Lee Clayton (born Billy Schatz; October 29, 1942June 12, 2023) was an American songwriter and musician. He notably wrote

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

' 1972 outlaw country song "Ladies Love Outlaws".

Biography

Clayton grew up in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak ...

and began to play

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

at the age of seven. At nine years old, he received his first

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

.Christian Graf, Uwe Wohlschläger: Rock Musik Lexikon (German) – Taurus Press After serving in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

he moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

in 1968 and began his career as a songwriter. In 1972 he wrote "Ladies Love Outlaws" for

. In 1973 he released his first album simply titled ''Lee Clayton'', with which, as Clayton would later say, he was very dissatisfied. In the following years he continued his songwriting. He wrote songs like "Lone Wolf" for

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country music and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He was best ...

and "If You Could Touch Her at All" for

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

. In 1978 his second album, ''Border Affair'', was released. It was critically acclaimed but became a flop at the charts. His most successful album was 1979's ''Naked Child''. The songs' style was reminiscent of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and the single, "I Ride Alone", became very notable. In 1979, he went on a big world tour, which became a huge success. In 1981 he released his fourth studio album, ''The Dream Goes On'', which had a harder sound than his previous work. After that he published two autobiographical books and, in 1990, he released a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

entitled ''Another Night'', which was recorded on September 9, 1988, at the Cruise Cafe,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway. Also in 1990, The Highwaymen, an outlaw country

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

comprising

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

and

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...

, had a minor hit with a song of his, " Silver Stallion", which had previously appeared on ''Border Affair'' (1978). In 1994, he released the album ''Spirit of the Twilight''.

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...

also covered "Silver Stallion" on the 2008 cover album ''

Jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...

''. In 2008 a new acoustic song "We The People" was 'released' on YouTube.

Discography

*1973: ''Lee Clayton'', MCA *1978: ''Border Affair'', Capitol *1979: ''Naked Child'', Capitol *1981: ''The Dream Goes On'', Capitol *1990: ''Tequila is Addictive'' (4 track CD maxi single), Provogue *1990: ''Another Night (live)'', Provogue *1994: ''Spirit of the Twilight'', Provogue *2014: ''Live at Rockpalast'' (1980), Repertoire

Compilations/reissues

*1995: ''Border Affair/Naked Child'' 2^ & 3^ LP on CD Edsel Records UK *1996: ''Lee Clayton'' 1^ LP on CD Edsel Records UK *1996: ''Border Affair/Naked Child'' 2^ & 3^ LP on CD Edsel (edel) *2002: ''The Essential 1978–1981'' Repertoire *2003: ''Border Affair/Naked Child'' 2^ & 3^ LP on CD *2005: ''The Essential 1978–1981'' Smd Reper (Sony BMG) *2006: ''Lee Clayton'' 1^ LP on CD Evangeline (Soulfood Music) *2008: ''Border Affair-The Capitol Years'' 2^,3^ & 4^ LP on 2CD (Acadia/Evangeline)

Chart songs as a songwriter

* #25 on Billboard: "Silver Stallion" played by The Highwaymen (Nelson/Jennings/Cash/Kristofferson) 990

Notes

In the sleeve note of his album ''Another Night'' (1990) there's mention of U2's Bono saying that the only country singer that has influenced him was a pretty well unknown fellow named Lee Clayton.

References

External links

The Official Lee Clayton Website: LeeClaytonOnline.com
* Allmusic entrybr>Lee Clayton's discography & bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Lee Living people 1942 births American country guitarists American country rock singers American male guitarists American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters People from Russellville, Alabama Guitarists from Alabama 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Alabama 20th-century American male musicians Outlaw country singers Progressive country musicians Provogue Records artists Singer-songwriters from Alabama