Merry Clayton
| Merry Clayton | |
|---|---|
 Clayton in December 2012 at a ceremony for Carole King to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
December 25, 1948 Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | Soul, gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1962–2000 |
| Associated acts | |
Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer and an actress. She provided a number of back-up vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter."[1] Merry is featured in 20 Feet from Stardom, the Oscar-winning documentary about background singers and their contributions to the music industry. In 2013, she released The Best of Merry Clayton, a compilation of her favorite songs.
Early life
Clayton was born in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Career
Clayton began her recording career in 1962 at the age of 14, singing "Who Can I Count On? (When I Can't Count on You)" as a duet with Bobby Darin on his album "You're the Reason I'm Living." In 1963 she recorded the first version of "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)," the same year that Betty Everett's version reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] Early in her career Merry performed with Ray Charles (as one of the Raelettes), Pearl Bailey, Phil Ochs, Burt Bacharach, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, and on several tracks from Neil Young's debut album. Clayton is often credited as having recorded with Elvis Presley but her name does not appear in Elvis sessionographies.[3]
Clayton is best known for her 1969 duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter," though on some releases her name is misspelled as "Mary." The Stones had asked Bonnie Bramlett to sing on the song, but Bramlett's husband, Delaney, refused to let her perform with the Stones.[4] Clayton also sang backing vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama".[5]
In 1970, Clayton recorded her own version of "Gimme Shelter," and it became the title track of her debut solo album and peaked at #73,[6] released that year. Her version would be the first of five singles under her name to crack the Billboard Hot 100. That same year she performed a live version of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" for the soundtrack for Robert Altman film Brewster McCloud and also contributed vocals to Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg's film Performance. In 1971 she co-wrote the song "Sho' Nuff" about her mother.[7] She starred as the original Acid Queen in the first London production of The Who's Tommy in 1972. In 1973, she featured prominently on Ringo Starr's "Oh My My", which reached Billboard's Top 10 the following year.
In the mid 1970s, Clayton sang on The Blackbyrds' R&B hit "Rock Creek Park" and continued to release solo albums throughout the next decade, notching several minor R&B singles. Her soundtrack work continued into the 1980s, including "You're Always There When I Need You", the title track for the 1980 Get Smart film The Nude Bomb, and the song "Yes" from Dirty Dancing, which hit #45 on the Hot 100. In 1987, Clayton co-starred with Ally Sheedy in the film Maid to Order and played Verna Dee Jordan in the final season of Cagney & Lacey. In 1989, she recorded a cover of "Almost Paradise" with Eric Carmen.[8]
In 1994 Clayton recorded backing vocals for and sang the "Man with the Golden Gun" bridge on Tori Amos's hit, "Cornflake Girl". In 2006, Clayton provided background vocals for Sparta's album Threes on the songs "Atlas" and "Translation".
In 2014, Clayton provided vocals for G. Love & Special Sauce's album Sugar.
In 2015, Clayton was featured on two tracks on Coldplay's album A Head Full of Dreams.
Personal life
Clayton was married to jazz artist Curtis Amy from 1970 until his death in 2002.[9] Clayton's brother is the Little Feat percussionist Sam Clayton.[10]
She had a miscarriage upon returning home from recording "Gimme Shelter", according to the LA Times.[11]
On June 16, 2014, Clayton was severely injured in a car accident in Los Angeles, California.[12] Both of Clayton's legs were later amputated at the knees due to her suffering "profound trauma to her lower extremities" as a result of the accident.[13]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Label | Peak chart positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | ||||||||
| 1970 | Gimme Shelter | Ode | — | — | |||||
| 1971 | Celebration | Ode | — | — | |||||
| Merry Clayton | Ode | 180 | 36 | ||||||
| 1975 | Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow | Ode | 146 | 50 | |||||
| 1979 | Emotion | Fontana | — | — | |||||
| 1994 | Miracles | A&M | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Singles (selected)
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | UK[14] | |||||||
| 1970 | "Gimme Shelter" | 73 | — | — | Gimme Shelter | ||||
| 1972 | "After All This Time" | 71 | — | — | Merry Clayton | ||||
| 1973 | "Oh No Not My Baby" | 72 | 30 | — | Non-album song | ||||
| 1975 | "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow" | 45 | — | — | Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow | ||||
| 1988 | "Yes" | 45 | 79 | 70 | Dirty Dancing (soundtrack) | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Blame It on the Night | Herself |
| 1987 | Maid to Order | Audrey James |
| 2013 | 20 Feet from Stardom | Herself |
References
- ↑ True, Rovi Christopher. "Merry Clayton Biography". AOL Music. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012.
- ↑ "No. 1 in May 1991 an excerpt from The Best of 1000 UK No.1 Hits". Omnibus Press. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
- ↑ Jorgensen, Ernst (1998). Elvis Presley : A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessions. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312185723.
- ↑ Paytress, Mark (2003). The Rolling Stones: Off the Record. Omnibus Press. p. 181. ISBN 9780711988699.
- ↑ Dupree, Tom (October 24, 1974). "Lynyrd Skynyrd in Sweet Home Atlanta". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2006.
- ↑ "Merry Clayton- Gimme Shelter". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
- ↑ Heckman, Don (July 16, 1972). "Merry Clayton from 'Newahlins.'". The New York Times. pp. D11, D22, D24.
- ↑ http://streamd.hitparade.ch/cdimages/eric_carmen_with_merry_clayton-almost_paradise_s.jpg
- ↑ Voce, Steve (June 11, 2002). "Obituary: Curtis Amy". The Independent.
- ↑ Crazy Horse, Kandia (2004). Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock N Roll (First ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 205. ISBN 1-4039-6243-X.
- ↑ Snowden, Don (March 13, 1986). "For Clayton, The Gloom Is Gone". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
- ↑ Lifton, Dave (June 20, 2014). "Legendary Singer Merry Clayton Seriously Injured in Car Accident". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
- ↑ http://ultimateclassicrock.com/merry-clayton-legs-amputated/
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 110. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
