "Walking in the Park," "She's Nineteen Years Old" and "Tiger in Your Hole."
Discography
With
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...
*''
Live at Cafe Au Go Go
''Live at Cafe Au Go Go'' is a live album by blues musician John Lee Hooker with members of Muddy Waters Blues Band. It was recorded at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City and released by BluesWay Records in 1967.
Reception
AllMusic reviewer R ...
'' (BluesWay, 1967)
With
Lightnin' Hopkins
Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...
*''
Lightnin'!
''Lightnin'!'' is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in California in 1969 and released on the Poppy label as a double LP.
Copyright dispute
Poppy Records failed to meet the terms of its agreement and, in 1972, Chris Strach ...
'' (Poppy, 1969)
*''
In the Key of Lightnin'
''In the Key of Lightnin is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded at the sessions that produced ''Lightnin'!'' in California in 1969, but not released until 2002 on the Tomato label.002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to:
Fiction
*002, fictional British 00 Agent
*''002 Operazione Luna'',
*1965 Italian film
*Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character
Airports
*0O2, Baker Airport
*O02, Nervino Airport
Astronomy
*1996 ...
*''
Lightning Hopkins in Berkeley
''Lightning Hopkins in Berkeley'' is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in California in 1969 and originally released on the Arhoolie label in 1972.972
Year 972 ( CMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Spring – Emperor John I Tzimiskes divides the Bulgarian territories, recent ...
With
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and recorded several popu ...
*''
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and recorded several popu ...
'' (Chess, 1950–60)
With
Otis Spann
Otis Spann (March 21, 1924 or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.
Early life
Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Miss ...
*''
The Blues Is Where It's At'' (BluesWay, 1966)
With
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
*''
Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill"'' (Chess, 1960)
*''
At Newport 1960
''At Newport 1960'' is a live album by Muddy Waters recorded during his performance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1960. With his longtime backup band, Muddy Waters plays a mix of his older popular tunes and some newer compositions. Che ...
'' (Chess, 1960)
*''
Folk Singer
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...
'' (Chess, 1964)
References
Bibliography
*''Ronnie'', by Ronnie Wood, St. Martin's Griffin, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Francis
1923 births
2008 deaths
People from Rock Island, Illinois
American jazz musicians
20th-century American musicians
American blues drummers
Jazz musicians from Illinois