Hidden Figures: Merry Clayton #BlackHERstoryMonth 20/28 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Merry Clayton #BlackHERstoryMonth 20/28

Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer and an actress. Trained in gospel as the daughter of a New Orleans preacher, Clayton was one of Ray Charles' Raelettes before moving to Los Angeles and starting a career as a session singer. In her career, she sang on such classics as Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama' and Joe Cocker's 'Feelin' Alright' and released a handful of solo albums, but is most well-known for her vocals on the Rolling Stones’ hit song 'Gimme Shelter.' Merry Clayton was born in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana. Clayton was born on Christmas Day, and earned her name due to the holiday. 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. Early in her career Merry performed with Ray Charles (as one of the Raelettes), who was the only artist her father allowed her to see live. Clayton also sang background for 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 also credited as having recorded with Elvis Presley but her name does not appear in Elvis sessionographies. Clayton is best known for her 1969 duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song "Gimme Shelter." In 1970, Clayton recorded her own version of "Gimme Shelter," and it became the title track of her debut solo album. Her version would be the first of five singles under her name to crack the Billboard Hot 100. 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. Her soundtrack work continued into the 1980s, including the song "Yes" from Dirty Dancing, which hit #45 on the Hot 100. In 1989, she recorded a cover of "Almost Paradise" with Eric Carmen. In 1994 Clayton recorded backing vocals for and sang the "Man with the Golden Gun" bridge on Tori Amos's hit, "Cornflake Girl". She was featured in the documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to win the Oscar for best documentary at the 86th Academy Awards. 20 Feet from Stardom also won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Music Film, with the award being presented to the featured artists as well as the production crew. In 2015, Clayton was featured on two tracks on Coldplay's album A Head Full of Dreams. On June 16, 2014, Clayton was severely injured in a car accident in Los Angeles, California. 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. ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: Naked voice from Merry Clayton in gimme shelter (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChONufP0FEs MERRY CLAYTON: http://stones-stories.over-blog.com/2016/11/merry-clayton.html 'LEGENDARY SINGER MERRY CLAYTON HAD HER LEGS AMPUTATED AFTER 2014 AUTO ACCIDENT:' http://ultimateclassicrock.com/merry-clayton-legs-amputated/ 'MERRY CLAYTON SERIOUSLY INJURED IN CAR ACCIDENT:' http://ultimateclassicrock.com/merry-clayton-car-accident/?trackback=tsmclip The Blossoms (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blossoms Merry Clayton (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Clayton 'Merry Clayton Tells the Story of Her Amazing Backing Vocal on The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”:' http://www.openculture.com/2018/07/merry-clayton-tells-story-amazing-backing-vocal-rolling-stones-gimme-shelter.html