David Clayton-Thomas

David Clayton-Thomas
Clayton-Thomas performing at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida
Background information
Birth name	David Henry Thomsett
Born	13 September 1941 (1941-09-13) (age 70) Kingston upon Thames, Surrey UK
Genres	R&B, rock, funk, pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1968–present
Associated acts	Blood, Sweat & Tears
Website	David Clayton-Thomas Official Website

David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett; 13 September 1941) is a Canadian musician and singer best known as the lead vocalist for the American band; Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas has also maintained a busy solo career over the years as well.

Life and career

Clayton-Thomas was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, UK, the son of a decorated Canadian soldier of World War II who met his piano-playing mother when she came to entertain the troops at a London hospital. They were married, and when the war ended, the family moved to Willowdale, a suburb of Toronto, when Clayton-Thomas was not yet school-aged.

Growing up, he was taught music by his mother but had difficulties with his father in what was described as a dysfunctional family. He left home in his early teens, and according to his official biography, spent time in jail as a juvenile delinquent until his release in 1962. He idolized the music of John Lee Hooker and began playing guitar and singing, and by the time he was 21 had his own band, The Shays. David Clayton-Thomas & The Shays recorded for Roman Records of Toronto. Clayton-Thomas released two albums on the record label, "A Go Go" (with The Shays) and "Like It Is" (with The Bossmen).

In February 1966, he joined a new band, The Bossmen, fronted by the child prodigy, pianist Tony Collacott, who had played with Sarah Vaughan at New York's Carnegie Hall at the age of 14. The group recorded a lone single, the jazz-rock song "Brainwashed," which was a Canadian hit record in June 1966 and gave an indication of his future work.

The band broke up soon afterward and he traveled to New York. In October 1967, he joined forces with former members of the Toronto R&B outfit, Jon and Lee & The Checkmates and renamed them his new backing band, The Phoenix. The group started a residency at a New York nightclub, Steve Paul's The Scene, but he was soon deported for working illegally in the States.

In February 1968, Clayton-Thomas formed a new band in Toronto, the David Clayton-Thomas Combine with former Bossmen guitarist Jack Mowbrey, ex-Phoenix bass player Peter Hodgson, and drummer Pat Little from Luke & The Apostles. The group recorded the original version of his hit "Spinning Wheel" but the band broke up a few months later when Clayton-Thomas was offered a more attractive offer from Bobby Colomby, the drummer with Blood, Sweat & Tears.

Under the stage name David Clayton-Thomas, he is best known as a vocalist with the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose first album with him as lead singer in 1969 produced three gold^[1] singles and three Grammy Awards^[2] including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The album included his own composition "Spinning Wheel" which became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.^[3][4]

In 2002, the album was honoured with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Clayton-Thomas left the band twice, but he was still touring with a reconstituted Blood, Sweat & Tears through 2004.

Clayton-Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame^[5] in 1996. In January 2006, the song "Spinning Wheel" was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

He also won the last Festival Internacional da Canção in 1972, in Rio de Janeiro, with the song "Nobody Calls Me Prophet".

He lived in New York City for more than 30 years, but returned to Toronto in 2004, where he once again has made a name of himself as a solo artist, releasing several DVDs (including one featuring a live performance).

His band Blood, Sweat and Tears was the first western band to tour behind the Iron Curtain. The band agreed to do this in exchange for Clayton-Thomas getting permanent residency status in the US as he was in the US as an illegal immigrant yet the band had 3 top selling albums. (Revealed by Clayton Thomas in an interview on CBC Radio One's Go 13 March 2010)

On 8 June 2010, it was announced that he would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.^[6]

See also

Music of Canada portal

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

Sources

• Bloomfield, Michael (September 2000). If You Love These Blues: An Oral History (1st ed.). Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0879306175.  (with CD of uniussed music)
• Brooks, Ken (February 1999). The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas. Agenda Ltd. ISBN 978-1899882908. 
• Kooper, Al (February 1977). Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in the Sixties (1st ed.). Stein & Day Pub. ISBN 978-0812821710. 
• Kooper, Al (September 1998). Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor (updated ed.). Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0823082575. 
• Kooper, Al (February 2008). Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards (new ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-0879309220. 

References

1. ^ "Gold & Platinum certification of albums at RIAA". www.riaa.com. http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/search_results.asp.  Retrieved 26 November 2006
2. ^ "Grammy Awards winners". grammy.com. http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/.  Retrieved 26 November 2006
3. ^ "Canadian Charts from 1957 - 1986". 1050chum.com. http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx.  Retrieved 26 November 2006
4. ^ "U.S Billboard chart rankings". billboard.com. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_index.jsp.  Retrieved 26 November 2006
5. ^ "Juno Awards/Canadian Music Hall of Fame winner and nominations". juno-awards.ca. http://www.juno-awards.ca.  Retrieved 26 November 2006
6. ^ "2010 Inductees for The Canada Honours Announced". Canada's Walk of Fame. 8 June 2010. http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/news/2010-inductees-the-canada-honours-announced. Retrieved 9 June 2010. 

External links

• David Clayton-Thomas Official Website
• Blood, Sweat & Tears Official Website
• Blood, Sweat & Tears band members

Persondata
Name	Clayton-Thomas, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 September 1941
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death