Willie Clayton (born March 29, 1955) is an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

and

soul-blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by a ...

singer and songwriter. He has recorded over 25

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 ...

s since the 1980s. He has been performing since the late 1960s. His

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

successes span the decades from the 1980s onward.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted that Clayton is "one of those vocalists who could sing the phone book and the result would sound perfectly phrased and memorable." Along with

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray V ...

Koko Taylor Koko Taylor (born Cora Anna Walton, September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American singer whose style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues and soul blues. Sometimes called "The Queen of the Blues", she was known for ...

, and

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include "Baby, I Love ...

, Clayton was one of the most important figures in Chicago blues in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Clayton was born in

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County. History In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, b ...

, one of 11 siblings. He sang

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 ...

in his church as a youngster. Duplex Records issued his debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "That's the Way Daddy Did" (1969). In 1971, Clayton relocated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and appeared regularly in local

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. He was introduced to

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

's record producer, Willie Mitchell, who signed Clayton to a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with Pawn, a subsidiary

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

Hi Records Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent partn ...

. Mitchell produced several tracks with Clayton, including "I Must Be Losin' You," "It's Time You Made Up Your Mind," and "Baby You're Ready," but none of them reached the national charts. Clayton toured nationally on the same bill as Green,

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

, before creating his own label, Sky Hero, which issued "Living with You, But My Heart Is Somewhere Else." Clayton released the single "Rock You" for the Good Luck record label in 1980. The song was written and produced by the Lu-Cor Music team of Maurice Commander and Jerline Shelton-Commander, as well as, S. Harris (according to label printing). Another Chicago-based artist who made on 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 ...

and ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

'' with the efforts of the Lu-Cor team ( Morris Jefferson) later covered the song for the re-release of the album ''Rock You!'' in the late 1980s. Clayton then joined Compleat Records. He issued a couple of singles before "Tell Me", produced by

General Crook George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nantan ...

, was a modest hit in 1984. It was followed on the US ''

'' R&B

by "What a Way to Put It." He returned to the R&B chart in 1989, credited by

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

as Will Clayton, with "Never Too Late" and "Tell Me" (a different song from his earlier hit), followed by "I Wanna Be Where You Are", on which he was co-credited with Audrey Wheeler, a former runner-up in the Miss Black Universe contest, who also recorded with

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for '' Prototype' ...

and Omar Chandler and worked as a session singer. Clayton also recorded a number of albums with

Ichiban Records Ichiban Records is an American independent record label, founded in 1985 by John Abbey and Nina Easton in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. History Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels. Urgent! Records and Mr. Henr ...

. In 1992, a joint

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

with

Bobby McClure Bobby McClure (April 21, 1942 – November 13, 1992) was an American soul singer. Biography McClure was born in Chicago, Illinois. By the age of two his family had moved to St. Louis, where he sang in church and gospel groups in his youth. He ...

, ''Bobby McClure & Willie Clayton'', was released by Hi Records. In 1993, Ace Records released the album ''Let's Get Together'', followed by ''Simply Beautiful'' and ''It's About Love'' (1999). His 1998 album, ''Something to Talk About'', reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Top Blues Albums chart. Clayton had similar chart successes for the following ten years. ''Something to Talk About'' included his

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with

Tyrone Davis Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' R ...

on the song "Mine All Mine" and his

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of the songs " Something to Talk About" and " Heart of the City." Clayton started another record label, EndZone, in the late 1990s. He signed with

Malaco Records Malaco Records is an American independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, that has been the home of various major blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Mel Waiters, Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, La ...

in 2005. Clayton recorded his version of " I Can't Stand the Rain" on his 2008 album ''Soul & Blues''. ''My Tyme'', which was released the same year, was his third album in a five-year period to peak at number 83 on the ''Billboard''

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. He returned to the singles chart in 2010, after an absence of over 20 years, with his recording of "We Both Grown", a duet with

Dave Hollister David Le Chaine Hollister (born August 17, 1968) is an American R&B singer who found fame during the 1990s as one quarter of the R&B quartet Blackstreet, before going on to have a solo career. Hollister is best known for his 2000 gold-certifie ...

His latest album, ''I Am Rhythm & Blues'', was released in 2012. In May 2013, Clayton performed at the Leflore County Civic Center in

Greenwood, Mississippi Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta region, approximately 96 miles north of the state capital, Jackson, and 130 miles south of the riverp ...

Chart discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links