Willie Clayton
| Willie Clayton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 29, 1955 Indianola, Mississippi, United States |
| Genres | Chicago blues, soul-blues, Chicago soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | Late 1960s–present |
| Labels | Various |
| Website | www |
Willie Clayton (born March 29, 1955) is an American Chicago blues and soul-blues singer and songwriter. He has recorded over 25 albums since the 1980s. He has been performing since the late 1960s. His chart successes span the decades from the 1980s onward.
Allmusic 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, Koko Taylor, and Little Milton, Clayton was one of the most important figures in Chicago blues in the 1970s and 1980s.
Clayton was born in Indianola, Mississippi, one of 11 siblings. He sang gospel in his church as a youngster. Duplex Records issued his debut single, "That's the Way Daddy Did" (1969). In 1971, Clayton relocated to Chicago, Illinois, and appeared regularly in local clubs. He was introduced to Al Green's record producer, Willie Mitchell, who signed Clayton to a recording contract with Pawn, a subsidiary label of Hi Records. 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 and Barry White, before creating his own label, Sky Hero, which issued "Living with You, But My Heart Is Somewhere Else."
Clayton then joined Compleat Records. He issued a couple of singles before "Tell Me", produced by General Crook, was a modest hit in 1984. It was followed on the US Billboard R&B chart by "What a Way to Put It." He returned to the R&B chart in 1989, credited by Polydor Records 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 and Omar Chandler and worked as a session singer. Clayton also recorded a number of albums with Ichiban Records. In 1992, a joint compilation album with Bobby McClure, Bobby McClure & Willie Clayton, was released by Hi Records.
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