Judy Clay

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Judy Clay ( Judith Grace Gatewood , nee Guions ; born September 12, 1938 in St. Pauls, North Carolina , † July 19, 2001 in Fayetteville ) was an American singer who had her greatest success in the second half of the 1960s.

biography

Born Judy Guions, Clay sang in church as a young child. As a teenager she moved to Harlem and sang in the choir there as well. At age 13, she was accepted by Lee Drinkard in their gospel group The Drinkard Singers, which also included Drinkard's daughters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick and her sister Cissy Houston . Clay was first heard in 1957 on the album The Newport Spiritual Stars . She stayed with the group for a decade and then devoted herself to secular music. It came to the conclusion of a contract with Ember Records and the release of the debut single More Than You in September 1961. The following year, Do You Think That's Right was released . Both singles received little attention.

In 1963, Clay signed with Lavette Records and released the single Let It Be Me . At the end of the year she signed a contract with Scepter Records , where Dionne Warwick was also bound. The singles My Arms Aren't Strong Enough and Lonely People Do Foolish Things couldn't make it onto the charts. After You Busted My Mind was unsuccessful in 1966, Scepter ended the contract and Clay released the single You Can't Run Away from a Good Heart on Stax in 1967 . Jerry Wexler , producer at Atlantic Records , paired Clay with singer Billy Vera . The duet Storybook Children placed 20 on the Billboard R&B - and 54 on the pop charts . A lack of support from television stations prevented greater success. In addition, Clay was at this time of the jazz - drummer pregnant Leo Gatewood and many people mistakenly believed that Vera was the father. With Country Girl - City Man , another duet by the two musicians hit stores in early 1968, climbing # 41 on the R&B and # 36 on the pop charts. After When Do We Go , another but unsuccessful single, Clay and Vera went their separate ways.

Clay began a partnership with singer and longtime Stax artist William Bell in the summer of 1968 . The joint song Private Number became the biggest hit of their career, reaching number 17 on the R&B and number 75 of the pop charts and number 8 in the United Kingdom . With My Baby Specializes , Clay and Bell had a second, albeit smaller, hit in the R&B charts in early 1969 (number 45). The solo single Remove These Clouds has also been released by Stax . When the Stax-Atlantic agreement failed, Clay returned to Atlantic and got together with Billy Vera for one last duet in 1969. When Clay, known as difficult, declined to return to the Apollo Theater because her fee requirements were not met, Atlantic immediately stopped all advertising, which brought Clay's career to a standstill and prevented greater attention. Still, the label financed a recording session at Muscle Shoals Studio, which resulted in the singles Greatest Love and Sister Pitiful . Clay toured and worked in the studio until 1979. After successfully removing a brain tumor , she vowed never to sing secular music again. In 1990 she became a Protestant preacher .

Clay died on July 19, 2001 of the consequences of a car accident.

Discography

Albums

  • 1968: Storybook Children (with Billy Vera ; Atlantic 8174)
  • 1987: The Atlantic Years 1967–1970 (compilation; with Billy Vera; Rhino 70185)
  • 1993: Private Numbers (Compilation; split album with Veda Brown, Stax / Fantasy 88016)
  • 2008: The Stax Solo Recordings (compilation; split album with Veda Brown; Kent Soul 302)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US R&B R&B
1967 Storybook Children
Storybook Children 		- US54 (9 weeks)
US 		R&B20 (8 weeks)
R&B
First published: October 1967
with Billy Vera
Authors: Chip Taylor , Billy Vera
1968 Country Girl - City Man - US36 (6 weeks)
US 		R&B41 (4 weeks)
R&B
First published: January 1968
with Billy Vera
Authors: Chip Taylor, Ted Daryll
Private number UK8 (14 weeks)
UK 		US75 (6 weeks)
US 		R&B17 (11 weeks)
R&B
First published: July 1968
with William Bell
Authors: Authors: Booker T. Jones , William Bell
1969 My Baby Specializes - - R&B45 (3 weeks)
R&B
First published: December 1968
with William Bell
Authors: Authors: David Porter, Isaac Hayes
1970 Greatest love - - R&B45 (3 weeks)
R&B
First published: December 1969
Author: Allen Toussaint

More singles

  • 1961: More Than You Know (released September)
  • 1962: Do You Think That's Right (released June)
  • 1963: Let It Be Me
  • 1964: My Arms Aren't Strong Enough (released April)
  • 1964: Lonely People Do Foolish Things (released September)
  • 1966: Haven't Got What It Takes (March release)
  • 1966: You Busted My Mind (released August)
  • 1967: You Can't Run Away from Your Heart (release: August 3rd)
  • 1968: When Do We Go (with Billy Vera ; release: May)
  • 1968: Remove These Clouds / Bed of Roses (release: August)
  • 1969: It Ain't Long Enough (released February)
  • 1969: Reaching for the Moon (with Billy Vera; release: July)
  • 1969: Sister Pitiful (released September 8th)
  • 1978: Stayin 'Alive (Special Disco Version)

swell

  1. ↑ Chart sources: UK Billboard Hot 100
  2. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Clay, Judy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gatewood, Judith Grace (real name); Guions, Judith Grace (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION american singer
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Pauls , North Carolina , United States
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 2001
Place of death Fayetteville , North Carolina , United States