Clay Blaker | |
---|---|
Birth name | Randall Clay Blaker |
Born |
Houston, Texas, United States |
June 27, 1950
Genres | country |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer |
Instruments | |
Years active | 1970–2002 |
Labels | Texas Musik, Neobilly |
Associated acts | George Strait, Ace in the Hole Band, Texas Honky-Tonk Band |
Randall Clay Blaker (born June 27, 1950) is an American country musician, singer-songwriter, and producer based in Texas for most of his career. His songs have been recorded by many other artists, including George Strait, Tim McGraw, The Derailers, LeAnn Rimes, Doug Sahm, Johnny Mathis and Barbra Streisand. Blaker has also been a popular regional entertainer and has released several albums of his own material with his band, the Texas Honky-Tonk Band.
After growing up in Texas, Blaker spent time in Hawaii and California before returning to Texas in the 1970s. In San Marcos, Texas he got to know the members of the Ace in the Hole Band, including their front-man George Strait. Blaker's Texas Honky Tonk Band played with the Ace in the Hole Band at a number of venues in Houston and Central Texas.
In 1982, Strait included Blaker's song "The Only Thing I Have Left" on his second album, Strait from the Heart.Tim McGraw later covered the song.
Strait has since recorded six more songs by Blaker, including "She Lays It All on the Line" for the soundtrack to Strait's 1992 film Pure Country.
In 1999, Barbra Streisand recorded his song "We Must Be Loving Right", co-written with Roger Brown, after hearing Strait's version of it. According to Blaker, Streisand's husband James Brolin had been playing Strait's album, and Streisand "heard the song and liked it enough to put it on her next album. That album was all love songs, so it fit right in."